Archive for July, 2009

I’m Back and Cooking!

July 28th, 2009

I’m back from a hiatus and ready to cook! For the last two weeks, no one has allowed me to lift a finger in the kitchen. The closest I came was standing next to a grill while my father tended to potatoes and a delicious pork tenderloin. Yum! But being a bystander isn’t my thing. At least not in the kitchen.

We picked up the farm share tonight, and boy have things on the farm changed in the last few weeks! Gone is the lettuce and abundance of leafy greens. Hello corn! Welcome garlic! Greetings green beans! And yellow beans. And purple beans.
I wasn’t home 5 minutes before I had the zucchini and summer squash chopped and in a bowl. I tossed them with olive oil, a dash of lemon juice, fresh parsley, salt and pepper. While that was grilling (thanks to my handy sous chef), I made some couscous. Just regular old couscous, boiling water and a small pat of butter. Nothing fancy. Tossed it with the veggies, added a touch more olive oil and some feta cheese. Voila! A delicious one-dish dinner in about 15 minutes.
A few notes on variations of this dish: 1. Great served warm, at room temperature or chilled on a sultry summer evening; 2. Adding toasted pine nuts would certainly add some complexity; 3. The grilled squashes alone would be a delightful side dish.

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Not a Leaf in the House

July 5th, 2009

So I know I said I had more lettuce than I know what to do with, but now there isn’t a leaf to be found in my refrigerator. As shocking as that may be, what has really surprised me is to find that Chuck enjoys salads. Very weird. But I digress…

As promised, I did make a lot of salads this week. Mostly leafy green, but some variation. I’ve put pictures and commentary of the highlights below. As always, I view recipes as a guide and never fear to deviate from the proportions, ingredients, technique, cutting shapes, lengths, styles or cooking methods. I encourage the same of cooks everywhere!

This is basically a variation on a salad I grew up with that was just for cucumbers. The radishes
were of a similar crunch, bright texture and begged to be used up from our farm share, so this
combination made sense to me. We just happened to have 4 fava beans that I didn’t know what to do with, so they made it into the salad as well. Not so simple as it sounds because they were only tossed in after being de-podded, blanched and peeled. For a few little legumes, it was a fair amount of work, but they were a welcome addition to the salad in several dimensions: color, texture and taste. The one major change I would recommend to the recipe is to chill the salad thoroughly before serving. I didn’t do that, and harkening back to childhood reminded me that this dish could have been much more refreshing.
Taco Salad
For the last few weeks we have been eating largely vegetarian, if not vegan. Certainly not an
intended dietary change, though one that makes sense when such an influx of veggies invades one’s home (yes, I admit that I am still struggling with a lack of control). I defrosted some chicken thighs from the freezer, sauteed them in canola oil and added chipotle sauce (more on that later, I promise), which was the key here. Roasted corn, cheddar cheese and salsa on a bed of crunchy lettuce, some blue and white corn chips around the dish for display and satisfying crunch. Voila! No dressing needed, and this packed a flavor punch!

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