This week is teacher appreciation week at our school. I enlisted four other parents, from each class, to join forces with me to provide lunch for our teachers throughout the week. Since I was organizing it, I took the first day.
I wanted to make something fresh, out of the ordinary, and yummy, but not too unusual as to have them wondering what they were eating. My son’s teacher had enjoyed the pesto orzo I had made in the past, and I witnessed my daughter’s teacher eating pasta. So Italian would be good. I wanted it to be memorable, so there had to be a few courses. Start with a salad, pasta as the main, and then finish off with a simple but decedent dessert. Perfect!
Browsing my cookbooks and food magazines from the month of May, I decided on a nicoise-type salad, with olive oil-packed tuna, baby potatoes, boiled egg, cucumber, tomato, and greens with a red wine vinaigrette. The pasta would be similar to the pesto orzo, with wilted arugula, cherry tomatoes, parmigiano reggiano, and toasted pine nuts. The perfect accompanying dessert would be a dark chocolate tart with gingersnap crust. If I weren’t still detoxing, I would have made enough for leftovers.
(oops. I forgot to add the potatoes. They are still sitting on the stove, at home)
(topped with cocoa nibs-YUM!)
Looks delicious- what lucky teachers!