Uncategorized | Real Food on the Table

Pinterest. It’s like a train wreck sometimes. I want to look away. I know I should look away. I know there are a million better ways that I could be spending my time. But I just continue to stare and stare. I have even been known to load all of the “popular” pins, sit there and scroll all the way to the bottom, and then press refresh and load a whole new batch of “popular”. What a time suck.

We all say it. Right? But why, oh why, do we continue to come back? I guess it’s the new suburban-safe addiction. And then I justify my addiction. I tell myself that at least I no longer browse the “popular” pins. At least I don’t pin ridiculous sayings like other people do. At least I don’t “follow” anyone (if I did, I know i would never escape the machine). At least now I only USE for recipes and homeschool ideas. “Justify, justify, little brain. You are wasting as much time and energy as everyone else and you know it.”

So some day, I may just go cold turkey from my “habit”. Some day, I may return to my mother’s era and actually open a cook book or start clipping clever ideas from Ladies Home Journal. How retro would that be? Maybe some day I’ll put my money where my mouth is, and monitor my own “screen time” like I monitor my kids. How funny would that be? The system I use with them is that they earn Mom Dollars and Dad Bucks for all examples of good behavior. They then can cash in 5 of those earned singles for 20 minutes of ipad or computer. Maybe I could start paying myself for each load of laundry done. Each meal cooked. Each trip to the market. Each time I refrain from gossip. Each time I clean a bathroom. Each time I give the Hubs some lovin’. Each time I’m a good listener. Wonder how that would work out for me?

Well, until I decide to really go off the grid (which I fantasize about regularly), I’ll continue to just justify and take my hits of Pinterest when I can. I’ll continue to not follow anyone, and I’ll continue to to fill up my “Yum” and “School” boards. And from time to time, I’ll share a killer find -like this recipe for Herbed Summer Squash & Potato Torte- with you all.

As with so many of these veggie recipes, I kicked things off with a little chopping. On the block were the summer squash and the potatoes.

Then I mixed up a little breading which consisted of some scallions, freshly grated parmesan, flour, fresh thyme, and salt & pepper.

I took a large, oven-proof skillet, buttered the bottom and up the sides a bit, and then placed a layer of potatoes in concentric circles over the bottom.

A layer of summer squash went on top of the potato layer, again in concentric circles and again just slightly overlapping. I drizzled a touch of olive oil over and then added a layer of the breading mixture. I repeated that sequence with one more layer of potatoes, another layer of squash, a tad more oil, and a final layer of the breading. I pressed down the final assembly with a spatula to assure everything was well compacted.

I covered the skillet with foil, and into the oven it went at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. Then I removed the foil and baked another 25 minutes until everything was nice and brown.

I sprinkled some additional fresh scallions over as a garnish and served with roasted green beans and steamed cauliflower.

For such simple ingredients, the final product was quite flavorful. It was the breading (I know I have been calling it that, but it doesn’t have even a hint of bread product in it), that really made this dish.

So thank you, Pinterest. I’ll continue to loathe you, but we both know I’ll come crawling back again and again with all my lame excuses in tow. That is, until I buy that ranch somewhere in the middle of nowhere and swear off all technological indulgences for good.

Here’s the complete recipe for Herbed Summer Squash & Potato Torte.

And hats off to the Smitten Kitchen for making your way onto Pinterest so that I could find this delightful recipe.

In the mood for more summer squash? Try these . . .

Grilled Shrimp and Summer Squash (williams-sonoma.com)

Summer Squash, Sausage, and Potato Quiche (spoonful.com)

Kind of like that itch that won’t go away no matter what you do, this blog has been brewing for a while now. I’ve tried to ignore it, but the itching just won’t stop. So, I guess this is my official introduction- the point in time where I concede, take my sock off and scratch the itch. It’s been a progressive journey to get here. We used to eat like “normal” people. Then hubby decided red meat wasn’t his thing. No problem, we dialed things back to pork, fish, and chicken. Ever so slowly, he started boycotting chicken and the pig. Ok, that was a little tougher. It took me about 5 months to wrap my little culinary head around exactly what one might put on the table it not a hunk o’ meat accompanied by a starch and a veggie. Finally I made the break through and had a ball going all out veg. We were still eating the usual snacks, pre-prepared entrees from time to time, and other “stuff”. Then I happened upon Jen Hatmaker’s book Seven. The whole food chapter upped the ante a notch, and that book, of course, led me to Michale Pollan’s book, Food Rules (among other things). So here we are. We’re just a regular old family, but for about 3 months now, we’ve been eating in a really different way. If you know Pollan let’s just say we have given up “edible food like substances” in favor of FOOD. I find the challenge fun and like to observe my family’s reaction to this new and evolving approach to nourishment. So join me as I share the REAL FOOD ON OUR TABLE every night.