helloooo summer!

Summer is here! Almost everyone is off traveling the world, but a few people, including me, are still in town. Rochelle and Maria came over for dinner the other night; they’re off to Ghana to do some pretty neat cervical cancer research (and lots of pap smears…exciting!!) On the menu was southwestern pizza, herbed polenta fries, watermelon salad (that Maria made and I don’t have a picture of!), and almond berry sorbet. It was probably one of the easiest (appetizers, entree, and dessert in less than 45 minutes and minimal clean up. get out!) and healthiest dinners ever…enjoy!

So excited to eat!!!

Herbed Polenta Fries from Gourmet.

Polenta is seriously my new favorite food. It might also be because I tend to eat it with a good amount of parmesan, salt, herbs, and butter. Meh. Either way, this stuff is good and I’m sad I didn’t discover it earlier. I added some salt, and used rosemary and thyme. I broiled them for about 15 minutes before getting impatient and just setting the oven at 450 and baking them for another 10 more (about 2″ from the top element). So crispy and delicious! They flew right off the plate!

Southwestern Pizza from TheKitchn

 Black beans, corn, tomatoes, onions, and avocados. Talk about healthy and delicious…and so much better than taco bell. We bought whole wheat crust from Trader Joe’s, and used Trader Joe’s hot sauce instead of the chili en adobo that the recipe called for. So beyond delicious; we would have had seconds if we weren’t already so full from the fries and watermelon salad.

Almond berry sorbet from FitBottomedGirls.

This made me rethink my secret desire to buy an ice cream maker. And I’ve been emailing my friends about buying an ice cream maker for the better part of the year – even during the middle of winter. So this is kind of a big deal. It was a little runnier than a true sorbet, but definitely fulfilled the sweet dessert cravings. We used a mix of frozen blueberries, strawberries, and (lots of) raspberries. The almonds really added something too. So freaking good.

chocolate chip pancakes!

Judy, Rachel, Krithika and I “surprised” Ekavali with breakfast before her big test, which included the remains of the banana chocolate chip bread I made the night before (post on that later),  and turkey bacon. Rachel is a vegetarian — for the last 2 months I might add, a great feat indeed — and Judy stepped up to the challenge with her veg-friendly  omelets with tomato, mushroom, spinach, and provolone (SO DELICIOUS. Thank you Judy!).

We even made baby pancakes!

Thanks to Rach for the pics – sorry Deepa, you’ve been replaced by your little little twin star :)

Pancake recipe adapted from the NY Times.

healthy mac’n'cheese

Macaroni and cheese. Whether you make it out of the box or from scratch, it definitely fits the definition of comfort food. The only downside? It’s incredibly unhealthy. I’m not even going to talk about the instant stuff from a box — that’s a given (yes, even Annie’s). But as I looked online for inspiration, I found that even macaroni and cheese from scratch is loaded with butter, milk, and cheese, making it just as unhealthy as the instant stuff in my book.

Never fear. My (hopefully healthier) version is loaded tasty greens and a little mustard to give it some zing. And the best part (aside from each delicious bite and health factor)? It only takes 10 minutes to make. Yum.