#e.v.o.o.

Bruschetta Topped With Heirloom Tomatoes is what we’re having for dinner tonight. Bruschetta is an Italian appetizer of toasted bread with toppings. The name comes from the Italian word for “burn” because the bread is grilled until slightly charred. Living in the mountains of Tennessee it’s taken us a while to find a good Farmers’ market near us but we did. This Farmers’ market is run by an Amish…

Bocconcini are small mozzarella cheeses shaped into small balls. They come in a container and the cheese in set in whey or water. They add a creaminess to the dish. To finish, fresh herbs, basil and tarragon.

Yields: 6 servings Prep Time: 10 minutes Ingredients: 4 heirloom tomatoes cut into wedges 2 pints of heirloom cherry tomatoes 6-8 whole basil leaves 3 tablespoons of  chopped tarragon leaves 1 tub of Bocconcini drained and dried and seasoned 1-1/2 tablespoons of Kosher salt 1 teaspoon of freshly cracked black pepper E.V.O.O. to taste

Bocconcini Seasoning: 1 tub (18-20 ct.)  Bocconcini that have been drained and dried well 2 tablespoons of E.V.O.O. 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes 1 teaspoon of dried basil 1 teaspoon of Kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon of freshly cracked black pepper

Directions: In a small bowl mix together all the ingredients for the seasoning of the Bocconcini. Place the drained, and really well dried, Bocconcini into the seasoning mixture and toss really well. In a large bowl add the tomato wedges, cherry tomatoes, and seasoned Bocconcini. Add the Kosher salt, black pepper, and chopped tarragon leaves. Toss everything together gently. Lastly, place the whole basil leaves throughout.

When plating, drizzle each serving with E.V.O.O. ( A splash of red wine vinegar is optional)

We have a rosemary bush that grows rampant underneath our bedroom window and of course I use it in almost every dish.. but I got to thinking, what about my hair? Los Angeles is a very beautiful, charming city.. that's really really dirty! And my hair is exposed to so much stuff every day that sometimes I need some clarity, starting at the roots. Try this simple recipe, I was so happy with how my hair felt and looked after!

- 1/2 cup of dried rosemary. (Pick it from your garden and let it cure for a week, or buy some dry at the grocery store!)

- 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil. (Substitute almond oil if you want!)

Sautee the oil and rosemary until the oil is warm. Turn the stove off but let the herb marinate in the oil for an extra 20 mins. Strain the dried leaves and pour the infused oil into a bowl or bottle - or recycle one of our glass jars! Coat scalp and strands thoroughly as the magical, totally natural mixture strengthens hair follicles from root to tip. Wrap it up in a shower cap or reuse a plastic bag from the grocery store, because you're saving the Earth baby! Leave the rinse for 20 minutes as is, do whatever you gotta do, or blow dry it on low heat to really penetrate those hair follicles. Jump in the shower, rinse with shampoo to remove excess oils and love your fresh, healthy hair.

On Sunday, my friend James was over and we were having a cup of coffee and talking about food, which seems to be where many of my conversations end up these days. Food and weddings. I have been talking a lot about weddings lately - I went to four weddings last year and the number of friends who have gotten engaged in the past few months is steadily climbing. People generally enjoy talking about happy, love-filled occasions, and everyone has stories about all kinds of fun weddings: mixed weddings, alternative weddings, weddings out of town, weddings on cruises.

Okay, enough on love and weddings, now back to food. My friends and family know I have been blogging and am becoming passionate about cooking and eating, and most conversations these days usually runs into the topic of food at some time. I even received quite a few amazing food themed gifts over the holidays. Like weddings, food is a bonding topic, because everyone has something to bring to the table (heh, table. food.). I could write (and I may) write a blog post about what food means to me and how much I have learned from talking about food with so many different people, so I will save that for another time and refocus on Tempeh. And my conversation with James.

So somehow we were talking about cooking. James is vegetarian and told me that lately he has been making a dinner of tempeh, swiss chard, and sweet potato. I immediately starting asking questions about the tempeh and the chard, as I have never cook either, and James explained how he cooked them. And then I asked more questions. He insisted he is not someone to take cooking tips from. I took out a notepad. He insisted he is not someone to take cooking tips from. I asked him to reexplain everything slowly. He obliged. I took notes. He insisted he is not someone to take cooking tips from. 

I was very excited to try making this. It is one of if not the only time I have tried new ingredients (two!) without a written recipe to reference. It went really well, and the dinner tasted amazing, and Jason agreed so I know that this was not my bias tainting how good it tastes.

Next time, I will cut the chard smaller because it was a bit tough to take bites from and I didn't feel like using a knife. James' best tip was to cook the stalks for a while before adding the leaves - the stalks really are the highlight in my opinion. They are such a beautiful red, almost like beets. He also insisted I use a lot of crushed red pepper, which really did give the chard a nice kick.

I will be making this again. I am wondering if I can buy tempeh in larger packages and freeze it, so as not to create plastic waste every time I cook with tempeh. I will have to do some research.

Tempeh and Chard

8oz package tempeh 1 bunch swiss chard 3 Tbsp olive oil, divided 1 Tbsp soy sauce 2 cloves garlic 1 tsp crushed red pepper salt and pepper to taste 

The other night I made a chicken marinade at was far beyond what I had hoped for. It came from a recipe for kebabs that I found via Gojee.com. I even finished off the cooked marinade with a fistful of challah that had been waiting for me in the freezer. 

3 garlic cloves, minced 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 3/4 cup olive oil (I used the olive oil I saved from my salt and sugar asparagus) 1/4 cup chopped herbs (I used oregano and thyme)  salt & pepper