Wilted Spinach Salad

What do you do when you have half a red onion and a crap-ton of spinach to eat?

Well, apparently you make this spinach salad.

Wilted Spinach Salad
Recipe halved from my Country Living design book
makes 3 servings

1 Tbs olive oil
1/4-1/2 thinly sliced red onion
1 large garlic clove thinly chopped (or 1.5 normal sized ones)
Enough spinach to overflow your cast iron pan
1 Tbs water
1/2 tsp salt (add more to taste)
1 Tbs vinegar
1/4 tsp pepper

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for about a minute. Add the spinach, water and salt and cook until the spinach is beginning to wilt, but doesn't completely. Put in medium serving bowl and add the vinegar and pepper. Eat!

I was only able to eat about half of this. It's doesn't make a ton, but it is filling.

Whole-Wheat, Buttermilk, Blueberry Pancakes

Yesterday was another amazing day. I went with my friend to the farmer's market in Moscow, bought a whole bunch of produce, then we went antique hunting (I found some fun things there too!),  and then had dinner at her parents house (pesto pasta, fresh salad, bread from the farmer's marked, and sweet corn. Holy yum).

Our biggest purchase by far at the market was a flat of blueberries. A flat is $30, so we split it.  In my excitement to get the berries washed and plopped into the freezer, I forgot to take a pictures of the flat. But it is kind of a lot of berries! We each kept some out of the freezer to be eaten fresh. This is where the pancakes come in!

I already have a whole wheat pancake recipe on here, I know, but this one takes the (pan)cake. Even though they look kinda ugly.

 
It's adapted from Smitten Kitchen here.

Whole Wheat, Buttermilk, Blueberry Pancakes
(I halved the recipe because I'm just cooking for one person, so this recipe only serves about two. I'd double it if cooking for a group)

1 cup Whole Wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 Tbs sugar
1 egg separated
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (I used skim milk + 1 tsp vinegar and let it sit for a while)
unsalted butter for the pan

BLUEBERRIES or CHOCOLATE CHIPS or BANANAS or WHATEVER ELSE! Seriously, almost anything would taste good here.

Preheat griddle or cast iron skillet on medium-high heat. Mix dry ingredients together. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Whisk together the egg yolk and buttermilk.  Stir the yolk and milk mixture into the dry ingredients. Finally gently fold in the egg whites to all of it.

To cook your pancakes, Smitten Kitchen has a wonderful set of tips for cooking them just right here.

Set temperature on the griddle or stove top to medium, and put 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan. Now drop in your add-ins. For blueberries, plunk them down on top of the cooking batter. Wait a few minutes until the pancake is cooked on that side, flip it over, and let it cook just a bit more before setting it on your plate, drizzling it with pure maple syrup, and demolishing it.

Enjoy. Note how the steaming pancakes actually fogged up my lens!

Round two :)

Spicy Scrambled Eggs {insert oohs and ahhs}

Oh my gosh guys. Tonight's dinner was epic. So epic, delicious, amazing, and just awesome that I am going to tell you about it even before I tell you about my crazy and equally rockin'.

Spicy Scrambled Eggs
Recipe from From Mom with Love: Complete Guide to Indian Cooking & Entertaining by Pushpa Bhargava

Ingredients:
8 large eggs
1 large onion chopped
1 green chili, seeded and finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes (I used three small ones), diced (optional)
2 Tbs oil (I used olive)
1/4 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt

1. Whisk eggs until frothed.
2. Heat olive oil in large nonstick frying pan on medium.
3. Add the chopped onion and chili, stir and let cook until the onions are soft.
4. Add the diced tomatoes to the mix and saute for a while.
5. Whisk the eggs one more time while the tomatoes are cooking, and add all the spices.
6. Put the egg mixture in the pan and cook until it's ready! I like to wait until the eggs start to brown just a teensy bit. Undercooked scrambled eggs are nasty. Runny yolks in fried eggs, however, are heaven.
7. Serve with toast. I made mine with my cast iron skillet on the stovetop because we have yet to find a toaster here, and it worked perfectly!

EAT AND ENJOY.
Serves 4. I have 3 more servings left. Breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? I think so. Tomorrow is covered.

Finally Home

Wow this summer went fast. Before I knew it I was on the plane headed back to my family, the states, and my new apartment. I will have pictures of the apartment coming soon, but first I want to show you what I've been up to in our little kitchen!

Last night: homemade marinara + whole wheat organic penne + bed of spinach + glass of skim milk

Today's Breakfast: french toast + peanut butter + banana + drizzle of syrup

For lunch today: pan fried tilapia + spinach + pat of butter

Amazing.

p.s. I use "lunch" sized plates, so portions appear rather large in photos. Just a heads up!