Easter Picnic

Every Easter Dallas has a Pet Parade and holiday music in Lee Park.  Lee Park is off Turtle Creek Boulevard. It is a very pretty area with azaleas in bloom this time of year.

For the last 25 or so years, short a few, I have spent part of my Easter with friends either watching the parade or having a picnic there while the symphony plays.

Last night a friend and I decided to head to the pet parade today. I thought it would be nice to put together a simple picnic lunch for us while we watched the activities. I ran to the store and picked up a few ingredients and today we had an enjoyable Easter people and pet watching and picnicking in the park.

Here is the meal I put together:

Easter Picnic

Beverage

Martinelli’s Sparkling Apple Cranberry Juice

Sandwich

Mediterranean Stuffed Bread

1 loaf Kalamata olive bread (Rosemary or Sourdough bread would be excellent too!)

1 jar roasted red peppers or fresh red peppers roasted and skinned

6 slices mozzarella cheese

3 roma tomatoes, deseeded and chopped

4 thick slices cucumber seeded, chopped and squeezed dry

2 tablespoons  each Fresh parsley, fresh mint chopped

2 teaspoons fresh thyme stripped from the bark and chopped

1/8 teaspoon herbs de provence (optional)

1 tablespoon capers drained

Olive oil to brush on the bread (about 1 tbl)

1 garlic clove cut in half

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons creamy French mustard (French basil mustard is great)

Dash of garlic powder or minced garlic to taste
Salt and Pepper to taste

Crumbled feta or goat cheese to taste

Cut  top 1/3 of bread off horizontally. Scoop out bottom reserving about ½ inch of the shell. Brush the interior with olive oil and rub with cut garlic.

Make dressing: Mix lemon juice, remaining olive oil, mustard and garlic powder in a small bowl.

Mix chopped tomatoes, cucumber, herbs, capers with salt and pepper to taste. Add enough dressing to moisten.

Layer the hollowed out bread with roasted pepper, tomato mixture, slices of mozzarella, continuing layering ending with the cheese.   If desired you can sprinkle a little crumbled feta or goat cheese on top.

Replace the top piece of bread. Wrap bread tightly in aluminum foil and refrigerate with a heavy plate on top to weight it down. Refrigerate overnight. When ready to eat, slice in serving size pieces and serve with a little extra dressing on the side. Enjoy.

Note: If you can get a round loaf of bread you can cut the pieces in wedges. Mine was oval so I sliced it.

Fruit:

Clean and stem 1 container of strawberries and place in a pretty clear, covered bowl.

Dessert: 

Flourless Chocolate Chip Chickpea Blondies with Sea Salt

Garbanzo beans add rich texture and protein to these flourless, gluten-free, vegan bars without impacting the chocolatey almond-butter goodness.

Ingredients:

• Cooking spray
• 1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup almond or peanut butter  ( used ¼ cup of each)
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup or agave (honey can used too but it isn’t vegan. I used a blend of agave and honey)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegan (or regular) chocolate chips, divide

I used regular Ghiradelli semi-sweet chips and a few white chocolate chips on top.

• Sea salt

Directions:

1.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray.
2. In a food processor, pulse chickpeas, nut butter, sweetener, vanilla, salt, baking powder, and baking soda until smooth. Fold in 1/3 cup chocolate chips. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan and sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons chocolate chips. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and edges are slightly brown. Cool pan for 20 minutes on a wire rack. Sprinkle with sea salt before serving. Cut in serving size pieces.

Refrigerate then wrap in foil to bring to the picnic.

Dessert Recipe provided by Monique Volz of AmbitiousKitchen.com

San Diego and Sandwiches

Image by San Diego Shooter via Flickr

I was in San Diego for a week, celebrating my Mother’s birthday with family. I haven’t done much cooking, but San Diego is a great “food” city. The food is fresh, often locally grown or produced and the chefs are very creative.

I always come back inspired with ideas for new twists on old favorites. Years ago I ate at a Café called Zinc in Solana Beach(http://www.zinccafe.com/cafe.htm). It is a small place with a few outdoor tables. I believe they do more catering and take out than dine in business. Still, the food was good and I got my first idea for a grilled veggie sandwich from them. I don’t think the original sandwich is on the menu today.

I bought some freshly baked Kalamata Olive Bread, Manchego Cheese which I sliced and some fresh vegetables. My favorite combo included very thin vertical slices of fresh eggplant and or zucchini which I lightly grilled, slices of heirloom tomato, avocado and red bell pepper. I like to think of it as a Ratatouille sandwich. I lightly toasted the bread on the grill, rubbed it with a cut clove of garlic, then layered the vegetables and cheese, topping with the second slice of bread. I then grilled the whole thing until the cheese melted. It was my favorite sandwich for many years.

This trip one of my sisters and I did a long beach walk, while my mother and other sister had coffee at a nice local café, The Stratford Café in Del Mar(http://www.stratfordcourtcafe.com/). It is a great place for a leisurely breakfast with Gourmet Coffees, Smoothies and simple but interesting breakfast (and lunch) fare.

After our walk we had brunch there. My sister ordered a sandwich they called the Vermonster. It consisted of smoked turkey, apple, cheddar and a cranberry mayonnaise on mixed grain bread.

I thought it was a great idea. The Cranberry mayonnaise would be easy to make using canned cranberry sauce and a good quality low fat (of course) mayonnaise. I would add some toasted chopped pecans to it (and maybe some finely chopped candied ginger). We weren’t thrilled with their Squaw bread. It had garlic and cilantro in it which was not a good mix with the cranberry. A good wheat or grain bread would be best.

For a vegetarian, the sandwich could be made with a good sharp cheddar, granny smith apple and fresh lettuce or even red onion thinly sliced. I tend to want to make fresh cranberry sauce with some grated orange zest to add to the mayonnaise, but canned would work too.

Carnivores can include the slices of turkey. It doesn’t even have to be a post Thanksgiving treat! This would be a great sandwich any time of the year!

I ordered a breakfast sandwich at The Stanford which was also good. It was a croissant sandwich with scrambled egg, yellow pepper (the best part), fresh pesto and a slice of smoked Gouda. I enjoyed it but if I were to make it myself, I would leave out the pesto and use regular Gouda rather than smoked. I would also melt the cheese. I am not big on croissants so I would probably use a sourdough roll instead.

One of my favorite summer sandwiches is very simple. I made it yesterday in fact. Lightly toasted sourdough bread (can you tell I love sourdough?), slices of a big ripe tasty tomato, avocado slices, red bell pepper slices, a few basil leaves or fresh oregano whichever I am in the mood for, chopped green or black olives, low fat mayonnaise and slices of reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese (feta is good with this too). Sometimes I may use cucumber in place of the avocado if I want to lower the fat content. If you need to add meat, a juicy slice of chicken breast would be a good choice.

Zinc has a sandwich on the menu that I haven’t tried yet but plan to this week. It includes finely sliced fennel, celery, radish, sweet peppers, tapenade, aioli, arugula, hardboiled egg and vinaigrette. I probably won’t include the celery or the vinaigrette but it sure sounds like an interesting combination.

We really were on an eating adventure for the week. There are too many places to mention but another great dinner we had was at Bertrand’s at Mr. A’s(http://www.bertrandatmisteras.com/menus/dinner.htm). It is in a building overlooking San Diego with a terrific view of the Western sunset. The food is first class as was the service. Sunset was incredible and it was fun overlooking the city. If you get to San Diego, I would highly recommend it. Our choices included a fresh Multicolor Young Beet Salad with Goat Cheese which was my favorite, Escargot, Pan Roasted Sole with Lobster Mousse, Grilled Kobe Style Wagyu Rib Eye Beef and a Black Sea Bass with Seafood Sausage combination.

I have included some pictures from the trip to entice you to visit the city sometime and enjoy the culinary diversity. Right now, I am going to take a reprieve from eating and get some exercise!!