To say that graduate student life is stressful would be a vast understatement. The long hours, the failed experiments, the anxiety over papers and grants, it's all a big ulcer waiting to happen. Somehow, I have avoided bad frozen dinners, greasy takeout (save for the few times Mama Santa's pizza was just what I needed), Ramen noodles, and bowls of cereal for dinner. I think it's because coming home from a place where you almost have to be perfect in your precision and being able to leisurely dice up some ingredients and toss them together to create something delicious but far from perfect is a great stress reliever. Plus I often make a giant mess and something about that is quite liberating compared to the sterile environment of working in a lab.

But there are times when the only ingredients I have in the house, or the only thing that sounds appealing to me. On Sunday I was hanging out with a friend and we were watching Food Network, which is basically a recipe for gluttony even when you aren't hungry. Then a commercial about free waffles at Hampton Inns came on and we both decided that waffles were definitely in order. But when cake covered in syrup  (or in my case, jelly) isn't going to cut it, savory breakfasts are some of my favorite things to make for dinner. Breakfast for dinner is always a good go-to meal when you are cooking for one. But on this night, I was blessed with some pretty good company- thanks A and G!

Patty Pan Squash Hash

2 patty pan squash, chopped into about 1" pieces (Source: FFM)
2 leeks, sliced (Source: FFM)
1 lb romano yellow beans (Source: FFM)
1 lb Berkshire Pork Chorizo (Source: FFM)
2 poached eggs (Source: FFM, I had some left over from a few weeks ago)
fresh basil
S&P

Prep your veggies and heat 1-2 TBL olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Toss in your squash first and saute about 5 min. Add beans and leeks and increase heat to medium high in order to get some carmelization going. While your veggies are working, cook up your chorizo (or whatever you are using) in a non stick pan. Boil some salted water and poach your eggs 1.5-2 min. Toss veggies with chorizo (and resulting fat, it's seasoned from the sausage so don't throw it away!) and serve poached eggs on top. S&P to taste, and you could always garnish with some cheese too.

I have a unique love affair with squash. In particular, me and butternut are best buds and acorn and spaghetti squash are good friends. I think I ate squash almost every day for weeks last fall when squash was plentiful. Unfortunately, I am just not as big of a fan of summer squash for whatever the reason. I don't know if it's the flavor, the texture, or what but it just really isnt my thing. But I love the golden yellow and deep green colors on a hot summer day so I was pleased to see we received some in last weeks share.

Last night I was dying to cook so I quickly sauteed some summer squash and garlic, tossed it with the garlic chive pasta from Ohio City and garnished with some scallions and cheese. My favorite way to prepare summer squash is to saute it over high heat with olive oil in my stainless steel All-Clad pan. I love the caramelization that happens because honestly, I dont think summer squash has much flavor otherwise. If I had had some fresh cilantro on hand, it would have been a great addition to this light, fresh pasta. I'm loving the sunshine, but not so much the humidity so I was totally in love with this dish. Perfect for a hot and muggy day. I can't wait to eat the leftovers. I still haven't busted out the old camera, so I hope you will forgive me for a lack of photos. Hopefully next week will be better!

I had a reader question the other day about what to do with your excess green beans. Bring a deep saucepan of water to rolling boil, salted so that it tastes almost like the ocean.  Prepare your green beans (snap 'em if you like) and an ice bath. Blanch the green beans in the salted boiling water (water should be boiling the entire time for this process to work, so always leave it on high heat as the addition of the green beans will bring down the temp some) for about 2-5 min. I usually go on the shorter side so when I cook 'em up later they are still a bit cruchy. Immediately plunge the green beans into your ice bath to stop the cooking. Spread the completely cooled beans on a tray and freeze. Once frozen, pop them into a freezer safe bag. Cook just like you would any frozen vegetable you might by from the store.