A food filled break: Part 1

I’ve just returned to New York after 2.5 weeks off. I was very lucky to get this large chunk of time and I spent the beginning of it an Atlanta visiting William and then the last part of it in London with my parents and William. Alex came down from Scotland for a visit as well. What’s enclosed here is a post I toyed with titling: 5 days with William’s blender. After some serious research (more than I would ever do), William purchased a beautiful Breville blender and proceeded to make MANY recipes that required it. Here are just a few things we created during my time in Atlanta. Alex will post a wonderful fish taco recipe we make in London next for Part 2.

Arugula Salad with Sausage and White Beans

This is what sparked the purchase of the blender in the first place. A delicious salad from a favorite starter cookbook, Cook’s Illustrated The Best 30-Minute Recipe, that I gave to William to foster his desire to cook more.

Pesto

I harvested a good deal of William’s basil to make some homemade pesto. We put it on everything… bagels, toast with d’affinois cheese, salmon, grilled cheese with sautéed shallots… everything!

Milkshakes

I mean, what else could you possibly want to do with a blender? Ours had fresh peanut butter, coffee and cookies ‘n cream ice cream. William did make some kale, strawberry and avocado smoothies but I “failed” to document them (I also “failed” to eat them).

Beef Teriyaki

Another recipe from the Cook’s Illustrated book! This one didn’t require the blender. I’ll give full credit to William on this one as it’s not something I would have leaped at instantly but it was delicious.

Smitten Kitchen’s Broccoli Slaw and Pesto Crusted Salmon

William’s brother made the slaw for their family a few months back and I guess he’d been craving it…next thing I knew we were at Whole Foods for the 3rd day in a row. He was right to do it- it was delicious. Wonder how long it’ll take him to buy a food processor now…

There were also plenty so soft scrambled eggs with sautéed shallots, spinach, roasted garlic, etc but no photos to share. Now to go on a diet post-vacation… my turn for kale smoothies.