A Weekend on Whidbey Island

A few weekends ago, I was lucky enough to escape the city for a stay on Whidbey Island. I was starting to feel cramped and annoyed with the city noise, so the trip couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.

With my bag packed full of angel food cake, fresh strawberries, wine, and a good book; we made the two and a half hour trip north. Within minutes of breathing in the salty air, I could feel my tension slip away.

Here is how we spent the weekend:

Happy 4th of July: A Week in Pictures

I hope your weekend is full of sun, fun, and good cheer. Instead of leaving you with a summer recipe, I thought I'd share some photos from the last few weeks.

And, just in case you need somthing to keep you busy, here are some more of my favorite sites to visit:

The Delicious Life

Caviar and Codfish

Hungry Bruno

Ink On My Fingers

Cheers!

Making a Come Back with a Tasty Strata

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been missing from these parts for going on 4 weeks now. I’m going to mostly blame it on the new job I recently started, but it’s also been a bit of laziness on my part, too. After almost five months off from the daily grind of an 8-to-5’er, I forgot what it’s like to have to balance both a job and hobbies. But enough with the excuses already; I’m back and I have a savory strata (and a view other tidbits) to share with you today.

Yesterday was a pretty big day for me- I ran the Rock n’ Roll half marathon. The process in training for this half marathon has been an interesting one: one day I’d love running and the next I would hate it and swear I’d never do it again. But in the end, when I crossed the finish line yesterday, it was all worth it. Besides the pure joy and pride you feel when you run 13.1 miles; you get to eat. And eat I did. Even with all of the food I had yesterday, I woke up ravenous this morning. And since I hadn’t been in the kitchen cooking much of anything these days, I figured now is as good of time as any to try Bon Appetit’s sausage, Fontina, and bell pepper strata.

(A Bald Eagle decided to bless us with his presence during the race)

I was so ravenous, in fact, that I didn't really stop to take a proper photo of the dish before diving in and eating my way through half of the strata. Needless to say it was delicious, and would make a perfect brunch for a small crowd of people. Just throw in a small salad and a mimosa and you're set.

It feels so good to be back here again. And this time I promise not to abandon Lovely Olio for so long. I'll have too much to tell you and show you, what with my new camera (which I didn't use in the above pictures) and pickling/canning kit. Thanks for waiting for me to return!

Beat the Heat: White Bean and Tuna Salad with Roasted Peppers

My goodness it has been H-O-T in Seattle. The sun has been showering the city with 80+ degree days and long, warm nights. It’s so hot that I’ve had to take two cold showers today, just to keep my wits about myself. Don’t get me wrong, I love sunny days where everyone is frolicking about in their shortest shorts, and sun dazed smiles, but, you know, it just doesn’t need to be this hot.

I don’t know how you handle days like this where you live; but the last thing I want to do is turn the oven on or stand over a hot stove to cook something. I just want something quick and cool to fill me up, and give me strength to beat the heat. So, like usual, I turned to my ever expanding cookbook collection to look for just such a dish. And low and behold I found the perfect salad in Renee Behnke‘s new book, Memorable Recipes.

Just glancing over the list of ingredients, I knew the salad was going to be tasty. But oh boy, I had no idea just how good it was going to be. After letting it rest for a bit, I grabbed a quick bite of the salad and was perfectly content with the flavor. It wasn't until much later, when I came home from a evening out, and shared a bowl of it with my dear friend, Catleah, that I realized just how amazing it was. In the hours between the two meals, the flavors had a chance to marry and soak into the beans and tuna, which resulted in a -and I quote- "deeply characteristic" flavor. It tasted of bright lemon that was perfectly balanced by the crispy celery and creamy mustard. Lets just say we literally licked our bowls clean. Now, I know that isn't a very pretty image to leave you with, but, well, it was that good.

White Bean and Tuna Salad with Roasted Peppers
Adapted from Memorable Recipes

2 cups canned white beans (such as Great Northern)
2 cans (6 ounces each) albacore tuna in water, drained
2 red bell peppers, roasted, peeled, seeded, and chopped*
3 green onions, chopped
3 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

Garlic and Mustard Vinaigrette
½ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil**
¼ cup champagne vinegar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon dry mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

1. For the dressing, whisk together the oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, and mustard's. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside and let rest for 10 minutes so the flavors have time to marry.

2. Break the tuna into bite-sized pieces and stir into a bowl with the beans, roasted peppers, green onions, celery, dill, and dressing. Let sit for 30 minutes before serving.***

Notes:

* I used jarred roasted red peppers in this step and they tasted wonderful.
** If you want to add extra flavor, use a lemon flavored oil in place of plain extra-virgin olive oil.

***The longer you let the salad sit the better the flavors will be- trust me.

A Pasta Salad To Remember

It is nearing one of my favorite times of the year where barbecuing and picnicking become a regular affair. I love gathering after a day in the sun to catch up with friends over juicy burgers (preferably topped with pepper jack cheese and lots of bacon), grilled corn, and of course, pasta salad.

Whenever I get the invite to a summer gathering, I happily throw my hand in the air and volunteer to bring along one of my favorite side dishes. Up until last summer my most requested salad was one with pest0, roasted red peppers and pine nuts (from Cooks Illustrated). But that was until the sun-dried tomato pasta salad with corn, orange pepper, and pine nuts made its debut. This salad is gorgeous and easy to make, to boot. Plus, the sun-dried tomato pesto recipe makes more then you’ll need for the salad, so you'll have plenty left over to use on other dishes. I'm thinking of dolloping a bit of the pesto over salmon. Doesn't that sound good?

Remember, if you bring this along to your next gathering you probably won't leave with leftovers, so be sure to save some for yourself.

Sun-dried Tomato Pesto
Adapted from ‘At Home with Magnolia’ by Allysa Torey


1 cup sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil)
1 cup olive oil
1/3 whole almonds, toasted
¼ cup tightly packed fresh basil leaves
¼ cup grated parmesan or romano cheese
3 large garlic leaves
¼ teaspoon salt

Place all of the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and process until the pesto is finely puréed

Note: The pesto can keep in a fridge for up to 6 weeks.


Sun-dried Tomato Pasta Salad with Corn, Orange Pepper, and Pine Nuts
Adapted from ‘At home with Magnolia’ by Allysa Torey.

½ pound of farfalle (bowtie) pasta
¼ cup olive oil
1 cup halved cherry or grape tomatoes
1 cup frozen or fresh corn kernels. Defrosted if frozen.
2/3 cup mayonnaise
½ cup chopped orange bell pepper
½ cup finely chopped red onion
1/3 cup sun-dried tomato pesto
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
¼ cup grated parmesan or romano cheese
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water until al dente. Drain and toss with the olive oil in a large bowl.

Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Serve at room temperature with additional parmesan or romano cheese.

Whirlwind

I had one of those whirlwind kind of weekends that passed much to quickly, and left me saying "can we do that one more time, please". Don't you love those weekends? It was full of catching up with old friends and making NEW ones; leisurely days spent at the beach sunning and napping; juicy burgers hot off the grill; pouring over the pages in my book; laughing so hard my cheeks hurt; giving hugs all around...and happily falling into bed after long nights.

My wish is that every weekend- or every day for that matter- has a touch of the happiness that was felt this weekend.

Now it's Tuesday and I'm mostly back to my normal routine: sitting in my pink chair, pot of coffee brewing, writing my to-do list, and day dreaming about the magic that this summer will bring. What did you do this weekend? I want to hear all about it.

P.S. Lovely Olio has a fan page on Facebook. Take a look and join if you'd like.