Next week marks three months since we closed on The River Affair Estate. We have embarked on the journey of transforming the property and we couldn’t be more excited about it. Along with the growth of the property is the growth of our relationship. Todd and I were officially married on July 11th in a simple romantic ceremony with just our children in attendance. Even though we have felt like we have been married for years we are officially on our honeymoon spending it in our garden and camped out on the front yard river in a large tent. It’s more in the style of glamping fully equipped with lamps for reading in the evenings and a small table to have romantic dinners together. And that’s exactly how we spent our wedding night in a tent beautifully decorated by our children lite with string lights, covered in balloons floating across the floor and Mr & Mrs champagne glasses and sign. It was simple and romantic as we celebrated with our children with a quick toast of love and family. Our wedding night dinner consisted of our favorites: pasta with truffles & oysters from our favorite restaurant and an Italian sub with extra mayo from Wawa.
It brought back memories of the night we got engaged in Folly Beach, South Carolina, and coming back to our rental house to only be distracted at the door by our one daughter while the other two snuck away. Upon opening the door to the house we were greeted with music, candlelight, balloons, and confetti scattered on the floor. We were greeted by a loud “surprise“ as our children had surprised us with an intimate engagement party. The table was covered in Mr & Mrs decorations, our favorite treats, and a bottle of champagne that was smuggled in their suitcase from home. The whole moment brought me to tears. The love, intention, and details they brought that night down to our favorites 70’s love songs playing was the same as our wedding night.
In our home love is the heart of everything. We build our marriage, family, and business on it. And that love shows not only in our glow together that we told exists even by random strangers but also it can be found in our garden. The design, planting, and care of our garden is based on love. And it’s overflowing with love and tomatoes right now in August where its that time of year of it being a daily occurrence of picking tomatoes by the handfuls.
This salad is the perfect simple recipe to honor all of the riped tomatoes in your garden. Balanced with sliced beets then topped with pistachio encrusted goat cheese slices. Leftovers are perfect the next morning for fillings in an omelet the next morning.
Summer Tomato & Pistachio Goat Cheese Salad
Pairs With: Crisp, dry white wine
Serves 4 to 6
Prep Time: 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
4 Heirloom Tomatoes, sliced ( I use Black Beauty Tomatoes ) Sold Out! Available Spring 2021. See more about the variety here
2 Heirloom Beets, thinly sliced ( I used Bassino Beets) Available in Spring 2021
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt & pepper
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
4 oz plain goat cheese log, sliced into 6 slices
1/2 cup toasted & roughly pistachios, chopped
RECIPE:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Line baking tray with a silpat sheet (substitute a silpat sheet for a greased tray)
Slice goat cheese log into 6 slices.
Fill small bowl with 2 tablespoons olive oil.
Fill shallow dish with chopped pistachios.
Lightly brush each side of goat cheese slice with olive oil, then dip each side in chopped pistachios. Place on baking sheet. Repeat
Bake at 400 for 10 minutes
While goat cheese bakes, place sliced beets in ball jar.
Add 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/2 cup red wine vinegar into ball jar with beets. Season with salt & pepper. Place lid on ball jar and shake. Place in refrigerator until red to serve.
Place slice tomatoes on serving platter. Chill for 30 minutes or until ready to serve.
Upon ready to serve pour beet mixture from ball jar over tomato platter. Top with pistachio goat cheese slices. Serve!
Comments