Summer Begins + Blog neglect

I haven't blogged since before Memorial day...which leads me to believe that I've been distracted by summer's temptations. Now I'm not saying that's going to change, but it is an excuse. I've also been eating a lot of salads, and those are rarely blog-worthy for me.

My creativity has been slacking too. I saw some cipollini at the grocery store, and I knew just the smitten kitchen recipe I wanted to try: balsamic glazed sweet and sour cipollini. I used tomato paste instead of tomato sauce, and ate them with a fried egg and some greens.


I did invent a new summer casserole, which would really be better named a Late Summer Casserole. It was similar to eggplant parmigiana, for which my mother has an excellent recipe. I didn't bread and fry anything, but I did layer tomatoes with eggplant and corn. In between I used bread crumbs and cheese (mozzarella and Parmesan).


After a long day of work and a run, I had a salad for dinner last night. That just wasn't enough, so I made this onion frittata. I used frozen peas too.

Luckily, I saved my fresh peas for something a little different. I made a pasta salad similar to this one by the smitten kitchen. Mine had a bunch of chopped green onions, plus cilantro, garlic and chillies in the dressing.

Pasta with Spinach and Blue Cheese

I've been sitting on the dish for almost a week now. Luckily, my spinach had a far-off expiration date. I actually bought the pasta, Fusilli Col Buco, about two months ago, and I've spent much of that time dwelling on what kind of awesome sauce to put on it. This particular pasta is great for carrying sauces, so this might not have been the perfect topping. Obviously, it was super delicious, and I still have the other half of the box to combine with another sauce.

Ingredients:
Almost an entire bag of spinach, large stems removed, coarsely chopped
Half a box of Fusilli Cos Buco, or another spaghetti-like noodle
As much blue cheese as you can handle (I used blue goat cheese, which was creamy and wonderful)
Salt and pepper to taste
A tablespoon of butter
**Adapted from this Mark Bittman recipe**

Clean and chop your spinach. Bring water to a boil and add pasta. When it's almost done, add the spinach, blanching it. Drain. Return pasta and spinach to pot with the butter, cheese, salt and pepper. Turn a the burner on low if necessary. Mix well while it all melts together. Serve with fresh tomatoes if desired.