Happy 4th of July!!!

I hope you all enjoyed the BBQ’s and fireworks today!

Thanks to our friends who had a great barbeque, we enjoyed the 4th!

Tart Cherry Pie

This past Thursday, while I was wandering through our Farmer’s Market, I saw these cherries.

There was a sign right next to them, saying that this was their last week at the market…so I bought some!  Once I got home, we gave these a try- and they were sour.  Yikes!  Sam suggested doing a pie with them.  I’m not nuts about cherry pies because they are always so sweet, so at first I was a bit hesitant about the idea.  He promised that when he’d make the pie, it wouldn’t be so sweet.  So we gave it a try.

It turned out delicious- and the nice red color was perfect for the 4th of July weekend!  Hope you all had fantastic BBQ’s, pies and fireworks!

Tart Cherry Pie

1/2 lb tart cherries, pitted
2 cups of flour
1 1/2 sticks of butter, cold & diced
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 pinches of salt
1/4 cup of ice water

Filling:  In a mixing bowl, combine cherries, 1/4 brown sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 cup of flour.  Fold together and set aside in the refrigerator to macerate.

Topping: Add the following ingredients into the food processor: 1/2 cup of flour, 1/2 stick of butter, 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and a pinch of salt.  Pulse the food processor until the mixture becomes crumbly.  Gently place mixture into a bowl, and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Crust: In a food processor, add 1 cup of flour, 1 stick of butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and a pinch of salt.  Turn on the food processor, and slowly add the water.  Stop the food processor when the dough becomes a ball.  Remove from food processor, and wrap the ball in saran wrap.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Turn on the oven to 350°F.  When the dough is cold, place the dough on a well-floured board and roll out until approximately 1/8 inch thick.  Gently fold the dough in half, and transfer to a greased pie tin.  Unfold the dough, and cut away the excess from the edges.

Pour the filling into the pie, ensuring that it’s evenly distributed.  Top the filling with the topping (crumbly dough mixture) and place in a preheated oven for 30-40 minutes.  Take out from the oven when the crust is a gold brown color.

Southwest Pasta Salad

Marathon training has started, only 118 days until the Marine Corps Marathon!  Which means Saturday’s start early, and lunch becomes significant.  During the rest of the year, on the weekends, we tend to have a bigger breakfast, which then leads to a skipped lunch and early dinner…or something along the lines of that.

Since we ignore weekend lunches, I need some quick and healthy ideas.  It’s probably not a good idea to do a long run, and then fill my tummy with some greasy stuff, right?  This salad was great: easy to make, delicious to eat and nutritious.  And when you’re like me, the Mexican flavors are always welcome in my tummy.

Since it is 4th of July weekend, some of you might be picnicking- well this would be a great addition.  This can be made a day ahead and takes almost no time.  In addition, pasta salads are always liked by many.

Southwest Pasta Salad
Adapted from: Aggie’s Kitchen

1/2 box spiral pasta (or other fun shapes)
2 tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 white or yellow onion, chopped
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried cilantro
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 jalapeño, chopped (optional)
1 15-oz can of black beans, rinsed
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped

Cook pasta according to directions on the box.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet, then add the onion and garlic.  Cook for a couple of minutes until the onion turns translucent.  Add the chili powder and dried cilantro, stir well.  Then add the red bell pepper and jalapeño.  Cook for another couple of minutes.  Finally, add the black beans- cook and stir this mixture for 3-4 minutes.

Finally, add the pasta and vegetable mixture into a bowl.  Add the tomatoes, cilantro, salt and pepper.  Toss the salad well.  You can serve it warm, or you can put it in the fridge for some time to cool it off.

Corn & Zucchini Burritos

I apologize for the lack of posts this weekend.  Sam and I went to Virginia Beach for a short weekend getaway.  Both of us needed a break from the city, and a little beach time!  I used to live in VA Beach, so it also gave us an opportunity to hang out with my friend P* (and her fiancé- J*, and her sister- S*).  We had a fantastic time hanging out with them at a fun new place I  never knew about.

Pacifica is not a big tourist destination, since it’s a little north of the majority of the hotels.  We had a great time, and I’ll keep this tapas restaurant in mind when we go back.  Mainly, what we did over our weekend is lay on the beach.  Both of our bodies needed some sun, and our minds needed some good reading on the beach.  To top off the weekend, traffic between DC and VA Beach wasn’t bad at all- so life is good!

But it’s back to the grind today.  Lucky for us, Independence Day weekend is right around the corner, so I’m sure this week will fly by.  We’re looking forward to trying a new place for dinner this weekend.  It’s been around for way over a year, the Logan Circle place of Birch & Barley, but we haven’t tried  it yet.  And of course, I’m looking forward to some 4th of July fireworks!

I’m not going to lie, we haven’t been doing much cooking lately.  Or rather, the stuff that we have made hasn’t necessarily been looking stellar enough for the blog, or it just didn’t have a taste that we’d want to someone else to replicate.  But we’ll get back into the groove once again, so hopefully I’ll have more frequent posts.

I am leaving you with this great burrito recipe I got from the June issue of Vegetarian Times.  The recipe recommended chayotes, but the grocery store didn’t have any, so a zucchini was the substitution.  In addition, I added a little * next to cilantro.  Please add that to the burritos, they’ll taste significantly better.

Why did I not add cilantro to ours?  Well, apparently someone from Peapod mixed up the cilantro with a parsley variety.  So we got two different kinds of parsley in the last grocery delivery, and I didn’t realize it until I was ready to chop up my “cilantro” to add to the burritos.  Ooops!  I ended up using very little parsley, but it didn’t have the same great taste that the cilantro would have given it.

Corn & Zucchini Burritos
Adapted from: Vegetarian Times  (June 2011)

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 zucchini, cubed
1-2 jalapeños, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup of black beans
1 red pepper, sliced into cubes
juice of 1 lime
2/3 cup Mexican cheese
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
3-4 tortillas
*2 tbsp cilantro, chopped

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Then add the onion, zucchini, jalapeños and garlic; cook them until the onion begins to brown.  Then stir in the corn, black beans and red pepper, cook for another 5 minutes.  Finally, stir in 1/3 of the Mexican cheese, salt and pepper.  Lastly, add the lime juice to the mixture.

Divide the vegetable mixture between the 3-4 tortillas.  Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the mixture, before rolling the tortilla.

* Cilantro can (should be) sprinkled onto the top of this mixture to bring out the excellent flavors.