For my first Foodie Friday I am giving you a "twofer"...or two for one! I can admit, I am a social media addict...I mean, come on, I am writing a blog and hoping that I have actual readers who will enjoy it...I have an active Facebook page, my Instagram is totally cute, and I have several Pintrest boards, although I have been less active on Pintrest since I got married and now have no use for my zillion pins for wedding ideas. Maybe one day I'll have a baby and can resume frantically pinning the cutest nursery ideas EVER!! But I digress.
My first Foodie Friday delight was actually brought to my attention on Pintrest. After my last trip to the local Germantown Farmer's Market, I had most of the ingredients, so I decided to do the unthinkable, and actually make something I had pinned. My creation: Avocado Salad with homemade croutons.
I know, right? I promise, it was just as yummy as it looks! I started with fresh tomatoes from the farmers market, giving them a rough chop. I think I used two whole tomatoes. The recipe calls for cherry tomatoes cut in half, but since I had these local beauties, I used them instead. (A side note, using a full grown tomato does make the salad a bit more juicy...but I didn't mind that.) I bought sweet corn at the Farmer's Market as well. The recipe calls for you to grill the corn...but:
A) We live in an apartment and aren't supposed to have grills.
B) We totally break that rule and have a charcoal grill which I did not feel like lighting and using.
So, I just boiled the corn, cut it from the cob, and then threw it in my cast iron skillet with a little EVOO to char it a bit. I had a fresh avocado, which I diced. The dressing is the juice of one lime, a clove of garlic - minced, EVOO, salt and pepper. Whisk that to death and then pour it over the salad mixture. At the end, you add as much cilantro as you like. For me...that's like, a ton...because I love it so much. For the croutons I used a baguette that I purchased at the Farmer's Market. I knew that it would not stay soft for more than a day or so, so when it go a little crisp, I cut it into rough slices, coated them with EVOO and some herbs, and baked them for 5 minutes at 400 degrees. Enjoy! It's a great summer snack!
My second Foodie Friday treat was a happy experiment. I had several peaches left from my purchase at the Farmer's Market and I knew we were going to be out of town for the weekend and if I didn't use them, they'd spoil. I had also bought a pint of fresh blueberries at Kroger because they were on sale and because my husband said he loved them. However, after several days, he hadn't eaten one of them. Therefore, they were fair game! I thought, "Why not make a tartlett?" Because who doesn't love deserts in mini?!
I started by slicing the peaches into thick slices, then added the blueberries, some granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and some hot water in order to make a spicy compote.
The bonus of adding blueberries is that the compote takes on this gorgeous magenta-y purple color!
I then took a pie crust, making sure that the top and bottom was well flowered when I rolled it out, and cut it into four pieces. I then rolled the edges up creating a small crust line and filled them with the compote.
I mean, that's totally cute, right?
I made four tartletts and baked them at 425 for as long as it took for the crust to brown nicely.
The finished product!
I topped the warm tartlett with two small scoops of vanilla bean ice cream.
It was like heaven.
Truly.
I am a dessert goddess.
Hmmm...that's probably why I can never quite manage the Paleo lifestyle. And am still chubby. But I have a cute face and a sparkling personality.
But that's a blog for another day.
So, there you have it! My first of many, I hope, Foodie Fridays!!! If you have a love for cooking and great recipes to share, let me know! If there's anything I love more than cooking, it's cooking for and with friends!
Until next time...
Happy Eating! <3
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