Summer Salad Lovin'!

My desire to cook a bunch of fabulous, well-seasoned ingredients and then artfully display them in a serving dish has not abated! I came up with tonight's dinner also on the fly in the supermarket - all I knew for sure that I wanted, was to be able to pile all the ingredients onto my boyfriend's lovely colorful platter and serve. I decided to keep some ingredients from my previous family-style salads, such as white cannellini beans and bite-size balls of fresh mozzarella (bocconcini!). I decided to make rice pilaf as the base, so I boiled long-grain rice in a mix of water, olive oil, and white wine (Santa Margherita - the only white anyone should cook with!). I added garlic seasoning, chicken bouilon, and dried parsley for flavor. I diced thin chicken cutlets into one inch pieces and seasoned them with sea salt, black pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and a splash of extra-virgin olive oil to tie it all together. Then I filled a baking sheet with diced zucchini, yellow squash, and cherry tomatoes, doused in a healthy amount of olive oil, salt, and pepper. I roasted the tray of veggies for just under an hour, until the tomato skins had just popped and the zucchini and yellow rounds looked thoroughly roasted. Once everything cooled, I assembled the salad, layer by layer. First a drizzle of olive oil, and then I spread the garlicky rice pilaf onto the platter. Next I spread out the cannellini beans, topped with the bocconcini (mozzarella). I then filled the chicken in the center and topped with a spoonful of roasted veggies. The remainder of the roasted veggies I tucked onto the sides of the salad. I love the colors and contrasting textures!

Beautiful pops of color combined with the delicious flavor of slow-roasted vegetables. No "30 minute meals" here! Flavor takes time to seep into ingredients, to be absorbed by plain canvases such as rice or chicken.

Yesterday I went to brunch with some fabulous ladies and in honor of that occasion, I baked banana espresso chocolate chip muffins, recipe courtesy of Annie's Eats. I added a swirl of peanut butter and a handful of walnuts (are they not the perfect pairing to bananas whilst baking?) and they were a hit! A doubled the espresso powder and added a bit more mascarpone to compensate, and they were a great accompaniment to our mimosas (involving Prosecco of the Cupcake Wines variety, of course!)

Overall, lovely times spent in the kitchen this weekend! Next up is a very intriguing Joy The Baker cookie recipe I've had my eye on.... Stay Tuned!