Israeli Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes, Peas, and Spinach-Herb Pesto
Several weeks ago my friend, Susan, whose blog, Create Amazing Meals, is pretty amazing itself, e-mailed me with a suggestion. “I think, Mary, that you would enjoy a blog called The Café Sucré Farine, written by a gal named Chris. It’s on my Blogroll. I really like her recipes.”
After checking out and liking Chris’ site also, I subscribed. That’s where I found this incredibly delicious and razzle-dazzle in appearance, salad. Oozing with nutritious ingredients, it’s everything one could want in an entrée salad (or, side salad, of course). Even better, it’s a make-ahead recipe. I love that.
Chris adapted this recipe from Food & Wine. As far as I’m concerned, she still owns it!!! It’s good and filled with goodness. Enjoy.
Israeli Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes, Peas and Spinach-Herb Pesto
Serves 6 Luncheon Portions
Ingredients:
Spinach-HerbPesto
6 cups fresh baby spinach, packed tightly
1 cup fresh herbs, packed tightly ( I suggest using 1/2 cup basil and then any other fresh, mild Herbes de Provence flavors: rosemary, thyme, marjoram, or tarragon. Add a bit of mint, if you wish.
½ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1/2 cup pine nuts
4 garlic cloves, chopped
½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
lemon zest, from one lemon and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
water, as needed
Couscous with peas and tomatoes
2 cups Israeli couscous (12 ounces), (also called pearl pasta)
8 ounces tiny frozen peas (do not boil peas)
multi-colored heirloom tomatoes, 16-oz. container, cut in half ( If using larger tomatoes, cut six multi-colored heirlooms into 1/2-inch dice.)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions:
1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the 6 cups of spinach and blanch for 10 seconds. Add the fresh herbs and immediately, with a slotted spoon, transfer the spinach-herb mixture to a colander. Rinse under cold water to stop the cooking, then drain.
2. Wait until salted water returns to a boil, then add the couscous and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, about 8-10 minutes. After draining the couscous, spread it out on a large baking sheet. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and toss to prevent clumping. Add the tiny peas and toss again. Let the couscous-pea mixture cool to room temperature.
3. In a small skillet, toast the pine nuts over moderate heat, tossing, until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Let cool.
4. Squeeze the excess water thoroughly from the spinach-herb mixture and coarsely chop it. Transfer to a food processor bowl. Add the pine nuts, garlic, cheese, lemon zest, lemon juice, sea salt, pepper and olive oil and process until mixture is fairly smooth. If too thick, add a bit of water to make a consistency that will blend into the couscous. Taste and season with more sea salt and pepper as needed.
5. Transfer the couscous and peas to a large serving bowl and stir in half of the pesto. Add more, if needed and to taste. Gently fold in the tomatoes. Garnish with fresh herbs and serve at room temperature or refrigerate for an hour or two and serve cold.
Notes:
1. If you don’t have heirloom tomatoes, any type of summer tomato will do, just be sure to use a ripe juicy tomato, not a hothouse grocery store variety.
2. Use any left over pesto for a pizza base or as a sandwich spread. Or, spread a little goat cheese on some crostini and add a dollop of this pesto. (Or, plop some on the top of the salad, as I did. I wanted you to see the consistency of the pesto.)
3. Arugula could also be used as the main pesto ingredient as Food & Wine suggests.
Thanks to The Café Sucré Farine for this wonderfully refreshing summer salad.
Chilled Corn and Crab Salad, a delicious addition to your summer salad choices.
Sometimes it takes a village. Isn’t that how it goes? This week’s definitely spectacular summer salad has been a community effort. My prediction: you’re going to love it.
Shortly after arriving in Aspen, just barely having gotten unpacked and organized, a friend and I jumped in the car and drove to Denver to see the Yves Saint Laurent Retrospective at the Denver Art Museum. The exhibit, a sweeping march through the designer’s forty years of creativity, opened in Paris before going to Madrid, with a last stop in Denver.
The show was well worth the four-hour drive to and fro. Betty and I enjoyed, after my eight-year absence from Colorado, our two wonderful days together. As usual, much of our discussion revolved around food. My friend is no slouch when it comes to cooking and baking. In fact, Julia sat at her table a time or two, so I’m always interested in what she has to say. She inspires me.
As a amateur home cook, I always gather my ingredients together, checking to see I have everything I need. The French call it Mise en Place.
Before returning to Aspen, she suggested we detour to a little-known European bakery in Avon. What a discovery! Their coconut macaroons? I wish I’d bought more. The baguettes. Oh là là. Continuing on our culinary tour, her next stop was Gypsum where the only Costco in the High Country is located. Yes, if you live in the mountains, it’s a 135-mile round trip to a Costco. So if you’re passing by, you stop.
That’s where I bought a pound of crab meat.
The salad, ready to be folded together. The corn has cooled to room temperature, the crab and minced sweet pepper mixed together, the dressing whisked, and the cilantro ready to be chopped.
After returning to Aspen I received this e-mail from my Nevada neighbor, Michelle. “I know you are looking for good salads for the summer. I am making this tonight, it is so delicious! I substitute cilantro for the basil and serve it over Bibb lettuce leaves, sliced tomato and sliced avocado. I used a red jalapeño pepper and it was just hot enough. That and some good crusty bread makes the perfect meal! “
The nearby El Jebel grocery store had just stocked fresh ears of corn. (Don’t you love these towns’ names?) I needed fresh spices but my neighbor, Karen, had already urged me to harvest her overabundance of herbs.
So that’s my story and the reason this week’s Summer = Salads recipe is Chilled Corn and Crab Salad.
Chilled Corn and Crab Salad served on thinly-sliced tomato .
For my purposes I wanted this salad to be more about the crab than the corn. However, being Iowa born and bred, I urge you to make the extra effort (and, mess) and use fresh corn. I substituted a sweet petite mini pepper for the Thai chile because I didn’t want the heat, just the color. Like Michelle, I used cilantro instead of basil.
Chilled Corn and Crab Salad served with Corn Cakes garnished with homemade guacamole.
This salad seems so clean cut to me. It looks nutritious and acts healthy. Although there are many ways to serve this dish, I served one plate rather plainly, accompanied only by corn cakes garnished with guacamole. For the guacamole, I never stray from Rosa Mexicano Restaurant’s recipe. (The corn cakes are the upcoming FFwithDorie recipe which you’ll read about later this week.) For the other luncheon plate, I piled the salad onto farmers market tomato slices.
Long ago, when visiting Manhattan, I tasted Rosa’s guacamole at her restaurant. Never have I tasted better so I still stick to her recipe.
This would be a mighty tasty and luxurious addition to any buffet table, potluck dinner or picnic. It’s a salad that can be transported quite easily – thrown in a Ziploc bag, stashed in the cooler. It won’t wilt, break apart, or get its feelings hurt. Hopefully, you’ll agree this is a yummy addition to your summer salad list.
Chilled Corn and Crab Salad
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living, September 2007, and Michelle Morgando.
Serves 6 Luncheon Portions/12 Potluck or Buffet Portions
Ingredients
3-4 tablespoons olive oil or grapeseed oil
3 cups fresh corn kernels (from about 5-6 ears of corn)
1 small red onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 sweet petite mini red pepper, diced
16 ounces lump crabmeat (about 2 cups)
2 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1-2 teaspoon coarse salt
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Directions
1. Heat 1 to 2 teaspoons oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add corn and cook until tender, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in onion. Let cool to room temperature.
2. Whisk together lemon juice and sugar. Drizzle in remaining tablespoon plus 1 teaspoons oil, whisking until combined.
3. Combine corn-onion mixture, pepper, crabmeat, and cilantro. Fold in lemon dressing. Salt and pepper to taste.
4. Cover, and refrigerate until chilled, at least 30 minutes, preferably 2 hours. Serve plain or garnished with cilantro leaves or guacamole. Enjoy.
Colorado’s state flower, the white and lavender columbine (Aquilegia caerulea) is commonly known as the Rocky Mountain columbine. Its journey to become the Colorado state flower began near the end of the 19th century in 1891 when Colorado school children voted the Rocky Mountain columbine their favorite flower (The cactus came in second place!). These columbine, pictured above and discovered while hiking near the Capitol Creek trail, are uniquely white in color.
The Verdict is In: A Watermelon without pips (seeds) is not a real Watermelon.
Whoever invented watermelons without seeds did a grave injustice to summertime. Is there anyone among us whose childhood didn’t include a seed-spitting competition?
This is what came to mind as I prepared this week’s summer salad choice, Watermelon, Feta and Black Olive Salad. I first spotted this recipe in Nigella Lawson’s ForeverSummer cookbook published in 2003. Oprah adapted it for her August 2006 issue and Martha highlighted it in an July-August 2007 issue. When a food blogging colleague recently reminded me of this tasty Greek combo, I pulled out my cookbook.
This salad stands out in any crowd.
Since I’m back in Colorado where summer is synonymous with potlucks, I see this as a perfect contribution to a food table. This Mediterranean salad is splashy, stealing center stage from the traditional potato salad and coleslaw. It’s tasty, with no hidden players. Everything – melon, olives, feta and red onions – are independent but swing well with each other. This salad likes to travel and will hold up just fine, if need be. A big crowd? It doubles or triples easily.
The lime juice enables the red onion slices to blush.
Maybe the Greeks can’t balance their budget but they sure can create a razzle-dazzle salad.
Nigella Lawson’s Watermelon, Feta and Black Olive Salad
Forever Summer (2003)
Serves: 8
INGREDIENTS
(the only adaption I made was exchanging walnut oil for olive oil and adding toasted chopped walnuts)
1 small red onion
2-4 limes, depending on juiciness (the more, the better, I think)
1.5 kg (3.3 lbs ) sweet, ripe watermelon
250g (1 cup) feta cheese
Bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley
Bunch fresh mint, chopped
3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil ( I used walnut oil)
100g ( 1/3 to 1/2 cup) pitted black olives
1/2 cup toasted chopped walnuts (my addition)
Black pepper
METHOD
Serves: 8
1.Peel and halve the red onion and cut into very fine half-moons. Put in a small bowl to steep with the lime juice and bring out the transparent pinkness in the onions and diminish their rasp.
2. Remove the rind and pips (seeds) from the watermelon, and cut into triangular chunks (see picture). Cut the feta into similar sized pieces and put them both into a large, wide shallow bowl. Tear off sprigs of parsley so that it is used like a salad leaf, rather than a garnish, and add to the bowl along with the chopped mint.
3. Pour the onions, along with their pink juices, over the salad already in the bowl. Add the oil, olives and nuts. Using your hands, toss the salad very gently so that the feta and melon don’t lose their shape. Grind black pepper to taste and add more lime juice, if needed.
Note: I bought a seedless (without pips) watermelon for this salad. I didn’t think it had the flavor of the regular watermelons I usually purchase. Not a scientific study, however.
Odds are, when you’re planning a Sunday supper menu, homemade pizza with Lime Honey Beet Salad would not appear in the same sentence. Just not palate-pleasing, huh? Let’s follow that with dessert, homemade-homemade Limoncello Sorbet. The first homemade is for the limoncello, an Italian lemon liqueur, which two neighbors and I produced during the last two months. The second homemade is the sorbet we made using Little Darlin’, our ice cream maker.
Scrubbed, roasted, peeled, sliced and mixed with cider vinegar, lime zest and juice, honey, olive oil and spices, result in a very tasty colorful beet salad.
Probably this is a meal to serve only blood relatives, those family members who already love you unconditionally. That’s why my neighbors, Michelle and Adriana, and I invited only our families to supper. For safety’s sake, Michelle suggested we throw a green, leafy salad into the mix. Why not?
Adriana’s husband, Bob, served as grill master, sommelier and Bob-of-all-Trades
Agreed, it was a mishmash of flavors and tastes but everything seemed to work. If you recall, we have 50 pounds of pizza flour to use this Summer so we got busy and made six different kinds of Sicilian-crust pizzas. What was especially delightful was the long and lazy supper, taking our time to evaluate a pair of pizzas before grilling more. Enjoying the beets, the greens and the conversation.
We sprinkled our paddles with corn meal so the pizzas could be easily transferred to the stones. This time, a classic margherita and a Provencal pizza.
Those little pesky grape tomatoes, on the roll……..Adriana to the rescue.
After tasting that limoncello sorbet, it’s going to be hard to keep me down on the farm. I just may have closed the barn door on my perennial favorites, vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. Sunday supper with family? What could be better than that? If you want to make this beet salad, go here for the recipe. If you wish to see the improvisations of other Doristas this week, beet a path to this site.
Limoncello Sorbet
Recipe by Adriana Scrima
Preparation:
10 minutes + cooling time, 25 – 30 minutes chilling time; 2 hours to ripen in freeze minimum. Makes eight 1/2 – cup servings.
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1 – 1/2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely chopped lemon zest from one of the lemons used (use a vegetable peeler to remove the colored part of the citrus rind)
1 – shot glass of Limoncello
Combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer without stirring until the sugar dissolves, about 3 – 5 minutes. Cool completely. This is called a simple syrup, and may be made ahead in larger quantities to have on hand for making fresh lemon sorbet. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.
When cool, add the lemon juice and zest; stir to combine. Turn the machine ON, pour the lemon mixture into freezer bowl through ingredient spout and mix until thickened, about 25 – 30 minutes and maybe longer if you are going to add Limoncello because it is alcohol and it does impede the freezing process.
When adding Limoncello the alcohol needs to be added during the last two minutes of the freezing process.
Since the holidays are just six months away, I’m starting to put together and create note cards, gift enclosures, and a food label collection for my personal holiday giving. This year I’m doing a set and playing with culinary words (the beet/beat idea) and wanted to share them with you. Thank you for indulging me and being guinea pigs.
An early supper, prior to showtime, roasted chicken, céleri rémoulade and a baguette.
Since a trip to France is in my near future, it’s time to dust off the grammar books, pull out the flashcards and begin listening to Michael Thomas’ “Speak French” CD’s. He may be touted as “the language teacher to the world” but, truthfully, I find him very irritating. Still, I listen and repeat, over and over again.
The highlight of my summer schedule, to reward myself for daily disciplined study, is French film night. Once a week I order a film and settle in.
L’Affaire Farewell, a spy thriller based on a true Russian espionage event which occurred during the Cold War era in the Eighties.
Although I always block the English subtitles, after twenty minutes I usually fold and turn “English” on (but try not to peek). Tonight I’m watching “L’Affaire Farewell”, an espionage thriller set at the height of the cold war (1981). It’s based on a true story involving a KGB official and a French engineer. Sounds good, don’t you think?
To set the mood, I picked up a roasted chicken from my butcher, bought a baguette and prepared Céleri Rémoulade, a classic French starter/salad and #3 of my summer salad recipes. Americans sometimes compare this dish to coleslaw. Although celery root is considered a winter vegetable, I found these handsome devils at my local farmers market last week-end.
These little balls of bumps are happy being called céleri or celeriac or celery root. Your choice.
This was quite simple to put together, was a perfect compliment to the chicken, and would be just as delicious with a steak or the like. I’ve tasted Céleri Rémoulade so many times when in France and am happy to now know how to make it myself.
The celeri, after being grated in the food processor. It’s time to mix in salt and lemon juice.
The mustard, mayonnaise dressing.
CÉLERI RÉMOULADE
Adapted from Ida Garten’s Barefoot in Paris cookbook, Celery Root Rémoulade, p. 94.
Céleri Rémoulade
Serves Six
Ingredients
2 pounds celery root
3 teaspoons kosher salt
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
2 teaspoons Champagne vinegar (or, white wine vinegar)
2 tablespoons capers
5 cornichons, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Pinch freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Wash the celeriac (also called celery root) well. Using a sharp knife, peel off all the celeriac’s brown outer portions. Cut the celery root into thin matchsticks with a mandoline, or grate them in a food processor fitted with the coarsest grating blade. I applied pressure to the pieces as I fed the chunks through the feeder. Place the celery root in a large bowl, sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of the salt, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and mix gently. Allow to stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk together the mayonnaise, the 2 mustards, the remaining tablespoon of lemon juice, the vinegar, the remaining teaspoon of salt and the pepper.
Add enough dressing to lightly moisten the salad and to your taste. Stir in the capers and cornichons. Save the extra sauce to add, if needed, just before serving when you also add the chopped parsley. Serve cold or at room temperature.
Isn’t it delightful, at times, to experience a civilized moment?
Living in the moment is good. If it’s civilized? So much the better.
Thanks to a love affair with trout, yesterday I was “ a lady who lunches” meets Walden Pond. Like that old rascal, Thoreau, I savored the solitude and silence of my own backyard. Admittedly, mine is man-made. But that was then, 1854, and this is now, 2012.
When I closed my eyes this was Walden Pond. Eyes opened? My own backyard.
For lunch, in my continuing effort to expand my salad repertoire, I made Smoked Trout & Potato Salad with Buttermilk Vinaigrette, included a baguette from local BonjourBakery and washed it down with a Strawberry Rosé Spritzer. Okay, two spritzers. After all, I was really into being civilized.
Smoked Trout & Potato Salad with Buttermilk Vinaigrette, a satisfyingly delicious lunch or light dinner.
Smoked Trout & Potato Salad with Buttermilk Vinaigrette
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon of lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons Olea Farm Lemon Blush Olive Oil
1 tablespoon freshly chopped dill
Diamond Crystal Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
The salad:
1 tablespoon Olea Farm Olive Oil
6 baby red potatoes, sliced into thin coins
1 cup chicken stock (enough to cover)
6 ounces smoked trout, skin removed Diamond Crystal Kosher salt
Directions:
For the dressing, mix together the buttermilk, vinegar, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Slowly whisk in the olive oil (or drip, drip, drip in the food processor) before adding the chopped dill. Season liberally with salt. Pepper, to taste.
For the salad, heat olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the potatoes and another generous pinch of salt. Sauté for a minute or two before adding chicken stock. Bring to a gentle boil. Cook the potatoes until tender, not mushy, about 6-8 minutes. Drain and pour into a glass bowl.
After removing the skin, flake the trout into small pieces over the potatoes. Pour about half the dressing over the trout/potato mixture and kindly fold until combined. Add additional dressing to taste. Garnish the salad with dill sprigs and serve at room temperature.
Note: Let the trout be the star of the show. This nutritious and tasty plate asks for only two primary ingredients. Two is the magic number here. While I believe this salad is best served at room temperature, I also enjoyed a “refrigerated version” for breakfast this morning. Yes, for breakfast. Still yummy.
In The Spirit of Full Discloser: Realizing that Thumper, Peter and other pesky wabbits had enjoyed my dill, I substituted dried dill for fresh in the dressing and found the last sprig standing for the salad. Long Live Elmer Fudd.
3-4 tablespoons sugar, according to the sweetness of berries
Stir together the strawberries and sugar in a bowl. After an hour or two, they will be sugar-soaked. Put 1/2 of the berries in a plastic bag and throw in the freezer to make ice cubes. Puree the remaining berries in a blender, and then pass the puree through a fine mesh sieve. Set aside.
Spritzer:
3 tablespoons strained strawberry puree
3 ounces Rosé (choose your favorite)
Soda Water
Directions:
For One drink, throw 3 or 4 frozen strawberries, depending on their size, into a red wine glass. Add the strawberry puree and rosé and stir together. Top off the pour with soda water. Stir once, gently. Delicious.
Note: Most of the time I total and this summertime drink lends itself well to teetotalers like me. To make the non-alcoholic version, just increase the puree and add soda water or ginger ale. It’s good and lets you feel like “one of the crowd.”
