The First Meal

Tonight is my first night in my new apartment. I went to the grocery store and bought some essentials, mostly produce, and a knife. This dinner had some technical restrictions because I was not working with a full kitchen complete with appliances, utensils and spices. I did what I could and I must say it turned out quite delicious.

Currently in Stock: (used items in italics)
Protein: ½ lb. tofu, canned beans: white, black, garbanzo, dried red lentils

Produce: broccoli, bananas, limes, nectarines, Gala apples, yellow onions, romaine lettuce, green pepper, assorted summer squash, eggplant, yams, avocados, strawberries, pluots, small yellow potatoes

Pantry: corn tortillas, canned tomato sauce, canned diced tomatoes, penne pasta, rice, flat bread, sandwich bread, lemon ginger cookies, flat bread

Spices: garlic, fresh ginger, fresh cilantro, fresh flat leaf parsley, dried thyme, dried rosemary, ground cumin

Beverages: black tea, passion fruit juice

Dairy: cheddar cheese, queso fresco, milk, plain yogurt, butter, eggs

Freezer: Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, frozen vegetables

The Menu
Hard Boiled Eggs Thick Flat Bread Topped with Onion and Herbs Summer Squash Queso Fresco

Cook the items in the order shown above. First boil the eggs (make extra for later, if you like) and while they’re cooking, start the flat bread. While the flat bread is in the oven, cook the summer squash and cut up some queso fresco. If you have salt and pepper on hand (and you probably do) feel free to add it to any or all of the dishes. I would have used it but did not miss it at all. The summer squash is cooked in milk, a technique I picked up from a recipe in Deborah Madison’s amazing cookbook Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone.

Flat Bread (serves 1-2)
Ingredients:
Purchased thick flat bread
Half of one medium sized onion chopped
2 cloves garlic roughly chopped
3 T Fresh Parsley
3 T Fresh cilantro
Butter (I didn’t have any oil but it can be substituted.)

Directions:
In pot 1 T melt butter. Add onion and cook until translucent. Add garlic and fresh herbs. Meanwhile heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Put flat bread in cake pan and dot with butter. Make holes in top of bread to let butter soak in. Spread the cooked onion, garlic and herbs over the top of the bread and put it in the oven. Cook for about 20 minutes.

Variation Idea: Cut the flat bread open and put the cooked onions and herbs inside. (If I had had a bread knife I probably would have done this.)

Summer Squash (serves 1)

Ingredients:
One small zucchini (which I’ve seen called Italian squash in LA), cut in ½ inch pieces
One small Mexican squash (a light green zucchini), cut in ½ inch pieces
1 clove garlic, chopped
¼ C milk

Directions:
In the same pot that you used to cook the onions and herbs, sauté the squashes over medium heat. After 3-5 minutes add the garlic and the milk. Cook for another 8-10 minutes.

To Serve: Slice a hard-boiled egg and arrange on a plate with the bread, squash and some queso fresco.

Dessert was Mint-Chocolate Chip Ice Cream with Strawberries. It doesn’t get any better than that.