Still Here

It's officially bar exam crunch time over here, so there's that. But in the meantime, I've been intending to share some of the deliciousness that's been going on in my kitchen. Conveniently, cooking is a "happy place" for me so time spent making food is a nice break and usually isn't too much of a chore. That being said, I have found myself gravitating toward simpler food lately, and I've been putting some of my frozen food from June and early July to good use. Current Kate thanks Past Kate for that forethought, knowing I wouldn't have as much bandwidth for meal planning and cooking right about now.

So that being said - here's a sample of what I've been eating!

First off, I've been taking advantage of farmer's market tomatoes. Yum yum yum. I love a really good caprese salad with good quality ingredients. I made one with avocado and it was really delicious -

I'm loving the basil coming from my back porch container garden as well! It works out well for me that my favorite herb is also one of the easiest to grow.

Some of my tomatoes have come from the store, like those below. I made these salmon tacos with a simple fresh salsa one night. 

And to keep the caprese theme going, I made a caprese frittata! (Inspired by Cookin' Canuck) More fresh mozzarella, more tomatoes, more basil!

On a Trader Joe's trip (which doesn't happen often) before Husband got back, I couldn't resist picking up some frozen scallops. I love scallops but have not made them at home much. Happily that changed when I seared some scallops and put them over pasta. I used Alton Brown's method for searing, and they turned out fantastic. YUM. 

Next, you see food that was actually frozen for about a month! I previously made shrimp, avocado, and mango spring rolls by Annie's Eats. I liked them at the time, but I found the wrappers I got to be a bit chewy and that took away from the overall effect. When I more recently ate the ones I froze for later, I had the brilliant idea to saute them briefly, more like a pot sticker. It turned out really well! 

You can see above that I was really loading up on seafood. That was largely because Husband was still away, and he eats most food happily, but seafood is not his favorite. So I got my fill until the happy occasion of his return! We promptly made a homemade pizza, something that we love and a tradition taken from his family's Friday night pizza dinners. 

Keeping it tasty, easy, and healthy, I tried out this recipe by Kath Eats for bacon bean cheeseburgers. I know Husband was skeptical about a burger made up mostly of beans, but we both really enjoyed it! He had his as a sandwich and I had mine on a salad as you see below.

Also, I have to sing my praises for a pair of recipes we had just last night. I'd made this BLT chopped salad before, and last night I paired it with this basil yogurt dressing just posted on Annie's Eats yesterday. My good friend S came over for dinner (she's studying for the bar too) and she, Husband and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Much like the rest of the food above (most of it at least), the theme is that I am trying to focus on healthy food with lots of produce, that is also delicious. When I make things that give me pleasure, it's much easier to eat healthy, and that's why I put in so much effort. Believe me, I've bookmarked a few of these recipes to keep handy. I actually think I want to have the BLT chopped salad again next week! 

So there's your summary of my latest culinary adventures. Trust me, it's a LOT more interesting than studying for the bar exam. Which, sadly, is what I need to get to right about now...