Sunday Dinner

 Sunday dinner this week was supposed to be a Brazilian feast which I canceled when the heat wave rolled in.  I decided to serve cold salads instead.  Who knew that it would be just as hot making cold salads. Brazilian food will be served at our next Sunday dinner.

The main salad was a Kale Chicken and Pasta Caesar Salad.

 With homemade croutons.

 The kale is massaged with olive oil and lemon juice until it wilts and becomes bright green.

Then the pasta is mixed in.  I made homemade Caesar dressing but you can use store bought if you want to make it quick and easy.  I added grilled chicken and shaved Parmesan.

 Dinner began with carrot vichyssoise.

Ingredients

• 3 large leeks (1 1/2 pounds), white and light-green parts trimmed
• 1 medium clove garlic, minced
• 4 small Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled
• 5 carrots peeled
• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock (homemade if possible)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups whole milk
• 3 tablespoons snipped fresh chives

Directions

1. Coarsely chop leeks; place in bowl of cold water. Let stand 5 minutes to rid them of dirt and sand; lift out of water; drain in colander.
2. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to a heavy pot and place over low heat. Add leeks and garlic; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until leeks are wilted, about 12 minutes.
3. Cut  potatoes into small chunks; add to leeks. Slice carrots into 1/4-inch-thick rounds; add to vegetables along with stock, salt, pepper, and 2 cups water. Cover partially, raise heat to high, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low; cook until vegetables are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in milk, and puree in blender until smooth. I used an immersion blender. Let stand until cool; refrigerate until cold.
4. Serve very cold in small bowls topped with chives.

I didn't want my Brazilian DIL to be too disappointed about her Brazilian dinner being postponed so I made her more Pao de Queijo.

 

 And I made her Pastil de Carne (Brazilian meat pies).

 These are very similar to Mexican empanadas.

 You can fry them of bake them. They are Brazilian street food and are most often fried.

 The dough is almost like an egg roll when fried.

She was so happy to see these because she only gets them when she visits Brazil.  No one around here makes them.

 Back to the salads!  This is a Thai peanut salad.

And this is a pesto salad topped with Burrata cheese.  I used the pesto I made a while ago with scapes.

Once again, I forgot dessert pics.  Are you noticing a pattern here?  Everyone waits semi patiently for dessert and then once I begin serving it.....the wolves attack!  haha!  My family sure loves dessert.  Yesterday's dessert was a chewy coconut skillet cookie (made by my daughter), topped with coconut ice cream and the coconut syrup I made a few days ago.   Enjoyed by all but me.  I hate desserts.