....is the Heart of the Artichoke

Today is an exciting day! I'm heading up to Sacramento with CPB to meet up with my little brother, HLCIII & his lovely girlfriend HV, to go to our cousin's wedding in Sonoma. More on that later, I was lucky enough to help her with some fun wedding projects I'll share soon.

This past July our other Hamilton girl cousin, Cassie, got married! It was a beautiful day and we had a great time celebrating Cassie & Todd. We also got to spend some time with Ashley & her fiancé Joe, and one evening we had a wonderful dinner party with them, HLCIII, HV & two of Joe's friends that live in San Diego. After a great morning with Ashley, including a yoga class at Mosaic, lunch at Mona Lisa Deli, and a beer from bottlecraft. We used my other David Tanis cookbook, Heart of the Artichoke, to help inspire the menu. (When the Cook's visited I used his 'Platter of Figs' cookbook the whole weekend, you can see Menu One & Menu Two.)

Tonights Menu:

Greek-ish Salad

Grilled Squash & Mozzarella

Herbed Rice

Grilled Salmon with Rosemary & Lemon

Dutch Oven French Bread

Greek-ish Salad

1 Cup Pearl Tomatoes, Quartered

1 Cup Cucumbers, Diced

1 Cup Cerignola Olives

1/2 Cup Feta

1/4 Cup Red Onion, Minced

Small Handful Parsley

1 Lemon, Zest & Juice

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

Combine all of the vegetables & the feta, toss with herbs, lemon zest & juice, olive oil, salt & pepper. To make ahead of time wait to add feta and herbs.

Grilled Squash & Mozzarella

2 Zucchini, Sliced Lengthwise

2 Yellow Squash, Sliced Lengthwise

2 Patty Pan Squash, , Sliced Crosswise

Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

1 Ball Fresh Mozzarella, Torn

Slice vegetables and coat in olive oil, salt & pepper. Grill 2 minutes each side until squash is warmed throughout and softened slightly. Tear mozzarella and cover warm squash and allow the cheese to melt.

Herbed Rice

1-1/2 Cups Uncooked Rice

2 Tbsp Butter

2 Sprigs Rosemary

Small Handful Parsley

4-5 Green Onions, Thinly Sliced

Salt & Pepper

Cook rice as directed for 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat mix in butter & herbs. 

Grilled Salmon with Rosemary & Lemon

1 lb (2 pieces) Salmon Filet

1 Lemon, Sliced

2 Sprigs Rosemary

Olive Oil

Preheat grill to medium-high heat.

Season the salmon on both sides with salt and black pepper. Lay out 2 large pieces of aluminum foil. In the center of each piece, put 1 piece of salmon, 1 sprig rosemary, 1/2 of the lemon slices and 2 tbsp. olive oil. Season with salt and black pepper again. Bring up all 4 corners of the foil to begin to form a pouch. Tightly seal the packets.

Put the packets on the grill and close the lid. Cook about 4 minutes. Remove from grill, open, serve immediately.

And to complete the meal, a French Loaf.

Happy Cooking!