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Posts tagged ‘summer’

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

Aug 3

CedarPlantSalmonSpearmintSauce-2
46 Comments

cedar plank salmon with spearmint sauce

Have you wondered if all we ever eat around here is salad and vegetables and the occasional dessert? no, no, not so! During salmon season (I’m almost embarrassed to say) it’s on our table maybe as much as once a week. Our local newspaper’s food section had a wonderful-sounding salmon recipe last week that I was itching to try. We had a pot brimming with spearmint begging to be crushed and its aromas set free. It was fated.

This dish was so beautiful, so incredibly aromatic that (and now I truly am embarrassed) I was far too impatient to take photos of it. There was going to be no stage-setting. No turning it this way and that and getting the light just so. There was going to be no waiting. I mean none! So here you have it folks. Just as it came off the grill and its fragrant sauce was ladled on. Just before we gobbled it all up, smacking our lips and planning when we’d eat it again next…

This dish was, to my mind, absolutely perfect as it was. No changes were made to the original recipe, other than to halve it since we weren’t feeding a crowd. Therefore, we owe a debt of thanks to chef David Padberg of Portland’s Park Kitchen for the recipe. I’d hug him if he’d have it!

Salmon fillets steeped in the aromas of  cedar smoke and steam, then ladled with a variation on salsa verde, made with fresh spearmint leaves. An incredibly delicious flavor combination.

(I hope you won’t be off-put by the addition of chopped anchovies to the sauce. Those and the capers add the perfect bit of salt & fish to complement the salmon…and their flavors were not at all over-bearing.  The garlic and hot chili seeds added the perfect hint of heat. The lemon zest – oh you know! Let’s get on with it…

(I’ve halved the recipe for you below as most won’t be feeding 10 to 12. The above-pictured salmon fillet was 1 pound and we had sauce left over. It fed 2 generously  –  Guinea Pig loves his salmon - with enough left over for lunch the next day.)

Cedar Plank Salmon with Spearmint Sauce

(5 to 6 servings)

Sauce:

  • 3 anchovies, finely chopped (if using salted anchovies, rinse them thoroughly first)
  • ½ cup tightly packed fresh spearmint, finely minced
  • ½ cup tightly packed fresh parsley, finely minced
  • 2 Tablespoons capers, finely minced
  • ¼ cup finely minced shallots
  • Grated zest of about 1½ lemons
  • 2 smallish cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • ¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin  olive oil
  • Freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste

the Salmon:

  • 1 untreated cedar plank
  • 2 pound whole salmon fillet
  • 1½ teaspoons salt
  • 1½ teaspoons firmly packed brown sugar

To make the sauce: In a medium bowl, mix together the anchovies, herbs, capers, shallots, lemon zest, garlic,  red pepper flakes and olive oil. Chef Padberg says to then add lemon juice to taste and allow sauce to sit for at least 1 hour for flavors to meld before serving. I let the sauce sit for quite some time before adding the juice. I waited to add the lemon juice until the salmon went on the grill as I didn’t want the vibrant green to change. Makes nearly 1 cup of sauce. 

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Jul 31

StoneFruitCrisp-1
22 Comments

a crisp of stone fruits

.

peaches, nectarines,

apricots, cherries, plums

sublime in their ecstasy dancing,

sweating sweet sunny juices of summer

. .

What is it about stone fruits that makes them so amiable and easy-going? Such contented things. Never any squabbling. Never an ego out of control. No matter which of them is in the bunch, it’s in all ways pure sweet harmony.

I’ve made this crisp  in many combinations and it always tastes … well, sort of perfect. This time it was with a crowd of them all – some just slightly under-ripe, holding their shape while adding a bit of tartness, other dripping their ripe sweet juices over the cutting board onto the counter. The addition of bing cherries (though no more than a good fragrant handful) colored the entire dish with the blush of magenta. Here is a dessert, baked but simple, without secrets or special formulas, and full of summer’s freshness and freedoms.

Crisp Topping

  • 3 T. unsalted butter, broken into several pieces  (see NOTE)
  • 3 T. walnut oil
  • ½ to ¾ cup brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon

NOTE: instead of using a combination of butter and walnut oil, you could simply use 6 T. butter. Or all walnut oil.  Or 3 T. butter & 3 T. coconut oil. Such freedom.

Either using your fingers and kneading together the ingredients or using the paddle attachment of your mixer, work the ingredients together until you have a mixture resembling coarse crumbs. Set aside.

The following recipe will fill a 2½-quart gratin dish. On this occasion, I separated the recipe into 3 separate baking dishes, baking them all together, but only serving one. The others will be gently reheated for serving later – perhaps even for some special breakfast, served alongside cold Greek yogurt drizzled in honey.

A Crisp of Assorted Stone Fruits

  • 3 pounds (about 1.5 kg) assorted stone fruits
  • ¼ cup sugar (nice with vanilla bean scented sugar if you have it)
  • ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¾ teaspoon allspice
  • ½ teaspoon coriander
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg

When selecting fruits, a combination of ripe and slightly under-ripe fruits work to produce the most balanced flavors.

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).

Wash fruit, remove stones and pits. Cut cherries in halves, all other fruits in approximately ½-inch slices. Mix the sugar with all the spices and then sprinkle over the fruit. Toss together and tumble into buttered baking dish (or dishes) of your choice. ( See below for baking times.)

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Jul 18

NoodledTangleThaiSalad-2
48 Comments

noodled & tangled Thai salad

Oh what a tangled web we weave

when first we practice to conceive

a noodled salad of garden things

kitty-kimboed together,  dressed with zing!

Once scattered with nuts it’s declared as  g o o d

Pray tell – who then shall make it – for

clearly, easily, anyone could!

~

by Wilma Shakespoon

~

Today’s Wegetable Vednesday offering:

An entire vegetarian meal, loaded with raw fresh vegetable goodness, textured and colorful, brimming with citrusy, nutty & Thai chili flavors, tossed into a bed of cushiony yakisoba noodles.

This recipe can be endlessly adapted to whatever is fresh and overflowing from your garden, or whatever inspires you at the produce stand. (Maybe you’ll add slivers of sweet or snow peas, or thinly sliced cabbage or radishes. Or you might decide to even replace the cherry tomatoes with red grapes. You could also add cubes of fried tofu or cooked chicken breast  if it pleases you.)  The dressing you will love,  just as it is.

Noodled & Tangled Thai Salad

Serves 4 as a meal

Simply cut the vegetables into sticks as thin and long as you can, or use a mandolin which will make quick & neat work of it.

  • 1 package of yakisoba noodles
  • 1½ cups very thinly sliced matchstick carrots (or grated into long slivers)
  • 1½ cups zucchini (prepared as carrots above)
  • ½ red bell pepper, cut into match-sticks
  • ½ – 1 cup Jicama (grated into long pieces)
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes (cut in half if large)
  • 4 tbsp (¼ cup) Peanut Lime Dressing  (recipe follows)
Garnish:
  • ½ English cucumber thinly sliced or thinly matchsticked
  • chopped toasted unsalted peanuts
  • lime wedges
  • chopped or torn cilantro

Prepare the noodles as you like – if dry, you can either boil and simply strain, or strain and then quickly stir fry in a touch of oil (sesame or coconut are good…just go light.)  OR, if you’re using pre-cooked Yakisoba noodles, quickly stir fry. Noodles can be warm or room temperature or chilled. All are equally good.

Place cooked noodles in a large, shallow serving bowl or platter.

Pile the carrot, zucchini, jicama, red bell pepper and cherry tomatoes (and/or any other vegetables) on top the noodles and drizzle with dressing. Toss.

Garnish with the cucumber, peanuts, lime, and cilantro.

You may want to drizzle with drops of sriracha sauce if you love the heat, and some might like an additional bit of tamari or soy. But most, including kids, will like it just as it is.

This dressing is delicious… 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.

.

.

.


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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Sep 7

pea soup-2-1
5 Comments

chilled fresh pea soup

For kids once again back in school, summer is over. But stepping out our front door, you’d never believe it. For us here in Oregon, a string of 95°+ days is forecast over the coming week, maybe even breaking 100°.  We’re told that we might be setting multiple records for the dates, which seems to perversely please us somehow. I guess if we’re going to “suffer” we’d like it to be for something of historical proportions. In light of this, it seems that one more cooling soup may be in order.

We had all the ingredients for this soup either spilling out of our herb garden or in the refrigerator. If some of these herbs aren’t readily available to you, feel free to change them up a bit. Mint seems essential though, since mint is especially good with peas (as you may have heard me say before – see  Chicken Salad with Peas, Feta and Mint, June 25, 2011, if you want evidence of how I repeat myself.)

The serving suggestion for this soup is that you pour it into pretty glasses – perhaps so that it’s obvious that you simply drink it, rather than spoon it into your mouth. Or perhaps because the very sight of it in a pretty glass cools you by degrees. I didn’t have the perfect chilled-pea-soup glass – in fact it never occurred to me that I might be missing such a thing – so I opted for the simple and conventional. I’ve also tried heating this soup and serving it with a scattering of crispy herbed croutons. Turns out this is a soup with several different expressions, all of them pleasant.

Chilled Herbed Pea Soup

  • 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 5 Tablespoons fragrant extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
  • 2 small leeks, white part only, thinly sliced
  • 2 cups chicken stock or broth (or good vegetable stock)
  • 3½ cups frozen baby peas (from two 10-ounce packages) – thawed
  • 2 cups finely chopped iceberg lettuce
  • 3 Tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil
  • 1/3 cup fresh parsley or chervil
  • 1/3 cup fresh chives, plus more for garnish
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
  • 5 ounces mild goat cheese or cream cheese
  • Coarse salt (kosher or sea) and white pepper

Melt the butter and one tablespoon olive oil in a medium-size saucepan over medium low heat. Add the leeks and gently cook until soft but not browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the stock plus 3 cups of water, and increasing the heat to high, bring to a boil. Add the peas and the lettuce. Reducing the heat to medium-low, simmer until the vegetables are bright green and tender, 3 to 4 minutes.

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Jul 4

salad nicoise-5
7 Comments

Tuna Salad Nicoise

If ever I see Salad Niςoise on the menu, my choice might just as well have been made for me. Every other listing on the menu gets obscured behind shower-glass. I can’t quite make it out. Reading glasses don’t help. That’s how much I love Salad Niςoise!

The first time I tried this salad, years ago,  I prepared it myself. Even though as newlyweds we were counting pennies, I was wanting, so badly, a new cookbook – something really amazing to add to my “library” of two.  (Or was it only one?) I’m still kind of perplexed at my choice, because I had next to no experience in the kitchen, but I thought at the time my selection made sense. “Why not start at the top and learn from Julia Child? She has her own TV show!  And she speaks French! She probably knows just about everything.” It was blind luck I suppose that I stumbled upon this salad before trying my hand at (deflating) a souffle, or braising beef tongue for Pot-au-feu (gag reflex), or making oeufs en gélee (poached eggs in aspic, if you can imagine!)   I fear I never would have found Salad Niςoise if I hadn’t happened upon it before the others!  Over the years, it’s undergone a few changes – but nothing major. Some things just possess that kind of status. They’ve earned their place. It’s the sort of thing that you’re a bit awed at the very sight of, you dip your head with respect, allow for a moment of silent appreciation, give in to the smile that’s forcing its way up, then raise two forks and begin! (OK, just one.)  For me, that’s Salad Niςoise. It gets me every time.

Tuna Salad Niςoise

(serves 4 main course meals)

This salad originated in Nice, France. It’s fresh, clean, light, summery, deliciously lemony, a little salty here and there…and is one of those things that’s far greater than the sum of its parts. It’s a composed dish – arranged in any manner that suits the artist – that would be you. The key though is to treat each component in a way that brings out the delicious best in it. The ingredients that are cooked are done so separately, and most are then tossed in a little vinaigrette  before being arranged on the platter. The components of this salad can ALL be prepared ahead of time, put in their own containers, loaded in the cooler and taken on a picnic, then artfully assembled on site! Can’t you just hear Julia now?  ”Tres chic picnic!”

I happen to love seared Ahi. Rare. For me, a little satisfies deeply. But, if you don’t have access to it, or aren’t enamored of it, you can use a good canned albacore tuna – when packed in extra virgin olive oil its taste is very good. For years, I bought tuna packed in water, but I’ve learned since that loss of flavor is the price you pay for that exchange. Because more of you will probably opt for the canned tuna, I’ll write the recipe for that. If seared ahi is your preference, I’m assuming you’ll know just what to do – sear in very hot pan one minute or so per side.

Vinaigrette

  • 1  clove garlic, minced (or to your taste)
  • 3 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 Tablespoon wine vinegar (not balsamic)
  • 1-1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard or 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
  • 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • Salt & Freshly ground pepper to taste
  • Fresh or dried herbs – especially fresh thyme leaves

Make a smooth paste of the minced garlic, combined with the salt. Whisk in lemon juice and wine vinegar. Add mustard. Slowly whisk in olive oil, or place it all in a lidded jar and shake until emulsified.

Salad Ingredients

  • 1 head butter lettuce
  • 1 bunch watercress (optional)
  • 8 plum tomatoes, cut in 1/2 lengthwise, (tossed with 2 T. olive oil & 1 T. balsamic vinegar)
  • 5 – 10 sprigs of thyme or lemon thyme
  • 1- 6 or 7 oz. can of albacore tuna in extra-virgin olive oil (preferably troll caught)
  • 3/4 pounds fingerling potatoes (or small white or Yukon Gold potatoes)
  • 4 hard-boiled eggs, cut in half
  • 1/3 cup (or more) Niςoise olives
  • 1/2 pound fresh green string beans
  • 5 anchovies packed in salt (or a 2-oz. tin of flat fillets in olive oil) – Optional ! 
  • lemon cut in wedges for serving

Serving suggestion: Serve with toasted crusty bread drizzled with olive oil.

I’m about to give you directions for slow-roasting the tomatoes with olive oil and thyme. They’re really delicious this way, and add a different dimension to this salad, but if you haven’t the time, or would just prefer them un-roasted, then skip to the next step.

Roasting tomatoes. Prepeat oven to 300°F. In a medium bowl, toss the tomatoes with 2 T. olive oil and 1 T. balsamic vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a cooking sheet lined with parchment paper and place cut side down, with a sprig of fresh thyme tucked beneath. Bake for 45 minutes or 1 hour, or until tomatoes are “sun-dried” and lightly caramelized. Read more

Jun 21

Summer Minestrone alla Genovese-bowl
4 Comments

Summer Minestrone alla Genovese

Soup isn’t what you generally reach for on a deliciously warm summer day –  I know. So I fully expect you to squint your eyes and look at me sideways when I tell you this soup might just be an exception. First of all, it’s chock-belly full of summer-speaking vegetables – new green beans, zucchini, asparagus, fava beans, and fresh peas – so brightly green and clean and fresh! And to move it into the realm of being satisfying – you know what I mean –  some small, sweet new potatoes and the option of some tiny orzo pasta. And then spooned over top and swirled in, radiant bright basil pesto.  I’d say this soup has a lot to recommend it: it’s the very color of new summer; it’s loaded with healthful vegetables; it fills you in a pleasant way; it’s pretty to look at; and it’s probably even better served luke warm! Served alongside some fresh focaccia, and oh! my! good!

Summer Minestrone alla Genovese

serves 6 to 8

  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 sticks celery, finely chopped
  • 1/2 pound (or slightly more) new potatoes, quartered
  • 1 quart good chicken or vegetable stock
  • 5 ounces slender green beans, trimmed and cut in half
  • 5 ounces slender, small asparagus, halved lengthwise, or larger asparagus cut into approximately 2-inch lengths
  • 2 pounds 3 ounces fava beans, shelled and peeled, or 5 ounces frozen
  • 11 ounces fresh peas, shelled or 5 ounces frozen petite peas
  • 2 zucchini, cut into smallish cubes
  • 5 ounces orzo (optional)
  • salt

for the pesto:

  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 4 ounces fresh basil, stalks removed
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan, freshly grated, plus more for serving
  • 7 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

In a large wide saucepan, heat the oil and cook the onion, garlic, celery and potatoes together on medium-low for about 10 minutes.

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