Easy Meatless Monday on the patio!

Last night was a gorgeous night on our patio with a really colorful and fresh dinner. Oh, I am really looking forward to that fresh CSA produce bag to start arriving next week! Of course, with the boys in track and Taekwondo (tournament this weekend) I often want easy dinners...and this one was so easy I can hardly call it cooking! I prepared a greek vegetable salad, fresh fettucini with pesto (I had made pesto at the end of last summer and put in the freezer but you can buy wonderful pesto in the refrigerator pasta section of your market by the fresh pastas ), homemade bread--it was a beautiful day for rising bread (What you don't like to make bread??? Really you should give it a try--it is so satisfying and fills the house with wonderful aroma, but if you don't have the time, check out your local grocery's bakery, they have some really nice fresh baked crusty loaves for sale), and a bowlful of fresh berries and mango with amaretto, and whipped cream.

I made the bread in the afternoon while I was here working in my home office.  I had purchased the fresh fettucini, which cooks in 3 minutes, in the refrigerated pasta section at my local grocery. Boil the pasta per package directions, drain but reserve the pasta water, add the pesto toss, then add enough of the pasta water to make the final pasta sauce. Top with grated parmesan cheese.

Amy's Greek Salad

Chop the following (use in the proportions you like--and make as much as you need depending on the number of people):
fennel (anise) and the soft fronds
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 green bell pepper
1/3 red onion
1 clove of finely chopped garlic
1-2 tomatoes (cut in half & squeeze to remove some liquid and seeds out before chopping)
cucumber (use a spoon to scoop out the seeds before chopping)
variety of olives pitted and rough chopped
feta cheese crumbled on top

Dressing:
(if increasing the amount of vegetables above, just increase the amount of dressing here)
Zest and juice of one to two lemons
1-2 tsp honey
4 T of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Toss dressing and vegetables together and serve.

Fresh berries and mango:
Cut up mango and strawberries, toss with blueberries, squeeze some honey over the berries, add a pinch of salt and then add 1-2 T of either Amaretto or Chombord liqueur.  Let berries macerate for 5-10 minutes (or longer), for each serving add a dollop of real whipped cream.

Leftover fettucini......doesn't go to waste here! I love recycling food, as my family isn't much on eating leftovers, I recreate them. My friend Cathy and I had a wonderful walk on the Genoa Biking & Hiking Trail this morning, then we made lunch.....such a gorgeous morning & afternoon to play hooky! After walking about 6 miles or so, this really hit the spot!

Amy's Italian Salad:
Washed & dried spinach, romaine, and radicchio; add:

Chop and add the following:

fennel (anise) 

red bell pepper

green bell pepper

red onion

avocado

1-2 tomatoes (cut in half & squeeze to remove some liquid and seeds out before chopping)

cucumber (use a spoon to scoop out the seeds before chopping)

green beans (cook in the microwave for approx 2 minutes on a plate with a little water and covered in plastic wrap, then rinse under cold water to stop cooking, and cut in half if too long).

Add: Some of the cold fettucini noodles with pesto (you can just boil up spaghetti, fettucini or angel hair pasta and rinse in cold water and drain if you don't have leftover pasta).

Toss all with Italian dressing (my favorite is good seasonings mixed with red wine vinegar and olive oil).

Top with shredded parmesan or shavings of parmesan if desired.

Enjoy!