17 | July | 2013 | California Endless Summer

Time for What I Ate on Tuesday or what Jenn over at Peas & Crayons likes to call WIAW. Anyway you say it, it’s a great day for new recipes and food porn. 😉

Started the day at the gym – elliptical and core. From there, I helped my mom by transporting her around as we dropped one car off at the dealership for a tune-up. For a treat we picked up a horchata latte from Portos. If you are ever in the Glendale area, I highly recommend stopping by this bakery & cafe. I’ve only been lucky enough to test out their coffee and pastries, but that is enough to say it’s beyond delicious.

Back at the house I sat down to read the paper and eat breakfast. I picked between the only yogurts in fridge (below as well as Noosa Honey) and topped it off with peach, banana, strawberries, and some homemade granola. Lunch…oops. I had a plan to make mixed vegetables topped with a fried egg and then discovered a few boxes of leftovers and went that direction instead. My actual meal included lettuce, ranch dressing, peppers, green beans, carrots, leftover salmon, and a bit of turkey pot-roast. I ended the meal with part of a sourdough baguette taken from dinner the other night at Corona Del Mar’s Five Crowns.

I was still a bit stuffed from my late lunch but worked up a hunger while hiking the local trails. I’ve been fortunate to have the trails nearby so I can hike them with friends or on my own whenever I please. Lately I’ve been walking the hills with my iPod and a couple 5 lb weights, alternating exercises based on the songs playing.

Dinner was an adaptation from one of the latest Real Simple’s 20-Minute Meals. The original recipe was “Linguine w/ Summer Vegetables & Goat Cheese” although we had more of “Spaghetti w/ Summer Vegetables & Feta.”

Summer Vegetable & Feta Pasta
Serves ~4 — Total Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
3/4 lb pasta (linguine/spaghetti – preferably skinny noodles)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (toasted)
3 tbsp olive oil
2 cups fresh corn (from 2 ears)
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 pints grape/cherry tomatoes (halved)
2 small zucchini (cut into thin ribbons with a veggie peeler)
2 tbsp oregano
4 oz feta (cheese of your choice)
2-4 chicken sausages (we selected apple/gouda…mmmmmm, perfection)

Directions
1. Cook pasta according to package. Half tomatoes and set aside.
2. Heat oven to 350F and spread the walnuts on a baking sheet. Toss until they turn golden brown.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Slice sausages and place in skillet. Add in corn, zucchini, and garlic until corn is tender (~2-4 minutes).
4. Add skillet ingredients to the pasta and mix. Add in the feta cheese and continue to mix.
5. Serve sprinkled with oregano and walnuts.

My weakness = ice cream. I’ve never really gravitated towards key lime, but when these lovely treats appeared in our freezer thanks to my mom, I decided to test it out. Well, I’d say it’s a hit. Perfect mix of ice cream and soft graham cracker flavor with no lasting sugar overload. I have yet to make ice cream sandwiches of my own, let alone ice cream. I guess I should probably put that ice cream maker to use, shouldn’t I?