TGIW (Thank God it's Wednesday)

Wednesday is the only day I know I have off this summer.  I was supposed to have class on Wednesdays but I ended up altering my schedule and decided not to tell work about it.  It's the one day that I actually make some time for myself and the things I like to do, I usually end up doing some homework too :(  Today I decided to cook somewhat healthy and use up some of the veggies in my fridge.  I started with a Mediterranean orzo and veggie salad which I made this morning so it had time for the flavors to blend together.

Mediterranean Orzo and Veggie Salad (adapted from wholefoods.com)

1 cup orzo
2 medium sized zucchini
4 Roma tomatoes
8 oz feta cheese crumbled (I used herb and garlic flavored)
3 Tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp crushed black pepper
2 Tbs mint, chopped

I started by boiling the orzo in salted water for about 6-8 minutes.  While that it going, slice the zucchini into 1/2" slices and brush with 1 Tbs of olive oil and sprinkle on the Italian seasoning.  Place the zucchini on a baking sheet and put under the broiler.  Broil for about 4 minutes and then flip and broil for another 4 minutes just until the zucchini starts to get golden brown around the edges. 

While the zucchini cools a bit, drain the orzo and rinse in cold water twice.

Then start chopping.  First I halved the tomatoes and removed the seeds and gunk in the middle and then chopped them up.  I got to use my fancy new sanotku knife I just bought for culinary school and I have to say I'm in love.

Then I crumbled up the feta.

I chopped up the zucchini and added everything to a bowl with the orzo.  Then I finely chopped up the garlic and added this to a small frying pan with the remaining olive oil.  I fried this over medium heat for a few minutes.  Just until the garlic started to get a little color but not so long that it gets brown.  Add this garlic oil to the bowl along with the remaining ingredients and mix.  Then stick it in the fridge for at least two hours before serving so the flavors have time to blend.

Later this afternoon I made the dough for the flat bread.  I found this recipe on the food network website and decided to give it a try.  I am a sucker for my carbs so I always feel like some sort of bread is a necessity in every meal.

1 package dry active yeast

1/2 tsp sugar

1 3/4 cup flour (I used whole wheat)

1/tsp salt

1 Tbs thyme

3/4 cup water (maybe more)

1 tsp olive oil

In the bowl of my food processor (fitted with the dough blade) add the yeast, sugar, flour, salt and thyme.  Pulse this until combined.  Continue pulsing while adding the water through the top until the dough pulls away from the sides and forms a ball (add more water if needed).  Kneed with dough until smooth and elastic.  Place dough in a oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in size, about an hour.  

While this was rising I got to work on Jason's pie for dessert.  We have a cherry tree in our yard and for about one week every summer we have more cherries than we know what to do with.  I am not a huge fan of tart cherries but our deal is that I will make Jason one cherry pie every summer.  Through the window it looked like there were quite a few ripe ones this morning so I figured it was a good day to love up to my end of the deal.  Once I got outside I realized that there weren't as many ripe ones as I thought so I was going to have to get creative.  I picked about two cups of ripe cherries and pitted them.  Then since I was no where near the six cups I needed for the cherry pie I took a bag of strawberries and blackberries out of the freezer and set out to make my cherry berry pie.

Pie crust for double crusted pie (I'm not posting my recipe because I was not happy with the way it came out, very crumbly and not that tasty)

2 cups pitted cherries

10 oz bag frozen unsweetened strawberries, thawed and sliced

10 oz bag frozen blackberries, thawed 

1 1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

2 Tbs cornstarch

Mix all the ingredients together until just blended.  Don't over mix or the berries will break down.

Place the bottom crust in a greased pie pan and add the pie filling.

Then I made a lattice crust for the top (I had some trouble here because my crust was super crumbly).  I baked the pie at 375 for about 35-40 minutes until the crust started to get golden.  The pie needs to sit for a couple hours before cutting so the filling can firm up a bit.  Jason has a hard time with the waiting part.

While the pie was baking, I got to work on the rest of our dinner.  By this time the flat bread dough had risen so did a little kneading and then split it into four pieces and rolled each one out to about 1/4 - 1/8" thickness

While I did this, Jason grilled a few chicken breasts on the grill along with some mushrooms for our sandwiches.  I just chopped a few baby bellas and added them with some butter and a little seasoning on some foil and rolled it up into a little packet so they could cook on the grill too.

Once the mushrooms and chicken were done we grilled the flat breads.  I sprayed them lightly on both sides and put them two at a time on the grill.  We grilled them for just a minute or two on both sides.

Once they were lightly golden on both sides we took them off the grill and put our sammies together.  I sliced up the chicken breasts, added some of the yummy mushrooms and a little Caesar salad.  Jason doesn't usually get too excited about my new recipes I try out on him but when he said tonight that we will have to make this again I knew I had a winner.  We don't do a lot of repeat dinners in our house because I am always experimenting with new things so when he asks for a repeat I must have done something right.