Piggies

Sardines with fennel + orange 

At Pig in a Fur Coat, Teresa and I had sardines with fennel and orange on whole wheat crostini, dates stuffed with chorizo and piquillo peppers and topped with a red pepper puree, and lamb carpaccio with pea shoots, egg yolk, and herbs. The dates were my favorite. I wasn't sure about the combination of dates and red pepper. I was worried it'd be too much sweet for me, but I was pleasantly surprised. The spiciness of the chorizo and peppers cut the sweetness of the dates.

Dates stuffed with chorizo and piquillo peppers

My least favorite was the lamb carpaccio. It was stringy and not terribly appetizing.

Lamb carpaccio

For the Love of Tuna

Ah. I just finished a very refreshing shower, and now I'm drinking ginger ale and walking around in my Wonder Woman underoos.

Tonight for dinner, I grilled tuna steaks and topped them with leftover pesto butter.

On the side, I had a few crostini topped with olive tapenade (well, in a previous incarnation, it was an olive and basil vinaigrette for an arugula and cannellini salad, but it was close enough to a tapenade to work).

For the picnic preceding Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit at APT last week (7/23), I prepared this:

Arugula and Cannellini Salad with Olive Vinaigrette  
(from Whole Living)

vinaigrette

• 1/2 cup pitted oil-cured olives, such as Nicoise (about 36)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves
• 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

salad

• One 15 1/2-ounce can white beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 1/2 cups pear, grape, or cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 bunch arugula (about 6 ounces), trimmed and washed

Make vinaigrette: Combine olives and the water in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Process until olives are finely chopped. Add garlic, basil, vinegar, and cumin; process until mixture is smooth and combined, stopping to scrape sides of bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.

In a medium bowl, combine beans, tomatoes, and red onion, and gently toss. Pour vinaigrette over bean mixture, and toss to coat. To serve, divide arugula leaves among four plates, and mound bean mixture on top.

World's tiniest pic--hooray for iPhone cameras--of us at APT for Blithe Spirit

On July 9, J. and I went to The Taming of the Shrew at APT. I must admit that the female obedience theme was rather tiring by the end. While it's not one of Shakey's full-on problem plays, it was controversial, according to some critics, for its celebration of female subjugation and misogyny even when first published. The Wikipedia article about it has all kinds of interesting info., so I won't regurgitate it.

At APT for The Taming of the Shrew