Simple Cheese Plate at Home

I live on cheese, olives & wine.  It might be one of my favorite ways to spend the happy hours of the day.  Cheese plates seem so chi-chi but really they are incredibly easy to whip up & enjoy.  I put this cheese plate together while we were waiting for our dinner to finish cooking. I think the best way to make a good cheese plate is to combine salty with sweet with a variety of textures. I love olives, but Chris does not, so for my salty element I used some garlicky dill pickles.  I used two cheeses, one hard (parmesan that I shaved with a veggie peeler) and one soft (goat cheese that I cut into crumbly rounds).  My sweet element was fresh clementine segments.  I always love something I can spread so I used the last of the spinach & kale pesto that I had made.  A delicious vehicle for this spread is just as important. Lucky for me there's a bakery around the corner. Even luckier for me, I have a husband who was willing to grab some fresh bread.  Cheese plates are of course delicious with wine.  I know there's a whole sommelier science behind it but I say, drink what you like in good company & if the weather permits - enjoy it all outside.

Happy weekend y'all ;)

Gluten-Free Pasta with Crab, Citrus & Fresh Greens

We clearly eat some pasta at our house. Don't let the "O" and apostrophe in my last name fool you - this girl is Italian & her Irish husband is now too :) Well part Italian at least.

I'm always looking for new recipes to use with the staples I pick up at the grocery store. Yes, canned crab is one of those staples since there is only so much chicken & salmon we can eat.

I jazzed this recipe up with my gluten-free pasta & some fresh greens of course.

Click through for a citrusy take on crab & pasta. Yum.

Charred Cauliflower with Clementines

I have to admit, I've had a lot more experience cooking & eating broccoli than cauliflower. I like cauliflower  I just forget about it sometimes. I got a friendly reminder while flipping through the January 2013 edition of Whole Living Magazine. I saw the recipe for Charred Cauliflower with Clementines & Olives & needed to try it immediately.  I sadly didn't have any olives in the house so I made a Chris-friendly version sans olives. Next time I'll definitely have to throw some in my dish.

Ingredients:

• 1 head cauliflower, trimmed & cut crosswise into 1/2 inch slabs
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• coarse salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 2 clementines, zested & segmented
• (1/4 cup kalamata olives)
• 1 tsp white vinegar (I only had balsamic, so I used it & it worked great)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Make it!

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Arrange cauliflower in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet & brush both sides with 2 tablespoons olive oil.
3. Season with salt & pepper.
4. Roast, flipping once, until tender & golden, about 25 minutes.
5. Transfer to a serving patter with clementine segments (& olives).
6. Meanwhile, make vinaigrette: whisk remaining oil & vinegar & clementine zest. Season with salt.
7. Drizzle over cauliflower, clementines & olives. Sprinkle with parsley.