Monday, June 22, 2009

Slow Sunday supper

This is June: fresh greens from the garden, rhubarb soda, and a simple Sunday night dinner on the porch. After two weeks of (nearly) constant rain, it was heavenly to sit and watch the clouds gently clearing themselves away from the sky, whisp by blue-gray wisp. As we sat and reflected on our weekends, thinking and planning and scheming the week to come, a bright ray of sun found its way to the tree at the end of our street. As anyone who's ever suffered through weeks of gloomy weather knows, when you see sunlight again, it's pure magic. Without speaking, I noticed that Patrick and I were wearing the same exact giddy grins. Welcome back, sunshine!

I'm thinking I'd like to do more of this over the summer: simple, slowed-down times to reflect and recharge, and together times to speak quietly of things to come. As Pearle reminds me nearly every day as I leave her house to head home for the day, "Enjoy this time. This is the best time." When a (nearly) ninety-year-old woman imparts wisdom, you listen. And she's right: this is a very good season of life to be living, best enjoyed on a big airy porch with my husband.

This marinated chickpea salad is fast becoming one of our spring/summer staples. It's as easy as opening a couple of cans and sauteeing some onions. Enjoy!

Chickpea Salad with Artichoke hearts and Sundried Tomatoes adapted from The Voluptuous Vegan

1 tbsp olive oil
a sprinkle of dried rosemary
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 15-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 12-oz jar marinated artichoke hearts
a splash of your favorite vinaigrette-- something lemony is especially nice
greens for serving (optional)

First, warm the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle in the rosemary. Add the onion abd sundried tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are golden-brown and softened, about 5 minutes. Add the celery, and cook one more minute. Turn off the heat and add the remaining ingredients to the pan. It's ready to serve as is (slightly warm), or it can be chilled for a few hours to let the flavors meld.

Toss with a little vinaigrette and serve over greens.


4 comments:

Amanda Nicole said...

What a beautiful image you've painted in my mind! I am in complete agreeance with you about slowing down. That's my plan for this summer as well, and so far, so good. Thanks for the recipe, I'm going to give it a try!

Alisha said...

This looks delicious. I've been thinking about collecting a few simple recipes for slow Sunday afternoons/evenings. I hope to give this one a try soon.

Amanda said...

Thanks for stopping by. You're welcome anytime! I wish I could claim his haircut as my own DIY, but we paid this wonderful man to cut it really fast while Sam got to watch TV and eat a sucker. :) I can see from your bloglist on the right that we frequent many of the same blogs! I'm guessing that's how you stumbled onto mine. :)

Eliana said...

What a great looking dinner. Sunday dinners are the best.

Post a Comment

Thank you, so much, for taking the time to chime in here. Your comments make my day. Let's do our best to keep the snarkiness at bay and be a happy, friendly place in the interwebs.

Related Posts with Thumbnails