Food Wine Thyme

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

I hope your life is a little less chaotic than mine right now. The kitchen construction is coming together great and we are hoping that within the next two weeks the construction will be over. I think I have watched more decorating and renovating shows in the last week than I have in my entire life. It’s been HGTV and DIY galore in my house. I feel as if I know everything there is to know about renovating and even contemplated a career change. No, not really. On the contrary, I never want to deal with a major remodel EVER again.

A few weeks back in one of my weekly WIAW posts I shared a photo of a Grilled Veggie Panini. Since the grilling season is upon us I would like to share it.

This is a simple dinner idea. You can use leftover vegetables or grill them the same day. I used leftovers.

The night before I made this Panini I grilled zucchini, eggplant and onions for a salad to go along with fish. I had made more than we needed that night and used the rest to make this fantastic sandwich for dinner the following day.

Smart planning = Quick, fresh, delicious dinner in no time!

Grilled Veggie Panini

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

15 mins

 

Author: Kathy Steger

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 1 zucchini, sliced longways
• 1 small eggplant, sliced longways
• 5 asparagus spears
• 6 havarti cheese slices
• spicy brown mustard
• ½ loaf ciabatta bread, sliced in half longways
• salt & pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

1. Preheat grill pan.
2. Brush veggie slices with olive oil, season with salt and pepper
3. Grill about 3 minutes on each side. Set aside to cool.
4. Once cooled, slice in half
5. Spread mustard on ciabatta, top with sliced veggies and cheese
6. Cook about 5 minutes in a panini press.

3.2.1753

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I feel as if this kitchen construction has turned our lives upside down. My house looks like a construction war zone. I never thought something as exciting as creating my dream kitchen would give me this much anxiety. It is hard to live without a stove, a sink, a faucet. It’s difficult not to cook dinners every night and resort to eating out especially as a healthy food blogger. Nevertheless in a matter of a few weeks it will all be a thing of the past.

So far we have completely demolished the old kitchen down to bare walls.

The connecting wall to the dining room has been cut in half for a future breakfast bar top and space for additional cabinets.

The soffit around the ceiling is finally gone. I am not sure why the original contractor added the soffit. All it did was take away precious height. Needless to say the new cabinets will be much longer. Yay.

The backsplash is going to work beautifully against the cabinets.

The first official step towards the finished product was getting new floor tiles.

The next few days and this weekend should be very productive. By Sunday I should hopefully have lighting and cabinets. Keeping my fingers crossed all goes according to plan.

I leave you with a simple yet flavorful dish. I dug through my collection of recipes I haven’t yet published on the blog and remembered how much both Kurt and I loved this sauté. I made a bunch that night, we had some with fish for dinner and brought the rest for lunch the next day. Simple. Flavorful. Satisfying.

Can’t wait to cook in my new kitchen.

 

Print

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

15 mins

 

Author: Kathy Steger

Serves: 3

Ingredients

• 1 can organic canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 bunch broccoli rabe, cut into thirds
• 2 small carrots, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 tbsp italian dressing (store bought)
• ¼ cup 1% Chobani greek yogurt
• juice of ¼ lemon
• salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

1. Bring a small pot of water to a boil, add broccoli rabe and cook about 3 minutes until lightly softened. Drain.
2. Preheat olive oil in a skillet. Add carrots. Cook 3 minutes until tender.
3. Add garlic, broccoli rabe and chickpeas. Cook another 5 minutes, frequently stirring.
4. Mix in italian dressing, salt and pepper to taste.
5. Remove from the heat.
6. In a separate bowl, mix greek yogurt, lemon and fresh dill. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Serve chickpeas in a bowl with scoop of greek yogurt dressing.

3.2.1753

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