A few things this weekend

I'm a little behind in my blog writing but lets start with Saturday morning. It's a rare occasion that we have a fancy breakfast. If it's during the week, it would only be for someones birthday. Sometimes on the weekends though I'll wake up in a cooking mood. Yesterday was one of those rare mornings!

No fancy recipes here. Scrambled eggs full of veggies - zucchini, orange pepper, mushroom & onion. I made some crispy dill potatoes too. After much trial and error I've found *what I think* is the best method for making crispy hash-brown-like potatoes. After boiling them until they're tender, I put the potatoes in the oven with some olive oil and dill and cook them for another 15 minutes or so at 400. The secret is to use the convect setting on the oven though! It leaves the inside soft while crisping up the outside.

I "toasted" some gluten-free bread in the oven as well. It's just easier if both Jason and I are eating the same bread and using the same knife so I treated him to some amazing Udi white bread. 

My mom purchased this bread for me first and it's honestly better than any gluten-filled bread I've ever had. I'm hooked on the plain white bread which is usually not what I go for - but damn. It tastes like it was just baked. I've also tried the blueberry muffins which were awesome.

We also had chai tea!

JASON'S REVIEW: That was the best start to the day I've had in a long time. The potatoes tasted like sweet tuber heaven.
MY REVIEW: I agree with Jason.. except for the tuber part?

Now moving right along to Saturday evening. I had wanted to make skewers but the skewer sticks are temporarily missing. Instead, we used our little grill bowl to make veggies on the BBQ.
A little olive oil with salt and pepper is all I added to these vegetables.
JASON'S REVIEW: They were tasty. 
MY REVIEW: The fresh pineapple was my favorite. The salt & pepper do not ruin the flavor.

Last, but not least, this evening we had a fantastic meal. I found some gluten free butter chicken sauce that comes in a jar. It's a lite sauce as well and for some reason can't find it on the Sharwood website - but you can find it at Safeway.

I can no longer find the recipe that inspired this salad so don't give me FULL credit for it! Here's what's in it:

mixed greens
2 sliced pears
crumbled gorgonzola cheese
dried cranberries
walnut pieces

Dressing
rice vinegar
olive oil
lemon juice
salt
pepper

Again, no measurements. I hope nobody just skims over my vague recipes and refuses to try them because I never write measurements. Tell me if you do! Please? I'll try harder.

MY REVIEW: I am on such a moldy cheese kick! This was great. Rice vinegar worked very will on this salad too.

JASON'S REVIEW: He's doing laundry so I don't want to bother him anymore. He liked it! He probably thought it was tasty!

Baked Gnocchi in Tomato Gorgonzola Sauce

Last Friday we went out for dinner to The Melting Pot had they had a to-die-for Gorgonzola dip. It was creamy and had these little bits of strong cheese speckled throughout. As we like to try new cheeses every so often, we decided to ask for a chunk at our weekly visit to the Italian Market. When the deli guy brought us a package of moldy cheese, we were slightly taken aback but took the plunge. We've never actually bought blue cheese or any sort of moldy cheese but recently discovered we DO enjoy it when others add it to food! This was a big step in the world of cheese for us. During this same visit to the Italian Market I found gluten free gnocchi which was made in Italy so I had to pick that up as well.

Now to find the perfect recipe. Gnocchi, Gorgonzola and I pretty much have to use zucchini everyday for the next few weeks. I lucked out and found this great recipe I could easily add zucchini to on the Canadian Living website:

Ingredients 
2 pkg (each 500 g) fresh gnocchi (I halved everything.. so 1pkg gnocchi for me)
1 tbsp butter, melted
6oz gorgonzola cheese or fontinacheese, crumbled or cubed (I, of course, used gorgonzola and only used a little bit. About half the size of a deck of cards. I didn't want to overdo it my first time cooking with moldy cheese!)
1 can (796 mL) diced tomatoes (half a can)
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I just sprinkled.. probably not this much)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Chopped Zucchini - Not in the original, but works fantastically!

Preparation:
In large pot of boiling salted water, cook gnocchi until tender, about 6 minutes; drain and return to pot.

Add butter, Gorgonzola cheese, tomatoes and pepper; stir to coat. Pour into 10-cup (2.5 L) casserole dish; sprinkle with Parmesan and parsley. (Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate for up to 8 hours.)

Bake, uncovered, in 400°F (200°C) oven until bubbly, about 45 minutes.

 To go with this, carrots and peas. Why not?

MY REVIEW: Was this ever good! Good smelling, good looking, good tasting. It was extremely easy to make and I would make sure to add the zucchini if I did it again! We did enjoy the extra little zing from the cheese but I do think this would be just as tasty without if you're not down with the mold. I've never really been crazy for boiled gnocchi but baked gnocchi is a whole new world!

JASON'S REVIEW: I like moldy cheese. You're the best.