what a week

yay summer!

the weather's hot, the farmer's market has a plethora of vegetables to choose from, the new bbq works a charm & i've been having lots of fun cooking this week.

this, to me, is summer in a bowl. it's the grilled vegetable medley that accompanies both the new grilled chicken main & the new vegan grilled tofu main. this is how i like to eat - citrus, herbs, grilled veg, garlic.

the base of the dish is a creamy white bean ragout with roasted garlic, lemon & basil (inspired by the white bean, lemon & kale soup i made last week), then topped with grilled zucchini, asparagus, corn, oven roasted cherry tomatoes, arugula, basil & a touch more lemon.

the meat version has grilled chicken breast that marinated overnight in buttermilk, garlic & herbs and is topped with parmesan cheese.

small $10 large $20

the vegan version has grilled tofu,

and grilled cremini mushrooms with balsamic.

small $9 large $18

here's what the finished product looks like:

this week there's also a 'southwestern themed' smoked chicken main course. i started with chicken thighs from shani's farm. then i added a spice rub of cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, and some other secret herbs & spices and let it marinate overnight. then i hickory smoked it, low & slow until it was super tender, pulled it apart like pulled pork, mixed in a tangy bbq sauce & called it a day.

it's accompanied by a black bean & corn succotash.

there's also red & green bell peppers, cubanelles, jalapenos, oven roasted tomatoes, green onions, lime & cilantro in this one. it's served over a chipotle rice and the entire dish is topped with jalapeno havarti cheese, comme ca:

this one would be great heated up and served in a grilled tortilla - that would make one heck of a burrito!... i'm hungry.

small $10 large $20

last week i sold out of all of the smoked mac & cheese but there's still some smoked brisket in the freezer. there's also a couple chicken parms, chicken leek pies, vegan lasagnas, asian-inspired pulled pork dishes, shepherd's pies, and fish cakes & beans. this week large lobster mac & cheese is still on special, priced at $20 instead of $25.

i'll have four salads again this week. 

the quinoa remains the same with carrots, snow peas, jicama, green onions, celery, cilantro, lime, peanuts and a spicy curry dressing.

the broccoli is also unchanged with dried cranberries, toasted almonds, sunflower seeds, bacon (i'll make some vegetarian too), red onion, red bell pepper & a creamy dressing.

the 4-bean will have celery, red onion, red bell pepper, dill, parsley & a garlic-dijon dressing.

i'm skipping the sweet potato salad this week and making a more traditional potato salad with celery, pickled garlic scapes, grainy mustard, dill & tarragon.

today is supposed to be a scorcher, today is also baking day. i'm up earlier than usual to get a jump on things before it gets too hot & hopefully i can have the oven turned off by lunchtime... my NEW oven that is. this one is bigger and it's pretty much a miracle, i can use the bottom rack without incinerating everything. there should be a marked reduction in my time spent at the oven on fridays - yahooooo! 

there will be carrot, banana, red velvet, vanilla & chocolate cupcakes this week, along with maple walnut shortbreads, passionfruit meringue tarts, rhubarb-strawberry cheesecakes, sour cherry-raspberry cheesecakes, oatmeal cookies & chocolate-coconut macaroons.

see ya tomorrow :)