what I ate this weekend..

We had a cheese and meat plate with wine for dinner Friday night.

honey goat, brie, raspberries, berry jam, english cheddar, soppressata,  toasted bread and strawberries on the side

I found this new wine at Trader Joe's--a really delicious Tempranillo for $8!!

Saturday I took Mike to Ike's for his first time ever. We ate our sandwiches in Dolores Park and relaxed in the sunshine.

Then we scarfed some Bi-Rite ice cream--their brownie sundae is out of control.

We ended the night with a few cocktails at House of Shields--my new obsession is a vodka gimlet, on the rocks-love the giant ice cube!

Sunday I made homemade soup stew--its been a particularly chilly SF summer and I wanted something to warm us up

taken on a walk last week--the transamerica building is somewhere among that fog..

chicken & veggie soup stew
2 chicken breasts, seasoned with salt and pepper
4 carrots, diced
4 pieces of celery, diced
1 medium onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium sized squash, diced
2 cups baby spinach, slightly chopped
1 each red, orange, yellow mini bell peppers, diced
1 large potato, diced
1 bag of english peas (I used fresh, frozen works too)
7 sprigs thyme
a handful of fresh parley
salt, pepper, cayenne and crushed red pepper for seasoning
1 pint of vegetable broth
1 cup of water
a few glugs of olive oil

This turned out to be much thicker and was more of a stew than a soup, but was super hearty and had great flavor!

tip: dice all veggies a similar size so they cook evenly

• preheat large pot with olive oil and a few thyme sprigs, place seasoned chicken breasts, skin side down
• cook on medium-high heat, letting the outside get crispy, then flip
• once the chicken is browned on both sides, take out and set aside
• lower heat to medium, add a bit more oil and begin adding diced veggies. be sure to add the most firm ones first (carrots, celery, squash, peppers, onions, spinach, garlic in that order.) 

veggies cooking in their natural liquid

• season liberally with salt and pepper, add a dash of cayenne and a few shakes of red pepper flakes
• let all veggies saute in their own liquid until softened. add vegetable broth and cup of water, peas, potatoes, parsley and remaining thyme sprigs
• add chicken to cook through, cover and let come to a low boil
• after about 15 minutes of cooking, remove chicken and set aside, and pull out thyme stems
• turn heat to low and let the soup cook for a few hours--it can be served at any point from here
• slice chicken off bone and add to stew

we enjoyed this cozy stew with some cheesy panini--happy summer in SF!