Summer Sammies

I love the way your body adjusts in the summer. Hot and heavy pastas and potato rich casseroles quickly seem too burdensome for the weather and give way to urges for chilled soups, salads and fresh sandwiches.
Today after my first brick workout my body was feeling ready for a fresh but still stick to yer bones good meal. Like I've mentioned before, I really have started to explore the world of spices and sweet/salt combinations. I had great intentions to make a hominy and zucchini chili (I'm apparently on a zucc roll right now) today but after a) waking up much later than ever expected and b) heading to the gym without my wallet I decided the chili could hold off until Sunday or Monday. So I got home and scoured my fridge (I'm keeping up with my weekly/bi-weekly trips to the Italian Market) for something to eat. I settled on something I stumbled upon a few weeks ago, a toasted turkey, ham and raspberry jam sandwich. So the jam isn't exactly the healthiest but hey, it's not the worst thing I could put into my body either. Today I made it on hoagie bread thanks to the $1, I repeat $1 bag of day old hoagie bread (about 2 lbs I'm guessing) that I got at the market this week. I got it to make homemade croutons for that zucchini soup and also to share with my new housemate the Bestest Best! Anywho, I wanted some fresh veggies as well and since I still had corn from that corn risotto I decided I'd steam some corn. Steaming the corn quickly sounded like to hot of a choice on an 80 degree day and so I decided to cut it off the cob and eat it raw.
Eating corn raw is something a lot of people don't think to do. I never had until I worked on a farm and had co-workers who would grab ears off the stalk and open 'em up only to eat them right there in the field. Sweet corn is especially delicious chilly and raw! So I cut it off the cob and went to my spice cabinet and let my instincts guide me. A dash of cumin, sprinkle of cinnamon, drizzle of honey, splash of vinegar and drop of olive oil later and I found one of my new favorite veggie side dishes. I'm not sure what to call it but for now I'll just stick with DELICIOUS!

Leftover Smeftover

One of my favorite challenges after making something with a lot of new ingredients is to use whatever leftover ingredients I have and incorporate them into food stuffs I normally have in my kitchen. Today I decided after a jaunt to the gym and a nice stretch and nap in the park that I needed something fresh but with substance to build me up after my workout.
Since I've been frequenting the Italian Market as well as the realms of my crock pot I have built up my spice rack and filled the produce drawers in my fridge. Speaking of fridges, I saw a fridge door on the side of the road last night on my walk home after work and I desperately wanted it but sadly knew I couldn't carry it alone for the 5 blocks ahead. Dang, what a rad "shelf". Anywho---so today's adventure led to a twist on my usual tunafish sandwich.
I used leftover shallots and grape tomotoes from my last crock pot adventure as well as some dill from a previous soup creation. I mixed these along with some Albacore canned tuna, about 4 tablespoons of mustard, 2 teaspoons of Miracle Whip and some Adobo (the catchall spice when in doubt). I put this over toasted cracked wheat bread and Romaine lettuce.
Let me tell you, I really won on this one! I also cut up some Granny Smith Apple wedges to top off my salt/sweet balance and Tah-Dah!
This is just one more reminder of how awesome it is to start exploring new ingredients while not forgetting about our favorite mainstays (like canned tuna for instance!). I would also like to add that my adjustment to eating more balanced has been a source of inspiration in the kitchen. I no longer eat because I know I should. I eat because I want to and because flavor exploration is becoming a really exciting endeavor. Spice up your life kids. It's totally worth it. (I have a ton of leftover fresh basil...the ideas are already "cooking" in my head!)