Middle East Pita Pocket

I took several photographs of the sandwich before we ate. Later, as I was studying my photographs, Pritchard Parker walked by and did a double take at the monitor.  He said, "That sandwich looks like it should be able to talk.

Middle East Pita Pockets
Whole wheat pita bread, sliced across and opened into a pocket
Hummus
Freshly washed and dried lettuce leaves (I used red leaf lettuce)
Tabouli
Slices of feta cheese
Slices of fresh tomato
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Extra olive oil for drizzling, optional

Spread hummus into the pita pocket bread.  Stuff with a few lettuce leaves. Pile in some tabouli. Add a few slices of feta cheese and tomato.  Salt and pepper to taste, if desired. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive olive oil, if desired.

Crazy Crust Pizza

Here's an old one for you.  The original recipe for Crazy Crust Pizza was from a bag of Pillsbury flour when you could buy one for twenty-nine cents, and the grocer still used a Garvey stamper for pricing. 

This is one of many, many pizzas made in my kitchen. I have made pizza dough from scratch, kneading by hand. I have used Boboli pre-made crust.  I have used pita bread, French bread, English muffins for making pizza. I have made thin crust, deep dish, individual, and party-size pizzas.  Heck I have even made little pizzas using crackers. 

And just how many pizzas have I made on this pan?

Wordless Wednesday

Tuna Pasta Salad

Happy Summer!  I love summer with its long days, bright colorful flowers, its bounty of fresh (affordable) vegetables, and especially the stone fruits--cherries, peaches, nectarines, plums.  Swimming. Grilling. I enjoy creating satisfying sandwiches and salads as meals and I have already made a few. 

I made this tuna pasta salad about three weeks ago. Well, not this salad, but one just like it. I never photographed it and never really thought of blogging about it because it seemed so ordinary. After I took it to work for lunch every day for week, found myself looking forward to my lunch break, and saying, Mm-m-m in my head a lot as I ate it, I decided to rethink my original opinion of this pasta salad. 

So, I made it again, just for you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

Rocquie's Tuna Pasta Salad
1/2 lb. medium shell pasta, cooked and drained
2 pouches or cans tuna
6 - 8 scallions, white and green parts, sliced
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 small jar marinated artichokes hearts, quartered
2 - 3 oz. oil packed sun dried tomatoes, sliced
2 -3 plump cloves garlic, minced
several sprigs fresh dill, chopped
juice of 1 lemon
3 Tbsp., or to taste, olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
6 oz. feta cheese, cubed

Toss together the pasta, tuna, scallions, zucchini, artichoke hearts, and sun dried tomatoes. Stir in the garlic, dill, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper until well combined. Add the feta cheese cubes and mix lightly. Cover and refrigerate for several hours. Even better the next day.

No Bake Blueberry Cheesecake

I hadn't made a dessert in a while. Poor Pritchard Parker was stuck with store bought cookies and ice cream. He enjoys those things and he was not complaining, mind you, but homemade is always better.  After a trip to the grocery store, I started thinking about the blueberries, the first I had seen this season, that I glanced at as I walked on by them.  I decided to make a no bake blueberry cheesecake.

This recipe is based on one from the July 2003 issue of Bon Appetit magazine. The cheesecake is very light and a perfect summer dessert. I used about half the blueberries called for in the original recipe because of the high cost of the berries at my grocery store, but there was still plenty of juicy blueberry flavor.

Also, the recipe called for making the entire cheesecake in a food processor, which I don't own. If you do, go for it. I used my blender for the crust and my regular mixer for everything else.  Oh, and it is not entirely "no bake". You do bake the graham cracker oat crust. 

No Bake Blueberry Cheesecake
(adapted from Bon Appetit, July 2003)

Crust:
9 whole graham crackers
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
3 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
5 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla

Filling::
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp. unflavored gelatin
12 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 pint fresh blueberries

Topping:
1 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 pint fresh blueberries
2/3 cup blueberry jam

For crust, blend first 3 ingredients in blender until graham crackers are finely ground. Pour into a mixing bowl and add the butter and vanilla. Stir until well combined and moist crumbs form.  Press crumb mixture onto bottom and 1 inch up sides of a 9-inch springform pan.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven until deep golden brown, about 12 minutes. Cool.

For filling, pour 1/4 cup water into small saucepan; sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand 10 minutes. Stir over very low heat just until gelatin dissolves.  Set aside. Mix cream cheese, cream, sugar, and lemon juice until smooth.  Add berries and combine well. Add gelatin mix and mix well.  Pour mixture over crust and chill overnight.  Next day, run a knife around sides of pan to loosen cake.  Release the pan sides and transfer to platter.

For the topping, beat cream and sugar together until firm peaks form.  Spread mixture over cheesecake. Place berries in a bowl.  Heat jam in small saucepan over low heat until just melted.  Pour jam over berries; toss to coat. Mound coated berries in center of cream, leaving 1-inch plain border. Chill cake at least 1 hour.

I am sharing this with Sweets for a Saturday #23 at the blog Sweet as Sugar Cookies

I am sharing this with Sweet Indulgences Sunday #10 at the blog, A Well-Seasoned Life