Spinach-Feta Flatbread Bites with Tzatziki

A few months ago I received an email from TastingTable with a recipe for Spinach-Feta Cigars, a twist on the Greek grape-leaf wraps, which sounded delicious but I decided it was a recipe worth saving for an event rather than to whip up for a random dinner. Aaaand then life got really busy and various social events like dinner parties and game nights stopped happening, nevermind the general lack of time to make something slightly more complicated than throwing random veggies in a bowl and dousing them with olive oil, vinegar and calling it a 'dinner salad'. But these bite-sized tastes of Greece were definitely worth holding on to the recipe for!

Blackberry-Mint Lemonade

With temperatures reaching above 100º this week in Iowa, and a heat index well above that, I thought a refreshing beverage post was in order, especially with the long holiday weekend ahead! I have to credit my aunt Mary with leading me to this particular blog - she sent me a big list of them, which was wonderfully entertaining for my last night shift of clinicals when my baby was actually being good and sleeping most of the night. This recipe takes a little bit of prep time to make the mint syrup and let it cool, but is definitely worth it. The lemonade got rave reviews at the baby shower I co-hosted last weekend, and the leftovers were equally delightful when mixed with vodka for a breezy summertime drink on a very sweltering night.

Summer Vegetable Pasta

For those of us still struggling through grad programs, summer is rarely the exciting, relaxing break that most other students look forward to. My crazy schedule leads to long pauses in posting, while all the medical students I know are pulling out their hair and having coniptions over their impending boards exam. To be fair, it is a pretty big test, and I'm sure I will be the same way when I get ready to take them in August. With that in mind, I decided to make dinner for my friends Lara and Chris the week of their boards exam to try and help them out a bit - it's crazy how even the basics of feeding yourself seem like a time-sucking requirement rather than a welcome break when you're ear deep in textbooks

I had big plans for lots of Farmer's Market veggies in this, however my clinicals schedule has made it impossible for me to attend all by 2 of the markets so far this summer. So I instead settled for what looked good at the grocery store, and even though it wasn't Market-based, it was still pretty darn delicious- both for study food and general dinner.

Sangria

The temperatures are finally starting to climb, the sun is now out well past dinner, and I've seen lots of slip-n-slides adorning lawns -- all the signs of impending summer are there. The warm temperatures often force those of us who keep the red wine vintners in business to switch to something that can be chilled, either white wines or beers. While I'm not about to say anything negative towards these fermented beverages- there are certainly nights when a cold beer is the best thing on the planet, winos with a preference for reds need a way to keep our palates sated. Enter: chilled, fruity sangria!

Grown-up Mac'n'Cheese

As far as comfort foods go, there are very few things (possibly none) that are better than macaroni and cheese. This particular concoction is a far cry from the boxed versions where you mix some questionable-looking yellow powder with butter and milk and it somehow creates "cheese". Not that the boxed version doesn't have it's place - I have some very fond memories of it from when I was little, and it's an undergraduate finals week staple, but there are times that call for an improved version.

For the last two weeks, my extended family has been living in the hospital with my little 3 1/2 year old cousin as she fights incredibly hard to recover from her 3rd open heart surgery. Anyone who's spent any time hospitals knows how fast the food gets gross and old, much less every meal for almost two weeks striaght. So when they let me bring them some dinner, I was excited to step up and bring them some solid comfort food that wasn't deep-fried and stomach-ache inducing - and thus, a more grown-up version of the ultimate comfort food was born!

Green Beans with Pine Nuts

Sorry about the brief hiatus last week- I had big plans for cooking and then a cold knocked me flat on my butt for the early part of the week and an overnight shift on Wednesday and my sister's graduation over the weekend pretty well took out the rest of my week. So, in an effort to keep up with my 1-post-per-week resolution, you'll be getting two posts this week!

I'm starting with these green beans because it's 90º in Iowa City right now (aaa-mazing!) and fresh green beans are one of the foods that always taste like summer to me. Bright color, crisp snap and with farmer's markets across the country starting this last week, they're now easy and economical to find.

Healthy Banana-Nut Muffins

Don't let the 'healthy' tag on these muffins dissuade you from trying these muffins. They're moist, chewy, filling and delicious, all for 157 calories and 2.2g fat per muffin -- the perfect easy breakfast to grab on your way out the door, rather than skipping (tsk, tsk) or grabbing donuts or something worse later. They also provide a nice balance of legit food for those of us raiding our Easter baskets for some pre-breakfast treats while waiting for the coffee to finish. These even get the boyfriend stamp-of-approval, and he has very little patience for deliciousness trade-offs in favor of lower calories, which I can fully support.