simple things

I hate it when things don't turn out the way you think they should. Especially food things. So tonight I was very disappointed when we tried some portobello mushroom bites which were supposed to be yummy bites of porto and mozzarella and parmesan goodness but ended up being rubbery, odd tasting breaded hunks on our plate. Redeemed somewhat by toast and homemade tapenade, roasted broccoli with pine nuts and parmesan and oven roasted potatoes. Maybe D is right - homemade is better. So I'll give mushroom bites a go and see if I can come up with a recipe that tastes like cheesy mushrooms. Stand by.

In the meantime, here is a picture of lunch on Monday

 - our Victoria Day Holiday which meant we (T, D and I) were all home together. It stopped raining for the day and I was able (with my trusty assistants) to plant my tomatoes and basil. Which gives me hope that soon the weather will be warm and sunny. Fingers crossed!

So lunch was green olive tapenade and oatmeal spelt bread, sliced radishes, microgreens salad with balsamic vinagrette (with garlic, dijon and lemon zest) with warm goat cheese rounds. Simple and delicious.

Here is how I made the tapenade:

2 cups pitted green olives, drained
1 tsp minced garlic
good grinding of pepper
a handful of capers
a couple of sundried tomatoes in oil
~ 1/4 of a lemon's zest

Whiz all this in the food processor until chunky, scraping down the sides. Drizzle olive oil in a stream into the mixture while the processor is running until the mixture comes together. Keep whizzing until the consistency is as you like it. (I usually make my green olive tapenade with goat cheese added but as I was serving warm goat cheese rounds for lunch, I left out the goat cheese - and also I had used it all up making the rounds...). The goat cheese rounds I made following a recipe from Nigella Express. It was a lovely lunch and reminded me of our honeymoon in provence and yorkshire - lovely food and markets. I hope soon I can serve this outside in the garden. (Now I just have to source a bigger table to share the bounty!).