Palmabella's Passions

On Wednesday mornings, I am usually at Catholic Charities providing supervision to individual interns as well as "Group Sup" to 4-5 unlicensed therapists-in-training who work under my Marriage Family Therapist license. I have a great group of interns who are experienced, dedicated, mature (we are all within the same age group, give or take), and fun to be with. They discuss the clients they have seen during the week, ask questions, and I read and sign off all of their paperwork and charting.

This week, I hosted a luncheon for one of our group, Terra, who is getting ready to take her licensing exams. We held the morning supervision hours at my house, ending with a luncheon for six to honor Terra's last week at the agency.

The table was bright and cheerful.

My "do ahead" menu was a selection of salads:

Curry Chicken Salad (an old luncheon standby that is always a hit)

Creamy Orzo Salad with Asparagus, Zucchini and Pistachios

Spinach-Strawberry Salad with Strawberry-Walnut Dressing

Deborah's Wild Rice-Roasted Corn Salad (Sunday Salad Samplers weekly recipe will be featured on Sunday, June 7

Ciabatta bread

One of my interns, Alicia, a wonderful cook from Uruguay, also brought a Spinach Pie and delicious flan.

For dessert, I made a Blackberry-Marscapone Tart

We all had a great time, and will miss Terra! She makes us laugh a LOT!

Brad feasted on leftovers. We'll have lots of salads for a few nights!

Recipes:

Chicken Curry Salad:

4 grilled chicken breasts, cubed
1/2 c. chopped celery
1/2 large red onion, chopped
1 can sliced water chestnuts, chopped
large bunch of red seedless grapes
freshly ground black pepper
1 cup salted cashews

Dressing
1/2 cup mayo
2 t. curry powder (adjust to taste)
1 T. Worcestershire sauce

Mix all salad ingredients except cashews. Toss with dressing. Add cashews just before serving.

Creamy Orzo Salad:

2 c. orzo, cooked
1 bunch blanched chopped asparagus
3 raw zucchini, grated
1 tub Light Rondele cheese (Garlic-Herb)
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
1/2 cup toasted pistachios

Cook orzo, and let cool. Toss with other ingredients and top with pistachios just before serving.

Spinach-Strawberry Salad

Large bag of fresh spinach
2 c. sliced strawberries
3/4 c. candied pecans

Dressing:

Whisk together:
1/2 c. raspberry vinegar (pomegranate is also good)
1 T. walnut oil or olive oil
1/4 c. ground walnuts (very finely ground) mixed with 2 T. sour cream or yogurt)
freshly ground black pepper

Blackberry-Marscapone Tart:

I aways keep tart dough in the freezer, so I made one 9 " tart crust and baked it. I sort of made up this recipe with what I had at hand.

Filling:

8 oz. cream cheese at room temp
8 oz. marscapone cheese at room temp
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla
2 t. Chambord or other berry liqueur
2 cups blackberries, rinsed and chopped (I cut each berry into 2-3 pieces)
Beat first 5 ingredients until smooth, then stir in the berries. Spread into pastry shell and chill. Garnish with whole berries.