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Posts tagged ‘cold’

Sep 5

CaliforniaGazpacho-22
26 Comments

yet another summer salad turns to soup !

but then again, it’s not the first time that’s happened on a Wegetable Vednesday…

I won’t be pushing any more gazpachos your way, I promise, if you’ll indulge me this one last time. We’re feeling lucky that summer is still lingering here in Oregon (and likely where you are too.) We’re not in any way ready to give up summer eating until the choice is wrestled from us. Gardens and markets are brimming with heirloom tomatoes, fat cucumbers, fresh sweet corn, and peppers in all colors and shapes. Herbs, in one last hurrah, are pouring over borders or tilting heavily on their stems. And those California avocados are…welll…sort of perfect. So, really, did we have a choice?

Brisk on the day it’s made…a little mellower on the day after…

a soup that requires no cooking, whatsoever! 

California Gazpacho

  • 2 pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped* (see NOTE)
  • 2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
  • 1 red onion, coarsely chopped
  • 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
  • ½ cup fresh corn kernels (you can substitute frozen if you like)
  • 3 Tablespoons minced garlic
  • 2 teaspoons fine-grained sea salt, plus more to taste
  • ¾teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
  • 3 cups (or more) low sodium tomato vegetable juice (such as low-socium V-8 or R.W. Knudsen Very Veggie juice)
  • 3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • ¼ cup finely chopped fresh basil
  • ¼ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
  • ¼ cp finely chopped fresh parseley

Garnish:

  • 1 large ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and diced or sliced
  • ¼ cup toasted pine nuts

* NOTE – (about 6 – if you can find heirloom tomatoes – or if you GROW them – by all means use them – it will make an enormous difference in taste! Enormous, I tell you!)  (Did you know that tomatoes peel with no argument if you mark the bottom with a little X using a sharp knife, then submerge them for 30 seconds in boiling water?)

In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, bell pepper, corn, garlic, 2 teaspoons of salt and the black pepper. Stir in 3 cups of the tomato-vegetable juice, the oil, lemon juice and vinegar. Working in batches pulse the mixture in a blender or food processor until the mixture is soup but the vegetables are still somewhat chunky…kind of nice in a soup like this to see what you’re eating. 

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Aug 29

GreenGaspachoWithCrab-6
54 Comments

going green & getting crabby

Wegetable Vednesday - featuring fresh & local fruits & vegetables

from our farmers’ markets

Our local paper featured several gazpacho recipes in the most recent Food Day section and this one sounded especially intriguing. Fresh, green, light and refreshing soup served chilled with lumps of Dungeness crabmeat piled on top.

Remembering what we learned in art class on color theory – red + green = brown, there’s to be no tomatoes in this one. (I’ve yet to meet a cold brown soup my lips would touch. It may be the same for you.)

Savoring these last luscious moments of summer,

a light dinner:

~ ~ ~

Green Gaspacho with Fresh Crab,

crackly garlicky crostini,

and a good beer in a tall frosted glass 

~ ~ ~

and we’ll not come back inside until the last rays of sun are gone

and our skin has turned to cool.

Green Gazpacho with Crab*

Makes 6 servings as an appetizer, 4 medium portions as a main course with bread

  • 3 cups peeled, seeded & coarsely chopped cucumbers
  • 1½ cups chopped romaine lettuce (plus about ¾ cups thinly sliced for serving)
  • ¾ cup coarsely chopped green bell pepper
  • 1⁄3 cup coarsely chopped onion
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
  • 3 Tablespoons sherry vinegar
  • 1½ Tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1½ Tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
  • 2 small cloves garlic, or 1 large
  • ¾ teaspoon salt, or to taste
  • 1½ cup cubed crustless white bread (3 oz.)
  • 1 cup water (maybe less)
  • 1 cup Dungeness crab meat (* or grilled seafood such as shrimp, calamari, etc.)
  • 3 Tablespoons minced fresh chives

In a food processor, purée the cucumber, the 1½ cups of lettuce, bell pepper, onion, olive oil, vinegar, lime juice, cilantro, garlic and salt.

Add the bread and allow to stand until soggy, a couple minutes. Purée until smooth. Mix in 3/4 cup water. (Add a bit more to suit your preference.) Taste for seasoning. Transfer gazpacho to a large glass or ceramic bowl. Cover and refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Gazpacho can be made up to 2 days ahead of time, and kept refrigerated. Read more

Jul 13

GreenBeansSummer-2
44 Comments

green beans in summer

Keeping it simple, keeping it cool.

Fresh, crisp green beans, lightly and barely cooked then chilled. Drizzled with walnut oil. Scattered with toasted walnuts and fresh thyme leaves. Sprinkled with crunchy salt & crumbles of blue cheese. Served with anything off the grill or as one of a trio of summer salads. Simple and cool, like lemonade and a run through the sprinkler, just what we need, just as we need it.

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A few secrets to beautifully cooked green beans: 

Lots and lots of water…a big pot full of roiling, boiling water.

Lots of salt…way more than you think you’d need.

A quick cooking.

And, unless you’re serving immediately, a good ice-cold bath & toweling off. (the beans, I mean … but it might be just what you need too.)

Why so much water? Because when you drop the beans in, the temperature will naturally drop and will need to return to a boil…that takes far less time the more water you have. Why so much salt? It helps lock in the color AND salted water boils at a higher temperature. (Don’t worry – very little of it will be left on the beans.) As quick a cooking as possible because the longer they’re in hot water the limper and paler they become and the more of their vitamins and minerals they’ll lose. Why the quick ice bath? If you don’t cool them immediately, they’ll continue cooking outside the pot, well beyond their perfect doneness. (Thank you Julia Childs – how to cook good green beans, one of the first things I learned from you as a young cook.)

As usual when presenting vegetables, I’ll leave quantities safely in your own able hands. Here are just a list of ingredients & a few guidelines.

Green Beans in Summer with Walnut Oil, Walnuts & Blue Cheese

Fresh, crisp brightly colored green beans

Walnut oil (so delicious! You won’t be sorry you picked some up if you haven’t already)

Walnuts

Coarse, crunchy salt (like Fleur gris or Maldon) – (See NOTE)

Blue cheese

a few sprigs of fresh thyme

~ ~ ~

NOTE on salt – if you enjoy salt, you’ll much prefer the crunchy little bits of a coarser, slower-dissolving kind in a dish like this. It adds another element & a distinctive texture to this simple dish.

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May 16

CauliflowerSpinachSalad-1
32 Comments

grilled cauliflower & spinach salad

I hadn’t intended to limit my posts during these renovation weeks to vegetables and salads – wouldn’t you much rather see photos all oozy, fruit syrupy, coconut-sprinkled, chocolate-slathered, honey creamy rich swallows of sweetness that you’d gladly over-consume a day’s worth of calories to sink your face into? Of course you would. And HOW I disappoint - cauliflower, of all things! (So in hopes of making it up to you, may I direct you to a couple kitchens where they’re still putting wildly luscious things on the table that will have you drooling like a toddler cutting teeth? Merci beaucoup, Movita Beaucoup! I NEVER leave your place without a huge smile on my face and dreams of hand-feeding those I love with what you’ve just baked! And Smidge, who NEVER does things by dribs or drabs or “just a smidgens” – but goes ALL out with her exquisite cakes and cake-lets! If you don’t know and love these women already, may I suggest you should?)

Still…you don’t want to forget your vegetables completely do you? And here it is already Wegetable Vednesday!

I don’t know if you knew, but cauliflower ‘s quite the pacifistic vegetable. Mild and meek, ever-open to compromise, never jumping off the fork to assert itself. It’s SO compliant in fact, we can whip it into something very closely resembling mashed potatoes. Though it can be rather bland (flat out dull when boiled) clever humans have discovered various ways to color these pale flowers delicious. Fact is, it’s child’s play since cauliflower virtually never puts up a fight.

Grill it and toss it, while still warm, in a mustard & caper vinaigrette, tumble  in colorful spinach and tomatoes, toss fresh dill at it, and you have a scrumptiously hearty, fresh-as-Spring salad. (And though some are loathe to hear it, it’s chockablock full of vitamins too!)

Grilled cauliflower & Spinach Salad with Tomato, Dill & Capers

  • 2 Tablespoons capers, drained & coarsely chopped
  • 1 Tablespoon French wholegrain mustard
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • ½ cup (120 ml) extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 small cauliflower, divided into florets
  • 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh dill
  • 3½ ounces (100 grams) baby spinach leaves
  • 25 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
  • coarse sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon mustard seeds (black or brown) OPTIONAL
  • the juice of ½ lemon – at the end

Prepare the dressing: By hand or in a food processor or blender – mix together the capers, mustard, garlic, vinegar and some salt and pepper. Whisk vigorously or run the machine while adding HALF the oil (¼ cup) in a slow trickle. What will result is a thick, creamy dressing. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Set aside.

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