Watermelon and Tomato Salad

Watermelon and Tomato Salad

How did it get to be October already? And me with a backlog of summer recipes! Luckily, heirloom tomatoes are still beautiful and all over the greenmarket and watermelon is in abundance at Fairway.


When I was a kid, watermelon (and cucumbers) were the only two foods I refused to eat. Their high water content diluted the flavor so much as to make it unpalatable to me. Lately, though, I've found that, when it's terribly hot out, I crave these watery fruits. Probably my body seeking to rehydrate itself as much as possible.


But, because I have a low tolerance to sweet, I needed to add something salty to the watermelon and tomatoes. Mark Bittman recommends goat cheese, but I was more interested in feta, as suggested by Josh in his Heirloom Tomato and Watermelon Salad. Some basil (from the plant that's still growing nicely on our terrace!), a sprinkling of sea salt and a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and we had ourselves a delicious salad. Enjoy!


Watermelon and Tomato Salad
adapted from How to Cook Everything and The Food Section

• 3 heirloom tomatoes, assorted varieties, cored and thickly sliced
• 1/4 watermelon, seeded, peeled and sliced as thickly (or thinly) as tomatoes
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper, freshly ground
• 4 ounces feta, crumbled
• 8 leaves basil
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

On a large platter, lay down first a tomato slice, then a watermelon slice, overlapping slightly, until all used. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and feta. Crumble basil leaves on top and drizzle with olive oil. Serve immediately.

Salad, Corn and Shrimp

Make It a Meal: Keep the summer theme going by serving the salad with corn -- rather than just steaming it, try Roasted Corn with Parsley Butter. If serving a vegetarian, and since the oven's already on for the corn) finish out the meal with some Roasted Vegetables. If not, go for Salt Roasted Shrimp instead. And to drink? Riesling, especially if you can find a local one like Treleaven Riesling from the Finger Lakes. Bon appetit!

Leftovers: Unfortunately, this isn't a salad that saves very well, so eat it the night of, if at all possible. If not, mix leftovers with falafel (if you don't make your own, I highly recommend Trader Joe's frozen variety) to make a more substantial salad. Yum!

Links to other watermelon salad noshes:

• Watermelon Salad with Feta or Cotija from Simply Recipes
• Beautiful and Simple Watermelon Salad that Is Perfect for Summer Days from Junglefrog Cooking
• Watermelon Salad Thing from Lottie + Doof
• Minty Watermelon Salad from Never Enough Thyme
• Tomato and Watermelon Salad with Feta Cheese from Steamy Kitchen

Black Bean and Cucumber Salad

Black Bean and Cucumber Salad

I don't know how this summer's been for you but, here in New York, it's been hot, hot, hot! Last week there were several days over 100F and, while I know that's mild for some it certainly isn't for us. I'm not terribly heat sensitive but, while our air conditioners made a valiant effort, it was still far too hot in the apartment to cook.

Cucumbers, Peeled, Seeded and Diced

During this heat wave, I found that I was craving different foods than usual. For example, I usually prefer cooked vegetables to raw but cucumbers (a vegetable I usually dislike) actually sounded quite appealing. See, when I'm really warm, I crave foods with a high water content in a constant effort to keep myself hydrated. I also crave spicy foods, probably because they make me drink more. So I started looking for cucumber recipes. I first stumbled upon a Shrimp and Cucumber Salad but that certainly wouldn't feed the vegetarian. And just leaving the out the shrimps would turn it into a side dish.


So then I found a Black Bean Cucumber Salad. That convinced me to use black beans so I went back to my original shrimp idea and was delighted to find Kalyn's Spicy Shrimp and Cucumber Salad with Mint, Lemon, and Cumin. With some substitutions and a little imagination, we were all set. Enjoy!


Black Bean and Cucumber Salad
inspired by SparkRecipes and Kalyn's Kitchen

• 1 16-oz. can black beans, drained
• 1 teaspoon fish spice blend
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup celery, diced
• 2 Mediterranean cucumbers, peeled, seeded and diced
• 1-2 teaspoons Sriracha
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoned fleur de sel
• 2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin, ground
• 2 dashes hot pepper sauce (I use Frank's)
• 1/8 teaspoon Himalayan salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
• 3 tablespoons lemon garlic olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir well. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.


Make it a Meal: To celebrate summer and keep the meal light, rather than making a traditional grain, go for

Cucumbers, Corn and Wine

some corn, simmered for 10 minutes (if you can bear to keep the stove on for that long). A great wine we recently discovered is Beach House. Mostly Sauvignon Blanc, it's very easy to drink and perfect for a hot summer's night (and, I'm sure, even nicer if you're lucky enough to be by the beach!). For dessert, chocolate (or vanilla or almond) milk! Bon appetit!


Links to other cucumber salad noshes:

• Sesame Cucumber Salad from Simply Recipes
• Julia Child's Cucumber Salad from A Veggie Venture
• Spicy Chinese Cucumber Salad from Use Real Butter
• Sichuan Cucumber Salad from Appetite for China
• Cool as a Cucumber Salad from Gluten-Free Goddess

Beetroot, Butter, Pomegranate Salad

Beetroot, Butter, Pomegranate Salad

Whew! It's been a while! And I've even been cooking (three recipes in the to-be-blogged file). So accept a few posts in short succession, if possible. What have I been doing, you ask? A whirlwind trip to Los Angeles, another show and some family medical issues (everyone's fine now and the vegetarian and I are both home).


Several weeks ago, just before we to LA, I had a few beetroots hanging out in the fridge, left over from the butter borshch. As I've mentioned, the vegetarian is not such a huge fan of beets, so I decided that a side dish (which he wouldn't necessarily eat) would be the best bet. It was warm out that day and we were tired after spending the afternoon preparing for LA so I didn't want to cook more than necessary. And I wanted something fresh-tasting. Janna Gur's The Book of New Israeli Food provided the inspiration I needed. The beets would become a salad, then, dressed with pomegranate concentrate, cilantro and some pomegranate seeds.


But, since I knew the vegetarian would eat the majority of the other meal components, I wanted to make the salad a little more substantial. On the internet, I found a Herring with Potato and Beetroot Salad. While interesting, I wasn't going to go about cooking herring, especially since I would be the only one eating them. And I had no potatoes. But what really caught my eye about the recipe was the dressing for the beetroots: melted butter! So melted butter replaced the olive oil and I had a fresh, sweet salad for dinner and several lunches as well. Enjoy!


Beetroot, Butter, Pomegranate Salad
adapted from The Book of New Israeli Food and CookEatShare

• 3 red beets
• 2 tablespoons pomegrante juice concentrate
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 chiles de arbol, dried and crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
• 1/2 cup cilantro leaves
• 1 cup pomegranate seeds
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add beets and cook for 45 minutes, until tender. When cool enough to handle, slide off peels and dice. Transfer to a large bowl and add pomegranate juice concetrate, lemon juice, chiles and salt. Let marinate 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt butter for about 10 seconds in microwave. Next, stir cilantro and pomegranate seeds into beet mixture. Pour melted butter on top. Serves 6.

Make it a meal: If, like me, you're feeding someone who's not very fond of beets, make sure your other 

Beets, Buckwheat, Black Beans, Cserzsegi Fuzseres

dishes can be a meal in themselves. I recommend buckwheat cooked simply with salt and black beans cooked with cumin. Mix both together and sprinkle with cilantro and pomegranate seeds. If your beets came with greens, steam them for 7 minutes over the boiling beets and add to buckwheat and black beans. To drink, I recommend gewurtztraminer or a Hungarian cserszegi fuszeres. Bon appetit!

Links to other beetroot pomegranate salad noshes:

• Beetroot and Carrot Raw Salad from A Life (Time) of Cooking
• Golden Beet and Pomegranate Salad from Simply Recipes
• Beetroot and Pomegranate Tabbouleh from Green Gourmet Giraffe
• Bulgur, Celery and Pomegranate Salad from 101 Cookbooks

Happy New Year! and Tofu Nicoise Salad of Roasted Red Onion, Potatoes, Green Beans, and Olives

Happy New Year and welcome to 2011! We had a quiet celebration with a visit from Jess, a friend from college, with whom we went to see Harry Potter, ordered in Mexican food, read aloud and watched Sherlock, a splendiferous new series from BBC. All in all, a quiet, restful beginning to what I sincerely hope will be a wonderfully delicious year.

In response to all the rich foods we've all been eating this month (and with an eye towards healthy New Year's resolutions), today's recipe is for a delicious main course salad we enjoyed a few weeks ago. It's my take on a Salad Nicoise, made vegetarian by substituting tofu for the tuna, with a few other tweaks as well. Great with a sparkling wine. Enjoy!

Tofu Nicoise Salad of Roasted Red Onion, Potatoes, Green Beans, and Olives

adapted from the Vegetarian Times

• 1 red onion, peeled
• 1/2 teaspoon + 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 purple potato
• 1 red-skinned potato
• 4 Yukon Gold potatoes, quartered
• 10 ounces green beans, trimmed (I used frozen ones which worked great)
• 1/4 cup Italian dressing
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed (in a garlic press)
• 1/8 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, ground
• 5 ounces spring salad mix
• 4 sun-dried tomatoes, quartered
• 2 8-ounce packages baked tofu, cut into 1-inch slices
• 4 white mushrooms, sliced thinly
• 1/4 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
• 1/4 cup Manzanilla olives, pitted and halved
• 1/8 teaspoon Fleur de Sel

Preheat oven to 400F. Rub onion with olive oil, place on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet and roast 40 minutes. When lightly charred, remove and let cool. Peel off outermost layer and cut into 1-inch chunks. Set aside.

Meanwhile, place potatoes in large saucepan with cold salted water to cover. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to medium-high and cook about 20 minutes. Drain and, when cool, cut into 1-inch chunks. Set aside.

Boil green beans in a small pot of salted water for 5 minutes. If whole, cut into 2-inch pieces and set aside.

Whisk together Italian dressing, lemon juice, garlic and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Let stand 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix together salad mix, tomatoes, tofu, green beans, mushrooms, olives, onion, potatoes, 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper and dressing. Toss thoroughly to combine. Serve at room temperature.

Links to other salad Nicoise noshes:

• Nicoise Salad from Simply Recipes
• Nicoise Salad from No Recipes
• Salade Nicoise from YumSugar
• Nicoise Salad from Guilty Kitchen
• Quick and Easy Nicoise-Style Salad from The Kitchn
• Salad Nicoise, American Style from Tea & Cookies
• Seared Swordfish Nicoise Salad from Stephencooks
• Nicoise Pasta Salad from Treat a Week Recipes
• Nicoise Salad from Macheesmo
• Classic Salade Nicoise from David Lebovitz
• Nicoise Salad from Je Mange la Ville
• Comme Ci Comme Ca Salade Nicoise from KarmaFree Cooking

CSA Week 4: Lettuce Corn Salad with Pancetta

Well, this week certainly flew by! It's already Wednesday and I realized I'd better write up this week's farm haul before Thursday's upon us and we get a whole new batch of goodies.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to do much interesting cooking. In fact, I only made real dinners Thursday night and Friday night, neither of which got photographed. The tastier dish using farm ingredients was by far the simple salad I made Thursday night, so that's the rough recipe that will follow, but, really--sorry for not offering something more groundbreaking. I'll have to make it up to you next week.

Anyway, on to the CSA! Our vegetables were: 1 lettuce, 2 spring red onions, 1 bulb fennel, 1 napa cabbage, 1 bok choi and greens (kale and swiss chard). Also, our fruit share finally got started, so we also got a small container of black currants and one of cherries.

Lettuce Corn Salad with Pancetta

• 2 heads lettuce
• 1 cup kernels corn (I used frozen kernels but if you have fresh available...)
• 4 slices pancetta
• 1/3 cup green onions, chopped
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon herbes de provence
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
• 1/4 cup blood orange olive oil
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Remove leaves from lettuce and wash and dry well. Place corn in a small pot covered with about 1/4 inch water and simmer 4-8 minutes, depending on how fresh corn is. Drain and reserve. Fry up pancetta in a pan over medium heat until crispy. Mix lettuce, corn, pancetta and green onions in a large salad bowl.
Combine all other ingredients in a small jar to make the dressing. Shake well and pour over salad. Toss and serve immediately.
Links to other lettuce noshes:

• Lettuce Wraps from Rasa Malaysia
• Asian Lettuce Cups with Spicy Ground Turkey Filling from Kalyn's Kitchen
• Pesto Bacon Lettuce & Tomato Wraps with Smoked Turkey from Karina's Kitchen
• Wanna-Be PF Chang's Lettuce Wraps from Wasabimon!

A final note: welcome to any fellow CSA members! So glad you've stopped by and please feel free to leave comments about what you've been making with all our goodies.

Imagine: Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

Usually, if I'm going to have a meal worth blogging about, I make it from scratch, especially if it's something cooked. But every so often, I'm lazy. I want a warming and filling bowl of soup, but without going through the trouble of making a whole pot of it, especially if I'm the only one eating it. Often I ignore such feelings and just make a soup, freezing leftovers or convincing some innocent soul to eat with me. But other times the microwave calls and I just nuke a bowl of packaged, prepared soup.

Most of the time, this soup is unflavorful and generally forgettable. However, I've finally found a brand I like--Imagine, a natural, organic brand that makes many wheat, gluten and dairy-free foods, made with real ingredients. Specifically, I had their Creamy Butternut Squash Soup, which I bought at Trader Joe's. While the soup itself had a very pleasant flavor, I found it was even better with a dollop of Greek Yogurt and some Cinnamon stirred in. Also, because I had a Spinach Salad on the side, I threw in a few spinach leaves to make it more interesting.

The result? Heavenly. And, perusing the Imagine website, I see they even have a recipe for Shells with Creamy Butternut Squash Sauce. That'll have to be for a day I do feel like cooking.


Food and Products and Prepared Food and Soup and Salad and Lunch and Quick Recipe and Vegetarian and Kosher and Dairy

IMBB #19: Vegan Feast

Sam, from Becks & Posh, is hosting this month's IMBB and the theme is to make something Vegan! Now, I'm a carnivore so I was a little nervous about this theme. A whole vegan meal? The simplest thing would be to make a salad, but a salad without meat or cheese just seemed rather boring to me. Finally, I decided to forget about it completely. I've been pretty bad about blogging lately, and a show I'm working on began tech yesterday, so I certainly have enough excuses. But then today tech ended early, one of the ladies I live with was feeling ill and I really needed to buy groceries. So I decided to make us a vegan feast with two dishes: A Tofu and Tomato Stir-fry and a Cherry Tomato Salad with Rice Wine Vinaigrette. While shopping, I was very careful to read all the ingredients and buy only Vegan-allowed foods. The result? A simple and healthy dinner, but not one I would eat every night. So thanks, Sam, for opening my eyes to what a nice change this can be, but I think in general I prefer a steak.

Cherry Tomato Salad

40 Cherry Tomatoes, halved
Green and Black Olives, pitted
2 Scallions, minced
Salt and Cracked Black Pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and drizzle with a little Rice Wine Vinaigrette. Toss and serve.

Rice Wine Vinaigrette

1/3 cup Canola Oil
1/3 cup Rice Wine Vinegar
3 cloves Garlic, minced

Whisk together until well-combined. Perfect drizzled delicate vegetables, cooked or raw.

Tofu and Tomatoes

Canola Oil to grease pan
1 Plum Tomato, diced
5 cloves Garlic, minced
2-3 teaspoons Olive Oil
2 packs Extra-Firm Tofu, cubed
Trader Joe's 21-Seasoning Salute (or favorite spice blend)
1 tablespoon Soy Sauce
Salt and Cracked Black Pepper, to taste

Grease pan with Canola Oil. Saute Tomato and Garlic until Garlic is fully cooked and Tomato is soft. Remove from pan and reserve. Add Olive Oil to pan. Heat, then add Tofu Cubes. Saute until Tofu begins to color. Add 21-Seasoning Salute. Return Tomato mixture to pan. Add Soy Sauce and move tofu bits around so everything is well combined. Add Salt and Cracked Black Pepper to taste. Serve.

recipe and IMBB # 19 + Vegan

Salade Grecque

Shortly before I left San Francisco, I was suffering from a surfeit of lemons. My first trip to the astounding Trader Joe's my second day in San Fran, I bought a gigantic bag of lemons. I had used one or two, but it was time to base my dinner around the remaining ones. I also wanted something light and easy to prepare, since we were leaving early the next morning to drive south to LA.

After searching online for something that met all my requirements, I stumbled upon a recipe from Elise, of Simply Recipes fame. It was her Dad's Greek Salad Recipe and it looked light and refreshing, not to mention the fact that it included lemon juice. So, I made it. The result? Fabulous. Here's how I made it, staying close to Elise's Dad's recipe, but of course making my own adjustments, as per usual.

Salade Grecque

3 tbsp Olive Oil
Juice of 1 Lemon
1 clove Garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon Cabernet Sauvignon Vinegar
1/4 teaspoon Dried Oregano
1 sprig Dill, chopped
Salt and Cracked Black Pepper
2 Plum Tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 small Zucchini, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 small Yellow Onion, peeled and chopped
1 small Red Bell Pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup pitted Kalamata Olives, chopped
Feta Cheese, crumbled, to taste (I used about 1/4 cup of Goat's Milk Feta)

Mix together Olive Oil, Lemon Juice, Garlic, Vinegar, Oregano and Dill until well combined. Season to taste with Salt and Black Pepper. Let rest while preparing Salad. Before serving, give Dressing a final mix before serving.

Toss Tomatoes, Zucchini, Onion, Pepper and Olives together in a bowl. Add dressing. Sprinkle with Feta Cheese and serve.

recipe + Vegetarian + Salad

Moules grilles sur un lit d'onions

Because we were traveling and didn't have internet access, I was unable to participate in Blog appetit #4: Moules et Onions. Or, rather, I came up with and made a dish the night before leaving New York, but never got around to writing it up. Today, I was making a desperate attempt to organize the pictures on my computer and stumbled across this one.

When I think of summer food, I always think of two things: the beachy smell of salt air and barbecue. This is probably because I spent many of my summers growing up in Long Beach, Long Island, visiting my maternal grandparents, aunt, uncles and cousins. Very often we would spend a day at the beach and then head over to my aunt and uncle's for barbecue. Of course, our barbecues always consisted of hamburgers, hot dogs and hunks of chicken, with occasional grilled red peppers, portabello mushrooms or onions. Nothing gourmet, but the whole family was together and enjoying ourselves and that was the most important thing.

Before I left New York, the weather was sticky and I would have given anything to head out to the beach for a day. Since that was impossible, I decided to bring the beach to me. Seafood, especially fresh mussels, always smell like the ocean to me, with their salty freshness. I had recently read about grilling them and was curious about the taste, but I had no grill. Instead, I broiled them for a few minutes and served them on a bed of sweet onions. The result? A light, painless, refreshing summer meal.

Moules grilles sur un lit d'onions

Moules grilles

2 pounds Mussels
Juice of 1 Lemon

Pre-heat broiler. Clean Mussels, under cold water, being sure to remove all barnacles from the surface. Discard any with cracked shells or that do not close even when tapped. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place Mussels on top, with as much space between them as possible. Broil for 5-8 minutes, until all are opened. Carefully (the shells will be very hot!) remove meat from shells and place on Onion Salad. Squeeze generous amounts of Lemon Juice on top.

Onion Salad

1 Sweet Onion
Salt and Pepper
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
1/2 teaspoon Honey

Mix well and refrigerate until ready to serve.