Snacks, Friends, Recipes

To my surprise, I recently found myself in a crazy cooking/entertaining mood...imagine that! Here are just a few of my recent creations. The days have been blurring together so I apologize for the massive recipe dump. Enjoy!

Before the visitor/fun-filled Labor Day weekend, I had a friend over for quick snacks before a night out. I still had a ton of basil so I decided to make mini polenta pizzas:

Mini Polenta Pizzas

1 log polenta, sliced into 1/4" disks

1 heirloom tomato, diced

1 c marinara sauce

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tbsp chili flakes

1/3 c fresh mozzarella, chopped

4 large basil leaves, chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place polenta slices onto a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes on each side.

In a small bowl, combine tomato, sauce, garlic powder and chili flakes. Top each polenta slice with sauce mixture, mozzarella and basil. Return to oven for 5 minutes or until cheese melts.

I kinda winged this snack so measurements may be a bit off. Also, there were just 2 of us so obviously I wasn't making the WHOLE log o polenta ;p

By the time the long weekend rolled around, I still couldn't shake my urge to cook so naturally I jumped at the opportunity to whip up a portable meal for our Sunday day trip to Healdsburg :)

Sorry for the lack of photos...totally forgot to take some until all the food was eaten :(

(source)

Israeli Couscous & Beet Salad

2 candy stripe beets, diced and roasted

1 1/3 c Israeli couscous, cooked according to package

1/3 c arugula, chopped

1 onion, thinly sliced

pinch salt

splash balsamic vinegar

1 tsp olive oil

2 tbsp sherry vinegar

1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

Heat 1 tsp olive oil in a pan over medium low heat. Add onions and cook for 15 minutes or until onions start to soften. Add salt and balsamic vinegar. Cook for another 5 minutes and set aside.

Whisk together sherry vinegar, sugar, rice wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Combine couscous, beets and onions in a large bowl. Drizzle half the dressing and stir to combine. Refrigerate overnight, reserving remaining dressing. Stir in additional dressing before serving.

More to come soon!