9.15.2009

Lazy Dinner


One of my go-to dinners is Greek salad w/ garlic bread. It is easy, fast, delicious and always tastes indulgent. I like to make my Greek salads w/ chickpeas to add an extra dose of protein to make it a complete meal.

Ingredients:
Greek Salad
Thinly sliced red onions
Feta cheese cut into small blocks or crumbled
1 15 oz. can chickpeas (rinsed and drained to remove excess sodium)
Roasted red peppers (I pan sear fresh ones)
Mixed greens
Greek salad dressing (I use Tapas from Hartford, CT)

Garlic Bread
One baguette, split
Pinch salt
Pinch pepper
Pinch fines herbes
3 TBSP butter
1 TBSP olive oil
4 cloves finely minced garlic

Preheat over to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Meanwhile, melt butter with olive oil and add salt, pepper and herbs. Add in garlic. Spread mixture evenly over split baguette.


Place two slices of baguette together and wrap in foil. Place in over for approximately 10 minutes. After that, reduce heat to 250 degrees. Remove the foil and place, cut sides up, on a cookie sheet. Bake for 5 more minutes.

While the garlic bread is in the over heat 1 TBSP olive oil in skillet. Chickpeas can be added to the salad from the can, but I like to sautee mine in oil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes for some extra flavor and crunch. Sautee until golden:



Toss salad greens with onions, feta, red peppers, sauteed chickpeas and salad dressing. For the most amazing Greek salad dressing in the world, try Tapas. While living in Hartford for 6 years, Tapas became my favorite Greek restaurant--their Greek salad w/ their own dressing is to die for!: tapasonline.com.



Enjoy!

Abbie

First Post

Dear Reader(s?),

My name is Abbie. I am 24 and this is my first blog. I live in Somerville, MA, and I love to cook. By day I am a development associate at a NFP in Boston and a nanny. By night, I am a cooking TV show host (well...I pretend). I have always loved food...thinking about it, looking at it, preparing it, and eating it. The TV, when on, is usually on the Food Network channel.

My experimentation in the kitchen from an early age eventually led to a desire to take actual classes to get some real skills under my belt. While studying abroad in Paris I had the opportunity to take a great cooking class with French chef Francoise Meunier (http://www.fmeunier.com/). I was hooked. Back in the states I took two more classes: an Italian cooking class and a vegan gluten-free class (by accident...I was under the impression it was vegetarian.) This accidental vegan class sparked a passion for vegan cooking...however, sadly, I am am an omnivore at heart and a cheeseaholic. So while I have incorporated vegan cooking into my repertoire, I don't think I will ever be able to convert fully. However, I do hope that you will enjoy my musings, ramblings, pictures, recipes, and whatever else might enter this blog.

Thanks for reading!

Abbie