Arugula-pepper frittata

I had tons of arugula and noticed on Information Is Beautiful's taste buds graphic that it would be good with peppers...so this simple and luscious frittata was the answer! It's good warm or at room temperature and makes a perfect cocktail hour snack as well as dinner. I used 1 big poblano pepper plus two small jalapenos, but you can use any combination of long green peppers with good flavor that you like--maybe anaheim or something. Start by preheating your oven to 350.
Cut the peppers into super thin strips.

And saute them in a little olive oil in a big pan over medium high heat until they are getting soft.

Add in 1/4 cup thinly sliced sweet onion and continue to saute until all are very soft--probably about 6 minutesGet about 6 cups arugula...it will seem like a ton but it cooks down into zero, trust.Chop it up and add it into the pan with the peppers and saute until wilty.That will take pretty much no time at all--the arugula cooks very quickly.Meanwhile, combine 5 eggs with salt, pepper and 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese.Beat them all together pretty well...

And add in all your veggies. You can add a couple of dabs of goat cheese in if you want as well--I thought that was pretty tasty.Meanwhile, heat up a heaping tablespoon of butter in a 10" pan that can go in the oven. After the butter is hot, pour in your vegetable-egg mixture, don't stir it all all, and let it cook undisturbed for 10 minutes.

It will get a bit more solid.

After 10 minutes on the stovetop, transfer it to the 350 degree oven for 5 more minutes.

After you pull it out, let it sit for 1 or two minutes, then flip the pan over on a cutting board to pop the fritatta out. Mine got kind of browned because I made it in cast iron, but I think it was awesome that way.Cut it all into wedges and add a sprinkle of kosher salt over the top.

Like I said--it's great at room temperature too so a perfect ahead of time appetizer, if you cut it into cute strips or something. Or just a couple big slices for a healthy dinner.

Watermelon and feta steaks

This is in imitation of a watermelon steaks appetizer from Abbatoir that I had a few weeks ago. It's a really pretty, really simple first course that hits sweet, salty, tangy and spicy all at the same time. At Abbatoir they use watermelon rind pickles but I didn't have any so I just made a quick pickle with thin slices of vidalia onion marinated for a few hours in 1/4 cup cider vinegar, a little olive oil, plus two teaspoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt.You'll need a sweet, in-season watermelon...You'll only need enough to cut 4 long bricks. Save the rest for snacking on all week long.I cut these by slicing two thick wedges and trimming them down into 2 pieces each.Gather about a quarter cup each of mint and basil leaves...Mince them all up together and set aside. They'll go on top.I wanted a mild, not-too-sharp feta--the cheese gal at Whole Foods thought this would do the trick. Cut it into slabs to fit on top of your watermelon.And you'll need some heat! I don't know what kind of peppers these were but they were aromatic, fruity and quite hot.De-seed them unless you're really a masochist. I touched my eyes after this accidentally by the way...regrets, I've had a few.And slice them into thin strips.Assembly is easy! Slab of feta over the watermelon...
Then vidalia pickle tucked in and around the melon, plus peppers and basil/mint mixture right on top. I sprinkled with a little crushed black pepper as well, right before serving.

Goat cheese grits with baby vidalia onions

These really were made to go with the recipe that follows for balsamic-cocoa glazed oven ribs--they are a match made in heaven! Start your grits in a mixture of 1 1/2 cups water, 1/2 cup milk, and 1/2 cup white wine. Combine in a pot with 2 tablespoons butter. And bring it to a boil.You need some grits! Not the instant kind--get real, slow-cooking grits.You need 1/2 cup. Doesn't look like much, does it? But it will end up as enough for a side for 2-3 people. Amazing.Slowly whisk the grits into the boiling water-milk-wine mixture.It will seem pretty liquidy even after incorporating it all in. But that's OK.Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened. It will take about 30-40 minutes, but doesn't require psychotic attention so you can concentrate on doing other things. Voila. Pretty much done here.Meanwhile, you can get the seasonings together. I had a bunch of baby vidalia onions--they started showing up in markets not long ago down here in Georgia. I love their flavor; they aren't so sharp like scallions. If you can't find baby vidalias specifically, you can use spring onion. It has three parts--the white bulb, the long middle white part, and the green tops.Cut apart all three, and slice the middle white part into thin rings.Set aside the sliced white rings and reserve about 2 tablespoons of the green ends for the grits as well (you can use the bulb and the rest of the greens up when you make the ribs).And get some goat cheese!You need about 2 ounces (that's half of the small cylinder package above).Your grits are done, so turn them down to low and stir in the goat cheese until it all melts in...And add in the white thin rings of the onion, plus salt and pepper to taste.And finish them up with a sprinkly of the greens on top. Creamy and delicious. Lonely though--they really want some ribs on top...Ahhhh. There we go.It's amazing you know--but this is really just the same thing as a classic polenta with a slow-cooked meat ragu on top. Southern American or Southern Italian--really, what's the difference? :)