Egg, Squash Blossom & Cheese Breakfast Quesadillas

We have a magical squash plant in our front yard. I didn't plant it, my husband didn't plant it, nor did our neighbors - it just appeared one day and immediately started taking over. I can only imagine that some autumnal decoration was tossed aside into the bushes and forgotten, once upon a time. I'm watching it eagerly to see if we'll actually get any squash out of it, but in the meantime I've been enjoying its blossoms! It's more for novelty's sake that I've been working with them, but they do have a delicate squashy flavor that is quite pleasant. Plus, it's just plain fun to eat flowers. This quesadilla might not showcase the blossom front and center, but they work perfectly well with the other ingredients, and it makes for a very tasty and filling breakfast (brunch, really!)

Egg, Squash Blossom & Cheese Breakfast Quesadillas
Makes 1 quesadilla

*1 teaspoon butter
*EVOO
*1/2 of a small onion, thinly sliced and roughly chopped
*1 clove garlic, minced
*Petals from 4-5 squash blossoms
*2 eggs
*1 large flour tortilla
*3/4-1 cup shredded melting cheese (I used bagged Mex blend; it was a lazy morning)
*2 basil leaves, chiffonaded
*S&P

Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat and drizzle the pat with a little oil. Add the onions and saute until translucent, and then add the garlic. Sprinkle with salt and saute another few minutes before adding in the blossoms, sauteing until they wilt. Spoon the mixture into a bowl along with the basil and set aside. Pour the eggs into the pan, scrambling until fluffy, with S&P to taste. Add the eggs to the blossom mixture when done. Meanwhile, lightly brush a tortilla with a little butter or oil and set it, greased side down, in a skillet that will accommodate it (preferably cast iron). Sprinkle a heaping half-cup of shredded cheese around the tortilla and as it melts, spoon the egg and blossom mix over one half of the tortilla. Add a little more cheese to the top of the filling, and then fold the tortilla over. Press down with a spatula and cover. Cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side, then cut and enjoy! I had mine with avocado and salsa verde, and it was delicious.

Turkey Avocado-Blue Sandwiches with Kale Chips

Perhaps not a La Rochefoucauld-minted maxim, but "Everything Tastes Better with Bacon" is nonetheless a simple, amaranthine truth. Less constant is "Everything Tastes Better with Avocado", but when it comes to sandwiches, the saying is: Absolutely Correct. Biting through the layers of any given sandwich, it is always a pleasure to come across a rich, buttery wealth of avocado. For this particular specimen, instead of simply cutting the avocado into slices I decided to mash the pale green fruit flesh with some blue cheese (Gorgonzola), a delicious combo reminiscent of Nigella Lawson's "Roquamole". I slathered it on the bread as a spread before stacking the bacon, turkey, tomato, Swiss and lettuce. I opted for some verdant kale chips on the side for a tidy noontime meal, but you could just as well serve the sandwich next to a luscious bisque for a quick and hearty dinner.

Turkey Avocado-Blue Sandwiches
Makes 2 Sandwiches

*4 slices of your preferred bread (I'm using a rustic loaf from my local bakery)
*Half an avocado
*Heaping 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese of your choice
*Squeeze of lemon juice
*Romaine lettuce leaves
*4 slices good slab bacon
*6 oz deli-sliced turkey
*2-4 thin slices of tomato
*4 thin slices of a nutty Swiss

Fry bacon until crisp, blot on paper towels. After splitting 'n pitting the avocado, remove the flesh from the jacket and mash with the cheese and a squeeze of lemon until it resembles a thick spread. Lightly toast your bread, and then spread two slices with the avocado-blue cheese mix. Assemble the lettuce, bacon, turkey, tomato and Swiss as well as any other fixings of your choice, and presto, sandwich! I usually wrap the other half of the avocado well in Saran and pop in the fridge for the next day, but you could always mash it up with more cheese, a squeeze of lemon and a dusting of paprika for an excellent quick dip.

You may find my kale chips post here. 

Perfect Guacamole

No one seems to agree on the "perfect" guacamole. There are the pro-tomato and anti-tomato camps, the factions that insist on adding diced onion or raw garlic, the cumin crusaders, and then there are the Zen-like guac'ers that insist only on avocado, salt and lime. Although I don't draw a hard line about anything but tomatoes (noooo tomatoes in guac. Come on.), my version does skew rather traditional and clean, with just a soupçon of nonconformity. It is perfection to me, and hopefully it will be to you as well.

 Perfect Guacamole
Makes 2-3 servings

*2 large ripe avocados, halved and pitted
*1 finely chopped Serrano pepper, seeded
*Juice from one small lime
*Small palmful of chopped cilantro
*Plenty of salt, to taste
*Teensy splash of tequila (1/4-1/2 teaspoon)
*Paprika (optional)

Roughly mash the avocados with a fork and add in the rest of the ingredients, stirring and mashing together until nicely melded. I serve mine with blue corn chips that have been dusted with paprika, but if you'd prefer to add a dusting of paprika on the top of the finished batch, well you go right on ahead.

Crunchy Chunky Summer Salad

You don't win friends with salad, but this might be an exception to the rule. Inspired by a Chow.com article about summery salads, I raided my cupboard and devised a boldly flavored, attractively colorful Southwesternish hodgepodge of a salad, blanketed in a spicy, velvety chipotle dressing.  I really like the crisp, tarty taste of raw tomatillos, but if you find you're not really a fan, perhaps add a bit of red onion instead.

Crunchy Chunky Summer Salad:
Serves 3-4

*2 good-lookin' tomatoes, seeded and diced

*1 tomatillo, husked and diced small

*1 jalapeno, minced

*1 small bell pepper, any color, diced

*3-4 ears corn, husked, washed, shucked

*1 15oz can black beans, rinsed and drained well

*1 scallion, thinly sliced

*A handful of cilantro, finely chopped

Drain the tomatoes on a paper towel and sprinkle just a touch of kosher salt over them. Shuck the corn into a colander so that the kernels may drain. After everything else has been diced, drained, etc, toss  together in a large serving bowl or ladle it out into smaller bowls, and drizzle the dressing over the salad.

Chipotle Dressing

*1 ripe avocado, pitted

*Juice from 3 limes

*2 tablespoons olive oil

*2 chipotle peppers in adobo

*2 garlic cloves

*Healthy pinches of salt & pepper

*A bit of water to thin consistency

Blitz everything together in a mini food processor, thinning it with a little bit of water if necessary to make it pourable.

Herbed Turkey Burgers with Kale Pesto

On a particularly excellent episode of FOX's animated series Bob's Burgers last week, Bob's burger special of the day was "If Looks Could Kale", and I found myself desiring a fictional punny foodstuff something fierce. I devised my own "If Looks Could Kale" burger tonight, although the kale aspect was only a hit with 1/2 of the household, namely me. Other household half proclaimed the pesto to be too "raw", unsurprising as he views all non-basil-based pestos as an abomination. I happen to love the raw, darkly vegetal flavor of kale, though. I look forward to stirring the leftover pesto into some toothsome whole-wheat linguine down the road.



Owlbert plate by Rachel Kozlowski



Kale Pesto
Makes about 1/2 cup
*Overflowing handful of chopped kale leaves, ribs removed
*1/4 packed cup of baby spinach
*1 garlic clove
*2 tablespoons raw pepitas
*S&P
*1/2 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
*1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (or enough to thin out to desired constancy)
*A squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Parboil kale for about 6-7 minutes, shock with cold water, drain, and then squeeze kale dry of any liquid. Whiz kale, spinach, S&P, pepitas and garlic in a mini food processor and add olive oil in a steady stream until you've reached desired consistency and taste.  Add Parmesan cheese and pulse until combined, and then mix in a squeeze of lemon juice.

Herbed Turkey Burgers
Makes 4 patties

*1 lb ground turkey (the best ground turkey I've found locally is from Lindenhof Farm, who frequently sends envoys to the West Chester Growers Market).
*A couple teaspoons finely minced or grated shallot
*2 pressed or finely minced garlic cloves
*Heaping teaspoons a'piece of minced rosemary, parsley and thyme
*S&P
*Slices of good Swiss cheese
*Hamburger buns of your choice

In a bowl, gently squelch together the turkey meat, shallot, garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper. Try not to overwork the meat, though. Shape into 4 patties and crack some more pepper + a sprinkle of kosher salt over them as they sit. Heat a cast iron pan to between medium and medium-high and add a good slick of high smoke point oil. Once the oil is hot, lay the burgers in and cook undisturbed approximately 5 minutes per side or until just cooked through. With one minute left, add the cheese slices on top to melt and then toast your buns lightly.

I spread about a tablespoon of the pesto on the bottom bun, laid the cheesed burger on top, and then topped with some sliced avocado. I realize that adding another greenstuff compromises the integrity of "If Looks Could Kale", but I advocate for avocados as choice topping for every turkey burger. Other household half used his favorite BBQ sauce. To each his own!