It was a last minute inspiration...

In order to factor in the newest member of the Weisburd family who happens to be a needy cocker spaniel puppy and has to go on walks like all the time, we needed a meal that could be prepped in parts.

For today's summery cooking adventure, we made oven-roasted vegetables, gnocchi with peas in a anchovy-garlic butter sauce, and Sonya's mama's beet and walnut salad.

Oven-roasted vegetables

Ingredients:

Onion

Fennel

Celery

Zucchini

Squash

Sweet potato

Green beans

Parsnips

Red and green peppers

Olive oil

Seasoning: salt, pepper, garlic powder, and oregano

Directions:

Cut up the above or any other vegetables that are roasting-friendly. Put foil on a large baking sheet and cover in a layer of olive oil. Spread vegetables on baking sheet, season, and drizzle more olive oil on top. Bake at 350 degrees until all vegetables are roasted to your liking (sweet potato should be soft). Tip: separate out the denser vegetables (sweet potato, parsnips, fennel for example) and bake on a separate baking sheet so that the other vegetables can be pulled out earlier when they are finished. 

Gnocchi and peas in anchovy and garlic-butter sauce

Ingredients:

Gnocchi (dry-packed, not frozen)

Oil-packed anchovies (about six of them)

Frozen peas

4 cloves of chopped garlic

4 tbs of butter

Directions:

Boil water. Once at a rolling boil, add gnocchi and cook for about 4 minutes (see packaging directions).

For sauce: melt butter in saucepan, add garlic and anchovies, and press in anchovies until they dissolve into mixture in pan. Add frozen peas (about half a package) and cook until peas are hot. Add cooked gnocchi into sauce and voila! 

Sonya's Mama's Beet Salad

Ingredients:

Six beets (or as many as you want depending on how large a salad you're making)

Half a white onion, finely chopped

Garlic (we used powder but it is recommended to use fresh garlic, finely chopped as well)

Cup of chopped walnuts

Pinch of salt

Mayo (but can substitute for olive oil)

Directions:

We used fresh beets from a farm that had to be boiled for about one hour but we strongly recommend used canned whole beets. Grate beets on largest grate setting. Saute onions in vegetable oil until well browned. Add fresh garlic, salt, sauted onions, chopped walnuts, and a few tablespoons of mayo (more or less to taste). Mix all ingredients together.

Put a bottle of Riesling to it and you're set! If you don't want to stand over a stove for too long, this is the meal for you.