Three Things: Farmers Market Veggies Make Easy Meals

This is a tale of my Pepper Place farmer's market veggies, some of the last tastes of summer, from last week. The idea was to prep veggies on Sunday and then make fast, veggilicious meals throughout the week.

Step one: Cook  yellow quash and pink-eyed peas. Chop bell pepper and tomatoes (they didn't make the photo).
Step two: Put 'em in a container.
Step three: Play with 'em for a little meal variety.

1. Tortilla Pizza
Crisping up a tortilla and throwing toppings on top is one of my favorite quick, one-person meals because it tastes like something from a restaurant. My veggies tasted all the better with some Parmesan and basil. No sauce needed.

2. Lunchtime Salad
Toss veggies with Greek spices, red wine vinegar and olive oil for insta-salad. I brought it for lunch at work with a half of my new PBJ cousin, Big Sky raisin bread with almond butter.

3. Veggie Scrambled Eggs
I had grand ideas of trying to make a frittata for my final meal of the week, but on a late weeknight scrambling some eggs and cheese had all the same flavor and texture. One bowl, one pan and 10 minutes later, I was eating my dinner. I need to make eggs into dinner more often.

Easy Breakfast: Fried Egg Nest

I finally got around to multitasking quick yet tasty and filling fried-egg-on-toast breakfast last weekend. Call it what you like*, it takes the whole putting-the-bread-in-the-toaster step out of the equation and adds an element of fun. Now if I could just master cooking my egg the perfect amount of time, with just enough runniness.

*Wikipedia says this recipe idea is known as bird's nest, bull's eye eggs, cowboy eggs, egg-in-the-hole, eggs in a blanket, elephant egg bagel, frog in a hole, gas house eggs, moon eggs, and Rocky Mountain toast.

Three Things: Tortilla Pizzas

The best simple restaurant-food-wannabe dinner option for a solitary eater. Throw on toppings based on what you have in your fridge and freezer.

The basic idea: Spray a tortilla with olive oil. Place on a cookie sheet (or pizza pan) in oven preheated to 425 degrees. Let cook until tortilla begins to brown, about 7 minutes (but do not let it burn-- been there, done that, started over). Add sauce, cheese and toppings. Return to oven and bake until the cheese melts, about 5 minutes.

1. Pesto

Inspiration: Schlotzsky's Mediterranean pizza

What: pesto sauce topped with Parmesan and feta cheese and chopped tomatoes

I eat it: when I have pesto and feta on hand

2. Barbecue Chicken

Inspiration: Memphis Pizza Cafe

What: barbecue sauce (I like Bullseye because it's the only one of the 20 or 30 labels I looked at that didn't have preservatives) topped with shredded (sharp) cheddar cheese, chopped chicken (I keep a stock of this in my freeze) and chopped red onion

I eat it: almost every week in the winter

3. Sausage and Bell Pepper

Inspiration: any ole pizza joint

What: marinara sauce topped with shredded mozzerella, cooked crumbled sausage, chopped orange bell pepper

I eat it: the least frequently (Usually I prefer to grab a slice of Shakespeare's to fulfill "normal" pizza cravings.)