Tonight's been a lazy night...rain, reading and relaxing. A nice way to end the busy week. The only thing missing is a good conversation with my better half, David. He's been hiking the Appalachian Trail for about 3 weeks at this point, and sends me pictures from his phone whenever he gets service. I can only imagine the beautifully untouched landscapes that penetrate his eyes each day. Although envious of his travels, I couldn't be happier that he is well and able to experience this very adventure. One he has thought about for so long.
He loves cheese just as much as I do, so I made this with him in mind :)
To keep tonight easy, I made a simple dinner using up the last bit of spinach, bread, riesling wine and goat cheese I had:
Riesling caramelized onions, sun-dried tomatoes and spinach over goat cheese painted crusty bread
Mmmmmm goat cheese. I applaud you, goats, for creating the base of such a divine masterpiece. Your cheese moves mountains in my world. Makes my taste buds dance and my lips smile. Slightly sharp and pungent on the palate, I find that goat cheese must be eaten in moderation. Too much is just that - too much. It is surely a cheese to be savored.
Spread this cheese on your favorite crusty bread (or any toasty bread for that matter) and top it off with the following:
Caramelized onions - Thinly slice 1/4 small onion and saute in 1 tsp olive oil on medium heat. Stirring frequently, cook onions until brown (aka caramelized). This browning is caused by the cooking of the onion's natural sugars, creating a nice sweet flavor. The onions may start to stick to the pan because of all this sugar action - deglaze the pan with a splash of liquid (riesling wine in this case, but water or broth work just as well) and continue to cook until desired browning is reached. This process can take some time; if you don't have the time, a simple saute will do just fine.
Sauteed spinach and garlic - heat a dime sized amount of olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add minced garlic; stir and cook for about 30 seconds, then add spinach and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until lightly wilted.
Sun-dried tomatoes - These can be bought packed in water or oil and used straight from the jar for extra simplicity. Actual sun-dried tomatoes should be reconstituted in water to make more palatable. To do this, soak your tomatoes in hot (previously boiled) water for about 5 minutes, and chop into bite size pieces.
Once all your veg is prepared, throw it on your goat cheese painted toast and call it a night.
I left a little room for dessert...
