I’m not sure if it’s the “heat”, the lazy lull of summer, or years of actually living somewhere hot and humid that makes me want to kick back and nosh on something simple for dinner. This time of year I’m very apt to make a meal out of caprese salad or proscuitto and melon. No cooking, no oven, just a couple of ingredients sliced and plated, and best served with a glass of wine.

To that end, when someone suggested bruschetta to me late last week, it immediately grabbed hold of that place in my brain that stores my cravings and didn’t let go. What could be simpler? While I did have to fire up the grill (gas, this time, to keep things simple), there wasn’t much more effort needed. (more…)

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Cooking outdoors, Dairy free, Dinner, In the Garden, Italian, Quick and Easy, Vegetarian by Courtney

In honor of Bastille Day, I thought I would share one of my new favorite summer salads, Salad Niçoise. I had been pretty hung up on creating this salad as soon as my green beans started coming in. Of course, by the time they were ready to be picked, the summer heat had become somewhat unbearable, and the last thing I wanted to do was slave over a hot stove inside the house. So instead, I decided to grill most of my Niçoise components, including the salmon, which is not the traditional fish for Niçoise, but given its freshness, was probably much more delicious than tuna ever thought of being. (more…)

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Dairy free, Dinner, French, Gluten free, In the Garden, Lunch, Salad, Wine pairings by Courtney

After making my Sriracha pickles, determining I loved them, my next problem was what to do with them. Being a person who hasn’t typically eaten pickles, the only thing I’ve really ever done was peel it off of my Krystal burger and feed it to Milo on road trips. This pickle, however, seemed to need more presence than just slapping it on a hamburger. Then I had the aha! moment. Chicago dogs! They’re usually slathered in a plethora of pickles – relish and spears.

I’ll say this upfront – my leaping off point was the Chicago dog. This is in no way actually a Chicago dog. Nothing bugs me more than someone bastardizing my hometown favorites, which is basically what I’m going to do here. Apologies in advance.

The Chicago dog is said to be “dragged through the garden” it has so many vegetative toppings on it. There seems to be a few variations, but the idea is relish, pickle spears, tomato, sport peppers, mustard, onions, and celery salt top an all-beef hot dog. Since I had spicy pickles, with a sweet and tangy flavor, I decided I to forgo the sport peppers, figuring I had the pucker and spice covered. (more…)

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Cooking outdoors, Dairy free, Dinner, In the Garden, Lunch by Courtney

Let’s just preface this post by saying I’ve always hated pickles. Not just disliked, but hated in that “oh my god I’m so grossed out by this thing” way that you can hate a food. In high school someone taunted me by waving a pickle in my direction (of the food variety, let’s not let our minds end up in that track!). I immediately, without hesitation, slugged her as hard as I could. Hmmm, anger issues much?

Anyhow, fast forward to the present-day, calm-cool-semi-collected Courtney, who last year in her CSA received a pound of pickling cucumbers. Not one to throw away good food, I decided I would attempt to pickle the things, and at the least I could push them off on my husband and friends. I dug in, searching my favorite sites for pickle recipes, hoping to come across something that didn’t include dill. After all, if I’m going to spend the time in the kitchen, I would like to at least try the thing I make. Not being a fan of dill or pickles, I can’t imagine bringing such a thing near my tongue.

Then I stumbled upon it – the Sriracha pickle! Sriracha = something I love. Pickle = something I hate. (more…)

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Condiments, Dairy free, Gluten free, Prep for Later Use, Vegetarian by Courtney

I’m so excited about finishing my new spice rack that I want to share it with everyone! Ninety six test tubes arranged neatly, alphabetically, in my cabinet. I detailed the process of creating the rack on Decoration Inspiration over at Madd Hatter’s Lab.

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miscellany by Courtney