mom's day

For Mother's Day this year, my mom had one request: that we go for the brunch buffet at an Indian Restaurant in Darien that has a serious following. Indian is not something I typically go for (we're talking MAYBE once a year) so I was rather intrigued and looking forward to filling my plate with a number of mysterious dishes and tasting my way through the cuisine. However, 2:45 rolled around and we discovered that brunch was served until 3:00.

Oops.

Plan B. Something French. Maybe a warm goat cheese salad? A glass of Rosé? And while we all agreed that that would most certainly fit the bill, there seems to be a bizarre and extreme shortage of anything remotely French (or worthwhile) in Fairfield County. So what was the final decision? We'll just have to make something ourselves, of course.

Off to the market we went, three chicks getting to take advantage of the fabulous weather and riding through town with the top down on my mom's new toy, her Volkswagen Beetle Convertible, wind blowing through our hair (read: ridiculous knots), and heat blowing full blast on our feet. Typical.

Once at the market, I had a plan: A grilled pizza topped with zucchini, white onion, dollops of ricotta, and drizzled with a salsa verde. With a salad on the side, we were ready for a light, springy, and admittedly verdant meal. We also picked up a goat, sheep, and cow's milk cheese that had caught our attention (shown below, for $7.99, this was killer. Super stinky, super flavorful; salty and smokey. Delicious.) as well as a loaf of freshly baked ciabatta. Sorry, we couldn't help ourselves.

Once home, the grill was fired up and I stretched out a piece of store-bought pizza dough till it resembled a somewhat round shape. I rubbed it with olive oil and slapped it on the grill. After about three or four minutes, I flipped it and got ready to throw on my toppings. First came a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese, quickly thereafter came the zucchini ribbons and thinly sliced white onion. I closed the grill so that the heat could get trapped inside, and gently begin to break down the veggies.

After about 5 minutes, I took the pizza off and brought it inside to receive its finishing touches. Dollops of fresh ricotta cheese were joined by a generous drizzle of salsa verde. With a salad of baby arugula and field greens quickly dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette, dinner? Done.
Throw in a bottle of Cannonball Cabernet Sauvignon (You must find this wine. Heck, I must find this wine somewhere in the city. Ridiculously affordable. Incredibly delicious.) and you've got a scrumptious spread that was whipped up in 20 minutes.
Then you get to linger for as long as you'd like with Mom. And you know, talk about the power of John Mayer's lyrics and whether or not the back splash tile should go all the way up to the ceiling or not. What? That's not what you talk about with your mom?

Whatever. Love you, Mom.