Tomatoes, roasted beets, fresh mozzarella, basil, white truffle oil, balsamic vinegar. Delicious.

Ingredients
Pesto
1 cups packed fresh basil leaves
1 cloves garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Gnocchi
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 smoked chicken breasts - cut into strips
2 cups sliced roasted red bell peppers
1/4 cup capers
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Instructions
Make pesto by processing the ingredients.

Cook the gnocchi.

While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring until soft and fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chicken, peppers, and capers and cook, stirring until hot, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the pasta and cheese to the pesto and toss to combine. Add the chicken mixture and combine. Serve immediately.

Ingredients
3 pounds Granny Smith apples, sliced 1/2-inch thick
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 lemon, juiced
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Pinch ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, cut into chunks
Pie Dough
1 egg, beaten
4 ounces Sharp Cheddar, grated
vanilla ice cream

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the apples, lemon juice, the sugars, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cardamom. Continue to saute for 2 minutes. Season the apples with nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt.

Prepare pan with dough and fill with apple mixture. Toss chunks of butter on top of apples and cover with 2nd pie crust. Seal dough around edges and cut away excess. Make slits in dough and brush top with beaten egg. Place the pie in the oven, and bake for 1 hour.

Remove the pie from the oven and sprinkle the cheese over the top. Return the pie to the oven and continue to cook for several minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Let cool to room temperature before slicing, about 1 hour. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients
2 pounds (about 2 medium-sized) eggplant
Salt
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
2 cups Basic Tomato Sauce, recipe follows
1 pound ball fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Wash and towel dry the eggplant. Slice the eggplant horizontally about 1/4-inch thick. Place the slices in a large colander, sprinkle with salt and set aside to rest about 30 minutes. Drain and rinse the eggplant and dry on towels.

In a saute pan, heat the extra-virgin olive oil until just smoking. Press the drained eggplant pieces into the seasoned bread crumb mixture and saute until light golden brown on both sides. Repeat with all of the pieces. On a cookie sheet lay out the 4 largest pieces of eggplant. Place 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce over each piece and place a thin slice of mozzarella on top of each. Sprinkle with Parmigiano and top each with the next smallest piece of eggplant, then sauce then mozzarella. Repeat the layering process until all the ingredients have been used, finishing again with the Parmigiano. Place the pan in the oven and bake until the top of each little stack is golden brown and bubbly, about 15 minutes.

Basic Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 Spanish onion, chopped into 1/4-inch dice
4 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1/2 medium carrot, finely shredded
2 (28-ounce) cans peeled whole tomatoes
Salt

Instructions
In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the
onion and garlic and cook until soft and light golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the thyme and carrot and cook 5 minutes more, until the carrot is quite soft. Add the tomatoes and juice and bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until as thick as hot cereal. Season with salt and serve.

Ingredients
4 pounds fresh tomatoes, quartered
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped yellow onions
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
Salt and pepper
Pinch of cayenne
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 quart vegetable stock
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1/2 cup heavy cream

Instructions
Prepare the smoker, according to the manufacturers directions. In a mixing bowl, toss the tomatoes with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper. Place the tomatoes on the rack of the smoker and place in the smoker. Smoke the tomatoes with oak for 30 minutes. Remove the tomatoes from the smoker and set aside, including the tomato juices. In a stock pan, heat the remaining olive oil. When the oil is hot, saute the onions, celery and carrots. Season the vegetables with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Saute the vegetables for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic, smoked tomatoes and tomato juices. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring often. Add the vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 1 hour. Puree the soup with a stick blender until smooth. Adjust seasoning if needed. Ladle soup into bowls. Pour in a little cream and garnish with parsley and a little cayenne.

Alex is at band camp this week, so it's just Nick and me. When I asked what he wanted for dinner, Nick replied, "Hummus." I'm a little hummussed out. Nick had spanikopita at Judy and Bob's party Saturday night and really liked it, so I convinced him to have that instead. I invited my mom over too. The spanikopita was delicious. The cucumber salad was good. The Pineapple Habañero Sorbet was a definite disappointment. My mom and Nick both liked it. I suppose it was good. But, the habañero added no flavor - just heat. It was a gimmick. I would have been totally happy with the recipe if I would have left the habañero out altogether and made plain pineapple sorbet. Making it with ginger would have been fine too. Or mango. Or coconut. Habañero - no. Don't make this. (Make the spanikopita though, it was good.)

Ingredients
2 cans pineapple pieces - separate juice and pineapple
1/2 habañero pepper, seeds and stem removed - finely chopped
2 cups pineapple juice from cans
2 cups sugar

Instructions
Combine pineapple juice, habañero, and sugar in a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring often. When sugar melts remove from the heat, and allow to cool slightly. Add pineapple and thoroughly process in a food processor. Chill thoroughly (2 hours in the freezer should do it) and freeze in an ice cream maker.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 large package spinach, chopped
Salt and pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
4 ounces feta, crumbled
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup sour cream
phyllo dough
1/4 cup melted butter

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Sauté onion in oil for 5 minutes. Add spinach and cook until just wilted. Move to a bowl and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add feta, beaten egg, and sour cream and stir.

On a large work surface, place 1 sheet of phyllo. Paint half of the sheet with a little melted butter, paying extra attention to your perimeter. Fold sheet in half. Pile 1/4 of your spinach mixture into a log shape working 2 inches from bottom and each side. Tuck bottom up and fold both sides in, then roll and wrap upwards until you reach the edge of the dough sheet. Each pastry will resemble an egg roll. Paint the seam and the ends of the roll with butter and set roll seam side down on a cookie sheet. Repeat and make 4 rolls. Bake 15 minutes or until lightly golden all over and serve.

Ingredients
3 large cucumbers, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons salt
juice from one lemon
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon dill
1/2 cup thinly sliced onions

Instructions
Toss cucumber with salt in a colander. Let stand about an hour. Rinse well and drain.

Combine lemon juice, vinegat, oil, sugar, and dill in serving bowl. Mix in onion and cucumber. Serve cold.

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup pomegranate juice
4 cups blueberries
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Instructions
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, water, and salt. Cook, stirring, until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Add pomegranate juice and blueberries and simmer for 3 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes.

In a blender, purée the blueberries mixture with the lemon juice until very smooth. Cover and refrigerate until chilled - about 4 hours.

Churn in an ice cream maker.

Ingredients
flour tortillas
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced green onions
1/2 cup black beans, drained
1 cup cooked rice
3/4 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
salsa

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Warm tortillas in oven.

While tortillas are warming, heat a non-stick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat until hot. Add zucchini, chiles, green onions, and beans, and sauté for 3 minutes or until tender. Stir in the rice, cheese, salt, and pepper and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream and cilantro.

Fill warmed tortillas with rice mixture. Top with lettuce and tomato. Roll up the burrito and serve with salsa.