Caprese Melted Sandwich

It's been hot here lately and I have not wanted to turn on the oven to do any sort of cooking or baking. So all of my dinner ideas this week have involved the smaller toaster oven, frying pan or broiler. Earlier this week I reheated lasagna I made over the weekend. We had quesadillas (black bean with salsa and cheese, though I should have added some corn from the freezer) on Tuesday and last night after I picked up our CSA veggies and got a haircut, I made an open-faced melted Caprese sandwich. I thought it turned out great.
Ebon bought a baguette that we needed to use up before it got too hard to chew, so I went to the garden and picked some basil for the pesto. I also picked up a roma tomato and some fresh mozzarella from the store.
I made the pesto with garlic scapes (about 4) that I cut from the garlic growing in the garden, the basil - probably about 1/4 cup packed not exactly sure about the amount, and some olive oil. I put it all in the blender, once it was all smooth I added about a 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and a few grinds of fresh black pepper.
I cut about 2/3 or 3/4 of the baguette in half length-wise and spread the pesto onto each half. Then I sliced the tomato very thinly and put that on top of the pesto. Then I sliced the fresh mozzarella balls as thin as I could, which ended up about 1/4" thick and added it on top of the tomatoes.
I stuck it under a medium broiler for about 5-10 min, enough to heat up all the ingredients and start melting the cheese a bit.

Lovely low-heat (relatively) dinner!

Cream Cheese Brownies aka Zebra Brownies

I made Cream Cheese Brownies for the first time over the weekend. I have always known them as "Zebra" Brownies, which I think is more fun name. A friend asked me to bake something for their dessert table at their wedding. I had every intention of making a practice run of brownies before the actual date, but I had so many things going on last week I was never able to get to it.
I ended up making a double recipe and baked them in a 9x13 baking dish. I was worried they wouldn't finish baking in time for us to leave to actually make it to the wedding, so I turned up the temperature about 10 degrees. Other than that, I followed the recipe to the letter. I thought they turned out pretty good, though Ebon thought they were a little dry - probably due to the increased temperature. I also could have done a better job of spreading out the middle cream cheese layer, there were some spots that had large clumps and others that didn't have much. I would love to try these out again with a single batch and smaller pan.

Sesame-Crusted Tofu with Nuoc Cham

I made Sesame-Crusted Tofu with Nuoc Cham for dinner a couple nights ago. To accompany it, we also had rice and a salad from the first CSA distribution this year! I thought it went together pretty easily, though I didn't have fish sauce, so I substituted soy sauce, water, and some miso.
I probably could have left the tofu in the frying pan a little longer to give it nicer crust, but I thought it was great. The sesame seeds gave a nice texture to the tofu. Since I've never had authentic Nuoc Cham, I thought my sauce was pretty good, though it could probably have been a little spicier (I also didn't use red Thai chilies) and maybe a little less sweet. I would make this recipe again, as it is pretty easy to throw together. There is a bit of waste with the sesame and breadcrumbs and egg, but maybe I'll cut the tofu different or just make more the next time.
Enjoy!

For Later

I have to check this out:
http://eatclosetohome.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/vegetarian-meals-for-a-month.pdf

Curried Cauliflower and Chickpea Stew

For dinner tonight, we're trying something new. I was browsing Pintrest or the food blogs I follow and found an interesting recipe using cauliflower, so I picked some up at the store.  Unfortunately, I couldn't remember what recipe I got it for and I couldn't seem to find it, so I searched for a new cauliflower recipe.  I found this: Curried Cauliflower and Chickpea Stew. I had all the ingredients and it looked easy enough.

I started some brown rice in our new fancy rice cooker since it takes more than an hour for it to cook, then I started on the recipe.

My variations - I used a curry powder I had on hand (about 2-3 tablespoons) and I added some additional spices - cumin, mustard seed, coriander, and tumeric. I used 4 roma tomatoes and 1/2 a can of green chilies instead of the canned tomatoes. I didn't have any cilantro, and I love cilantro, so that was lacking slightly. I also added salt, I can't believe that salt isn't in the recipe.

I thought it turned out pretty well. The flavors were a bit muted when combined with rice, so maybe some more spices were in order. I did like the combination of the cauliflower and chickpeas, though. Ebon didn't like it - I didn't know he didn't like chickpeas in dishes, so I probably won't be making it again. Oh well.

Chocolate Chia Pudding

It was a busy/relaxing Memorial Day weekend around here. I kept busy sewing since the weather outside was cold and damp. I took a break from my quilts to make a recipe I pinned recently - Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding. Since I've been pregnant, I've done my best at trying to avoid processed sugar and sweets in general, so this was one of the "sugar-free" desserts that I found.It went together very easily. I used 2 teaspoons of honey as the sweetener.
It turned out OK. I wouldn't make it again. The mouthfeel was a bit strange with the little, bloated chia seeds and I think I didn't use enough cocoa or honey. It didn't taste sweet enough or chocolatey enough.