Stinging Nettles

James is out of town for a bit so as a little pick me up treat I toddled on down to the honestly huge farmer's market at the Marin civil center (third largest in California I hear). The stalls are literally brimming with artisanal cheeses, uber organic farms, grass fed meats of every species and beautiful fresh produce like these stinging nettles.
I've had nettles in restaurants but I have never seen them at a market or cooked them myself. Use tongs the farmer's sign advised to avoid being stuck with the trademark spines. "They need heat to be edible" she advised. "Or a little time in the freezer." And now I am on my way to stir fried nettles and maybe a bright nettle pesto.

I Love Cheese, Cheese Doesn't Love Me

Lets face it, cheese is the perfect food. It's protein rich, creamy, tasty, comforting. It melts and grates and spreads. It is the all purpose seasoning.

I eat too much cheese. That was pointed out, in not such direct terms, at my annual physical. Of course I can't put all the blame on cheese. I'm sure beef and butter and even our beloved eggs (yummm roast beef sandwich with butter and cheese) share some of the fault, but cheese is my go to food. When I'm looking for a snack or feeling low or craving something I can't quite describe, I turn to cheese. My lab results are showing the effects of my illicit love.

Among his other, many genetic gifts James does not have the same high marks (not a test you really want a high score in). That combined with his generally less passionate relationship with edibles means he can top this healthy dinner of roasted vegetables and brown rice with an olive oil fried egg whereas I opted for oven-roasted tomatoes.

Dinner on the Grill

Roasted vegetables with vinaigrette.

Super easy and still impressive. I put a variety of vegetable on the grill for a Spanish style salad, Escalivada in Catalan. Red peppers went whole, right on the flames. Eggplant, zucchini, beets (yes beets, they get super sweet on the grill) and yellow squash were sliced 1/4 inch thick and brushed with olive oil before being grilled. Onions, also brushed with oil were cut in to sixths through the rot end to hold them together. Just for fun I took some carrots from out yard, cherry tomatoes, and even a few fresh okra (I threaded those on skewers to keep them from falling through). When the vegetables were tender and decorated with nice golden grill marks Iarranged them on a platter and dressed the dish with a parsley vinaigrette of 2 TB sherry vinegar, 1/3 cup olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt, 3 TB chopped parsley (that's Barbecue authority Steven Raichlen's recipe).

Along with our platter of vegetables I grilled some chicken, chorizo sausages, and ears of fresh corn. I love summer cooking.