Tuesday, July 26, 2011

cottage dinners - grilled vegetable tostatas with fresh tomato salsa, lemon-garlic lamb kebabs with feta dipping sauce, chickpea, tomato and feta salad

When I arrive somewhere on vacation I always look for the farm stands & markets in town. In North Bay the farm stand had fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic, zucchini, cucumbers, strawberries & blueberries. I devised several of our cottage dinners around what I grabbed at L'Amis Farm Stand at Hwy 11 and Lakeshore Rd.
My new go-to summertime meal is Grilled Vegetable Tostatas featured in Everyday Food Great Food Fast. I remember reading about tostadas for years and thinking, "Arg, what a skimpy way to eat Mexican." Those were the days I packed away burritos and cheese sauce. Now-a-days I'm a little more aware of flavour vs. fat and indulgence vs. daily dinners. And, boy, was I wrong. Tostatas are the most amazing grilled dinner option and are so satisfying. These include grilled zucchini, summer squash, portobello mushrooms and scallions. I'm also pumped about these because a topping of Fresh Tomato Salsa is the perfect condiment. The pico de gallo made from fresh summer tomatoes at the cottage is heads above all my previous ones I've made earlier this year with store-bought tomatoes. 

The other dinner we had from Everyday Food Great Food Fast were these Lemon-Garlic Lamb Kebabs with a Feta Dipping Sauce. There really is nothing like the flavour of lamb! The feta sauce on the side was a necessary addition to give the kebabs a little tang since lamb is so rich. I also made this quick side salad of Chickpea, Tomato and Feta Salad from Everyday Food's Special Summer Issue. I was pretty 'meh' about it. Something about the chickpeas didn't work for me and the left overs had to be thrown out the next day because it didn't stand up to overnight refrigeration.

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