07 February 2011

biding my time

Things I'm currently loving:
1. Arugula
2. Mushrooms
3. Any combination thereof.

The lower coil in my oven is broken and I cannot gather the energy to talk to my landlords about it (due to a recent series of plumbing events that I'd rather forget). So instead, I've been finding other satisfying dinners that do not require the use of an oven. Enter my grill pan and meyer lemon olive oil. Hot pan + fragrant oil and mushrooms = heaven. Sliced and served on fresh organic arugula with a sprinkle of feta (still eating through my stockpile of cheeses) and homemade vinaigrette.

I think I've mentioned my arugula obsession before. And other times too. Recently bought a bag of organic arugula from Trader Joe's and have been woefully disappointed. The Wegman's clamshell-packaged version is far superior as far as flavor and freshness. Of course I didn't look at either to verify where they were grown, etc., so should not get too high and mighty. Just biding my time until the ground warms up and I can plant a fresh crop of seeds and harvest my own.

Speaking of seeds, a couple of coworkers are heading to Monticello this week and it got me thinking about the garden. Vegetables and herbs to be specific. Must make some time to get through catalogs and sketch out something new for this year. Looking to Southern Exposure and Monticello for some inspiration for Virginia-lovin' goodies.

2 comments:

Janet said...

Mushrooms are the saviors of cold-weather cooking!

Anonymous said...

Very exciting time! I've been seduced by the nice weather out here (mid 70s) into putting things in the ground earlier than they likely should be. We'll see if Global Warming works in my favor this season.