Saturday, July 4, 2009

First Blog: Welcome and Dinner Party

So, I guess this is my first blog post! I promise to try to keep the self-indulgent blathering to a minimum and instead focus on interesting recipes I’m trying, as well as commenting on articles from other publications (newspapers, blogs, etc.) on the food industry and sustainable food movement. A couple of things I hope to incorporate weekly are 1) an in season recipe (look for a garlic scape recipe coming soon!) and 2) another blog I consider interesting and check in on consistently.
For those you have stumbled upon this blog, I suppose I should tell you a little about myself. My name is Jessica and I am origianlly from middle Tennessee. I’ve lived in Boston for almost two years, where I met my wonderful boyfriend Rob. We live not too far from where he grew up, in Dorchester. I love food and love that Boston has introduced me to the ideas of sustainability and local eating, as well as the issues we are facing with Big Food. Hopefully, this can be my little part of combatting it.
So, on to the first recipe! This past Sunday, Rob and I hosted 12 of our friends for a dinner party. One of our guests, Erin, started a supper club a few months ago, and it was our turn to host. It was fun (and a little stressful) to make so much food and one of my favorite items was the roasted vegetables with a lemon-basil mustard vinaigrette. Very light and summer-y, and tons of leftovers! (look for those recipes soon)

Roasted Summer Vegetables with Lemon-Basil Mustard Vinaigrette
Vegetables:
Summer Squash
Zucchini
Bell peppers (I choose orange for a great color contrast, but you could use any color)

Vinaigrette:
1 tsp. mustard (I used Coleman’s for a bit of heat, but any good mustard will do)
juice of half a lemon
2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
5-6 Tbsp. olive oil*
handful of basil leaves, chopped
Salt
Pepper

Wash the vegetables and slice to even thickness. Toss with a little olive oil and roast at 400° until tender. Meanwhile, whisk mustard, lemon juice and vinegar to combine. Then, still whisking, slowly pour in oil. Whisk vigorously to combine then season and add basil. Pour over vegetables and garnish with lemon wedges and basil leaves.
* For the olive oil, I used half regular olive oil and half citrus infused olive oil. I had some Blood Orange olive oil from O Olive Oil on hand and it added a nice citrus-y tang, but is by no means necessary! Use whatever you have.

1 comment:

  1. yay for your first blog entry! i look forward to reading about all the delicious things you will whip up!

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