Tag Archives: balsamic

Strawberry Caprese Turkey Burgers

Tomatoes!  I miss tomatoes.  It’s been too long.  Sometimes I wonder if they miss me, too.  Maybe they check my Facebook and accidentally like an old status, then frantically unlike it before I find out.

I’ll just have to wait patiently for summer, for crates upon crates of ripe, juicy, flavorful tomatoes.  We will be reunited, and it will be glorious.

In the meantime, say we’re craving the classic combination of tomatoes+basil+mozzarella.  Say it’s spring, and we’re eager to start grilling again.  Say we’re really excited about gorgeous strawberries this time of year.  Say we’re open to making substitutions for tomatoes.  Lo and behold…  Look.

It’s red, and green, and white.  It’s slightly sweet, fresh, with a slight balsamic touch.  It’s not really a caprese salad, but it’s inspired by one, and it wants to be your dinner!  Right now.  Seriously.

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Grilled Nectarine Flatbread

Things I love lately:

-The way my foam mattress topper firms up when I’m not using it.  Climbing into my own bed after a few days away is heavenly, just…  extra heavenly.

-Lavanila grapefruit perfume.  I used to think I hated vanilla-scented things…  But that’s probably because “vanilla” is often code for “syrupy saccharine-smelling thing that maybe smells like a touch of vanilla too” (not that there’s anything wrong with that).  Oh, the things you learn as you age.

-Revlon lip butters: for those of us not yet mature enough for lipstick.  It’s like training bras for us lipstick-non-wearers.  No one is paying me to say this stuff, and that won’t happen, because obviously I like to compare perfectly nice things to training bras.  Oops.

-Garbage.  Major, major 90s nostalgia.  They’re definitely still around and they’re still just so, so good.  Butch Vig is the shaman behind some of my favorite music, and Shirley Manson…  No words for Shirley Manson.  The woman is from another planet.

-Grilled fruit.  Charred, smoky, tender, beautifully marked, totally luscious.  Hellooo, summer.

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Strawberry, Balsamic and Basil Gelato

I would say an ice cream maker was one of my best purchases, except it wasn’t a purchase.  It was an appropriation/rescue/total thievery, depending on your perspective…  I obviously prefer to think of it as a rescue.  Mom never used that thing–that makes it okay, right?  I mean, she kept it in the GARAGE.  That is no way to treat something as awesome as a thing that makes ice cream.

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Grilled Pork Chops with Rhubarb Sauce

Some things will never not make me laugh.

Like…  My nephews.

And this Tumblr.

And Flight of the Conchords.  ”The day after my birthday is not my birthday, mum.”

Also, food never tastes anything but stellar when prepared on the grill.  It’s just the truth.  Even my sworn enemies (that I’m still trying to like for whatever reason), mushrooms and eggplant, become not only tolerable but delicious with a little smoky flavor and charred, caramelized grill marks.

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Strawberry Spinach Salad

It wasn’t until I sat down to write this post that I realized I should have taken a photo of myself laughing alone with this salad.  ”I am so empowered and STOKED!  Salad will freeeeee meeeeeee.”  Hilarious.

Really, though.  This is a delicious salad.   The strawberries are sweet.  The spinach is wholesome.  The almonds are crunchy.  The dressing is incredibly well-rounded and full of unexpected, more-complex-than-the-usual flavor.

Just, for the love of gosh…  Let’s eat other things, too.  Do you feel me, or what?

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