Tim's Summer Minestrone

Note: To fill the orange Le Creuset, double the recipe.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons? dry sherry
1 rosemary sprig
3 thyme sprigs
4 parsley sprigs
2 leeks (white and light green parts) chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
small zucchini, sliced into disks
small yellow squash, sliced into disks
1 large carrot, food processed
1.5 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups mushroom broth
2 pound pre-cooked Vallarta beans
3/4 lb roma tomatoes
1/2 cup sliced green beans
water to cover

To serve:
Pesto (Bittman's)
Spinach, sliced

Cook:
See NYT recipe Minestrone with Shell Beans and Almond Pistou

Mendocino Mac & Cheese

We decided to have a picnic in Russian Gulch State Park on a Saturday afternoon after camping in MacKerricher State Park. I craved mac and cheese and Tim wanted hot dogs, so we broke out the Coleman stove and our stash of pre-cooked food from the coolers. Tim had prepared summer minestrone with pesto and shells, but we didn't feel like having soup on such a warm gorgeous day. So this is how we improvised.

Soundtrack:
Ry Cooder & V. Bhatt - A Meeting at the River

Ingredients:
Cooked pasta shells
Pesto (basil, garlic, parmesan, olive oil)
Penzey's seasoned salt (next time, try Maldon?)
Butter
Milk
Monterey Jack cheese (next time try a different cheese combo), shredded
Spinach, sliced into ribbons
(Lemon? - next time)

Cook:
Melt butter with milk in pot
Add salt (and something lemon?)
Add pasta shells to warm them up
Add spinach
Add shredded cheese
Add pesto
Stir continually from the bottom