Quesadillas, Foccacia, Pie and Thai Curry (Not All at Once!)

Summer is nearly here, and blogging becomes less of a priority. I think that's normal, right? We had our first CSA pickup on Tuesday. Due to a very wet, chilly May, it's off to a slow start. That's okay. It just means more for later. This week we got a nice bag of salad mix, a beautiful bunch of spinach, a nice bunch of radishes, and lots of fresh chives. Tomorrow I'm going to start using it up, so stay tuned for that. It all looks so beautiful!

We were once again out of town last weekend, and Sleek left today for a long weekend of fishing with his brother and friends. So, I haven't been doing a whole lot of cooking. So, I'll start with last week...

Sleek was working some long hours last week, so to save my sanity, I kept things pretty simple. Wednesday evening I made some veggie quesadillas. I diced an onion and red bell pepper and sauteed them with a bit of garlic until soft. Then I added a can of black beans (rinsed and drained), and a generous sprinkling of taco seasoning. Then I just spread it between some whole-grain tortillas and grilled it. Easy, yummy and relatively healthy!


I had been dying to make the foccacia that Carrie blogged about a couple weeks ago. She found it on the blog of Vegan Dad. Very easy recipe. It turned out great. I made a very simple spaghetti with olive oil and garlic and roasted asparagus to go with it. I can't wait to get a big bag of fresh basil from the CSA and make a nice pesto to slather on this foccacia. OMG. It will be so good!



Friday was the day we headed to my hometown. I decided to make a strawberry-rhubarb pie to take along. I had dough in the freezer that I had made last month, so it was a relatively simple operation. Here's how I made it:

3-4 cups rhubarb, sliced in 1/4 inch pieces
2 cups sliced strawberries
scant 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 TBS cornstarch
1 cup sugar
sprinkling of brown sugar
a few TBS chilled butter (or margarine) cut up to dot the filling

I filled the pie shell and topped with a complete top crust. (Not ready to attempt a lattice-top yet. Plus, I like lots of crust with a fruit pie.) I baked it at 475 degrees for about 15 minutes, then reduced the temp. to 375 degrees for another 45 minutes.


I had really been craving a Thai curry, so Tuesday evening I whipped one up. I started by lightly sauteeing an onion, green bell pepper, a few carrots and a couple cups of broccoli florets. I added in a good tablespoon of minced ginger and a couple large cloves of minced garlic. I let it sizzle for a minute of so, then added probably 2.5 tsp of Thai curry paste. I smashed it around a little, then added a can and a half of lite coconut milk. To that, I added about a tablespoon of brown sugar, a good pinch of tumeric and a pinch salt. Then I added about a cup of frozen green beans and brought it to a boil, reduced the heat and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. I made some coconut rice to go with it. Honestly, it was so good we just couldn't believe it. It had a nice sweet and spicy flavor to it. I'll certainly be making that one again!