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Grilled Summer Salad

August 31, 2012 by 2 Comments

 

There are few things I like better on a hot day than a cold salad. If it happens to be one that I was able to whip up when the day was still cool or -better yet- the day before, I’m even happier. When that salad takes advantage of the best parts of summer produce I’m ecstatic.

I am grateful to have something to love about all four seasons. My affection for summer is entirely wrapped up in the fresh vegetables. Well, alright. It is kind of nice not to trip over snow boots in the mudroom for a couple of months. But the produce. Oh, the produce!

While the variety available to us in stores is nothing short of remarkable, there simply is nothing that compares to produce grown nearby and eaten in season. Everyone knows a frozen ear of sweet corn from a grocery store just can’t hold a candle to an ear that was picked from the field earlier that day.

I used to be a corn boiler. Everyone I knew was a corn boiler. It was just how we did things. Then -nearly a decade ago- I picked up the Nero Wolfe detective books by Rex Stout. I identified with Nero’s obsession with food and when -in one book- he  frantically pursues the perfect sweet corn while the police inspector wants him to pursue a killer. I totally got it. I mean really. If you gave me the options of tracking down the perfect sweet corn vs. a cold blooded killer? I’d go with the corn every day. I’m a scaredy cat.

At one point, though, Nero Wolfe said something that made me question my lifelong corn boiling habits:

“Boiled in water, sweet corn is.. edible, and nutritious.  But roasted in an oven, at the hottest possible temperature for 40 minutes. Shucked at the table. Buttered. Salted. Nothing else! Ambrosia.”

Well, shoot. Ambrosia? I had to give that a whirl. The first time I made Nero Wolfe’s corn, I did indeed use my oven. And it was absolutely ambrosia, but the smell of burning husks in the house was less than wonderful and it was bloomin’ hot out to be firing up the oven to the hottest possible temperature. I moved my endeavours outside to the grill, adjusted the heat (because hottest possible temperatures in grills and home ovens are vastly different), and in the process learned what the entire southwest has known for I-don’t-know-how-long: fire roasted corn is incomparably delicious.

 

From that day on, there was simply no other way to cook corn (with one sad foray into cooler corn.)  I almost always deliberately cook more corn than we can possibly eat in one setting. Believe me, that takes work… we can eat a lot of corn.

One of our favourite ways to use the extra grilled corn (with its extra boost of concentrated corn flavour) is in a Grilled Summer Salad. We change the salad up, depending on what is most readily available from our garden or the local farmers’ market, but the backbone of the salad is always grilled corn and zucchini. Everything else is negotiable.

Grilled zucchini is in the same category as grilled corn. It is just plain better. There’s something about the time on that hot grill that turns a vegetable that has a reputation for insipidity into a flavour explosion. I prefer the texture of grilled zucchini, too. There’s nothing complicated about it. Slice the zucchini into half-inch slabs, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper or Montreal Steak Seasoning (my preference) then pop on a hot grill. When they’re marked by the grill, they’re done enough. How simple is that?

I usually fill out the salad with roasted red pepper, garden tomatoes, garlic, parsley and a little squeeze of lemon juice… not too much… just a bit. If I’m feeling particularly peckish, I’ll crumble a little feta cheese in there. With the feta, it’s a stand-alone vegetarian meal in a bowl, but it does do a marvelous job of accompanying grilled meats or fishes. I almost always make as large a batch of this as my refrigerator can accommodate. I have been known to walk past the refrigerator with a fork just to dip into a bowl of this. I suppose that’s not a bad thing. I could be snacking on much, much worse things. (Ahem. Frito habit.)

Get out there and make this while the getting’s still good. Fresh veggies won’t be around that much longer!

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Grilled Summer Salad

Grilled Summer Salad

Summer vegetables take center stage in this seasonal salad that takes advantage of grilling sweet corn and zucchini to bring out the best of both. Serve this at your Labor Day festivities to guarantee praise!

A light lemon dressing and a little feta cheese (optional) round out this refreshing and healthy-habit forming dish that can be a stand-alone vegetarian meal or accompany grilled meats of fishes with equal aplomb.

Ingredients

  • 2 medium to large zucchinis
  • olive oil
  • Montreal Steak Seasoning or salt and pepper
  • 2 large beefsteak type tomatoes
  • 2 ears leftover grilled corn , cut from the cob.
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced or pressed
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
  • a fistful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat a clean gas grill to HIGH (or build a hot bed of coals on a charcoal grill.)

Slice the zucchini into 1/2-inch thick slabs. Brush both sides of each slab with olive oil and sprinkle with Montreal Steak Seasoning or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place the zucchini directly on the grill. With the lid open on the grill, leave the zucchini slices in place until there are grill marks on the zucchini, carefully lifting the corner with tongs to check occasionally. This should not take more than 3 minutes. Flip the zucchini and cook until the other side has grill marks, about 2 minutes. Use tongs or a spatula to transfer the grilled zucchini to a rimmed pan.

Put the rimmed pan, uncovered, in the refrigerator until the zucchini is cool to the touch, about 30 minutes to an hour.

Dice the chilled, grilled zucchini and the tomatoes. Toss them together with the remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Transfer to a container with an airtight lid and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/08/31/grilled-summer-salad/

Filed Under: Breakfast Foods, Comfort Food, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Salads, Side Dishes, Stretching your dollars, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Garden Couscous Salad

July 19, 2010 by 5 Comments

So.  Is the room spinning or is it just me? I keep waiting for the opportunity to arise where I can kick off my shoes, lay on my back in the sand, find Bugs Bunny as Brunhilde hidden in the clouds, swim in a clear blue lake, and turn to a cooler fully stocked with everything I love to eat before winding up the evening singing songs and making s’mores around a campfire.

*This view of what summer should be is based largely on how I spent every summer day of my youth. Thanks so much, Mom and Dad for a spectacular childhood .  I blame you. In the nicest possible way.

Instead, I’ve been running my children to play practice*, manning the fort while The Evil Genius is off doing highly technical things in scary technical places with frighteningly technical people, preserving every bit of produce that stands still long enough to be pickled or frozen or canned, steadfastly ignoring my ever-growing pile of laundry, and ensuring that my children at least are laying on their backs in the grass trying to discern Elmer Fudd as Siegfried. It’s a tradition, you see.

*For the last week, three of my five sons have performed the parts of the cutest orphans you’ve ever seen in ‘The Sound of Music’.  Is it just me or does anyone else out there fail to remember orphans being in ‘The Sound of Music’?  Whatever.  They were cute.  And orphany.  Well, except for the fact that I still had to make three meals a day and ferry these ‘faux orphans’ to and from rehearsals and performances.  I coached them to come up with their back stories as orphans to help them be convincing.  (Old Theater Majors don’t die.  They just become stage moms.) “Think about how you got to the convent.  Do you know each other?  Are you brothers? How did you become orphans?  Did both of your parents die?  Did your mother drop you off here because she could no longer afford to feed you then run over and join the convent in a very specifically non-childcare capacity?”  I jest.  I didn’t ask them if both of their parents died.

The weather is hot, the garden is producin’ and there is very little time to spend in the kitchen. Couscous to the rescue.  While all couscous is good, I’m especially partial to Israeli couscous; the small, round, toasted pearls of couscous also known as ptitim.  Israeli couscous, unlike the ‘standard’ couscous, is toasted rather than dried.  The toasting imparts a subtle nutty flavor that is well-suited to both warm and cold dishes.  Hot weather requires cold food.  (You’ve heard this theory from me before, right?) A cold couscous salad is a surprisingly effective delivery vehicle for big, fresh, garden flavors. Toasty, nutty couscous tossed with the light flavors of a vinaigrette and all sorts of bounty from the garden; zucchini, broccoli, onions, and more.  Briny olives and salty feta give the salad some body.  Before you all think I’ve jumped the shark; yes.  I actually did mean to put those pickles in there.  The olive/broccoli/pickle combination is one of my mom’s most genius food combinations and it’s not as far out as you might think.  Think of pickles as a shortcut to adding cucumber and dill to this salad.  And when you put together cucumber, dill, olives and feta?  Well you could hardly object to that, right?  (Unless you’re an inveterate feta hater, then you’re off the boat already.  Substitute with extra sharp cheddar if you must. It’ll still taste great.)

As for what to serve this alongside, the possibilities are many; grilled or broiled fish, chicken or pork are all at home on a plate with a big serving of Garden Couscous Salad.  Pack it in picnic baskets.  Eat it alone as a light and healthy lunch.  Sneak it for guilt-free midnight snacks.  I’ve been known to tuck into a bowl for breakfast now and again, and that’s saying something because I’m not normally a breakfast kind of gal.

Don’t flip out and write this off when you see the length of the ingredient list; this is all readily available stuff (even in my little corner of East-of-Nowhere) and it is a very simple preparation.  The only semi-exotic ingredient is the Israeli couscous.  If you can’t find it locally, try Amazon. Prefer whole wheat? They have that, too!

I have a favor to ask.  Could you pop your head out the window and look upward for just a moment?  Look a little closer.  See that?  That’s life and Porky Pig and Bugs and Elmer and Sylvester and Tweety and Foghorn Leghorn and Brunhilde and Siegfried and summer passing us by.  Let’s make a pact.  I’ll lay down and admire the clouds a little if you do.  Do we have a deal?

Want a photo-free, printer-friendly version of this recipe minus my yadda yadda?  Click here!

Garden Couscous Salad

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups Israeli couscous
  • 4 cups water
  • 1 onion end (You are saving them right?  If not, cut off about 2 inches of the root end of an onion, peel and use that.)
  • 2 parsley stems from the freezer (Also saving these in a freezer bag, right? If not, toss a couple fresh stems of parsley into the pot.)
  • 2 teaspoons Kosher or coarse sea salt, divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 broccoli crown, cut into small florets (Chop up and save the stem in a freezer bag for your next batch of broccoli soup!)
  • 1 cup black or Kalamata olives, sliced in half
  • 4 ounces of feta cheese, crumbled or diced very small
  • 1 medium sized zucchini, washed and diced
  • 2 medium carrots, scrubbed and diced very small
  • 2 dill pickles, diced
  • 1/2 a sweet onion, peeled and diced very small
  • 1-2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced (or 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic)
  • 3 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 2-3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar, to taste
  • 1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, to taste

Heat 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan with a tight fitting lid.  When the oil is hot, add the dry couscous and stir well to coat.  Toast the couscous in the oil for about 1-2 minutes or just until a couple couscous grains begin to take on a light golden brown color but most of them remain pale.  Carefully add the water all at once along with the onion end, parsley stems and 1 teaspoon of the Kosher salt.  The water will boil up quickly and may spit a little, so be cautious.  Add the lid and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes, until the couscous is cooked through, but not mushy.  Pour the couscous into a fine mesh strainer and rinse with cold water.

Transfer the couscous into a large mixing bowl.  Add the remaining 3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and 1 teaspoon of Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, red wine vinegar, minced garlic (or granulated garlic) and minced onion to the couscous and toss to distribute evenly.

Add remaining ingredients and toss until evenly combined.  This is best if covered tightly and refrigerated for an hour or more prior to serving, but it can be eaten immediately.

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, Pasta, Rebecca, Recipes, Salads, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Dad’s Zucchini Burgers

August 28, 2008 by Leave a Comment

I am in the middle of a protracted battle for space with the gargantuan zucchini that keep miraculously popping up in my garden.  After last night’s garden veggie (read: zucchini) and quinoa stew, I was feeling out of ideas.  Then I thought, “Why do I need to come up with ideas?  I can fall back on a favorite.”  …And so a batch of zucchini patties came about.

 

Zucchini patties (or burgers as my Dad calls them) were Dad’s go-to dinner when he cooked for my sister and I who were both vegetarians in our teen years.  I have since once again become an omnivore.  I missed bacon.  And ham.  And beef.  And turkey.  Oh, you get the point.  The patties were dead cheap to make and they made two teenage girls and their little brother very happy.  I can see why he made them frequently.  Dad’s zucchini patties were always perfect; crispy on the outside, moist but firm on the inside, with lots of salt and pepper.  Shortly after moving out and getting my first place I asked Dad how he made them.  He replied that he started with a grated zucchini and added stuff (egg, bread crumbs, onion, etc…) until it was ‘right’.  Da-ad (read that like a whiny teenage girl).  Once again it fell to me- the obsessively measuring, quantity recording daughter- to write down the family recipe. 

 

I haven’t made these in front of Dad yet so I can’t officially give his stamp of approval but they taste about right to me.

 

Dad’s Zucchini Burgers

 

As indicated by the name, these patties are good served on buns like burgers.  These days, however, I prefer them by themselves on a plate with or without marinara sauce.  I used dried herbs and spices to reduce the chances that the kids would reject them…  Feel free to substitute fresh garlic, basil, parsley and oregano if they’re handy!

 

Ingredients:

 

  • 3 c. super finely shredded zucchini, squeezed over a strainer to reduce liquid
  • 1 large onion, peeled and finely shredded, squeezed over a strainer to reduce liquid
  • 3/4 c. Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 c. shredded Romano or Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 t. each garlic powder, onion powder, dried parsley, dried basil and dried oregano
  • Neutral oil, such as canola, for pan frying
  • Optional: Marinara or other red sauce for serving.

 

Combine everything but the oil in a large bowl and stir until evenly moistened.

 

Here’s what evenly moistened looks like…

 

Heat a large, heavy-bottomed skillet, preferably cast-iron, or a griddle over medium high heat. Pour in enough oil just to cover the bottom of your pan. When oil is hot, measure 1/4 cup portions of the zucchini mixture onto pan, spreading gently to form a patty shape.

 

Patty shape, patty shape, patty shape!

 

Cook 3 minutes or until the underside is crispy and dark brown. Using a spatula, flip carefully and cook for another three minutes or until other side is crispy and dark brown.

 

This is the brown you’re going for…

 

Remove to a plate covered with paper towel and continue until all batter has been used. Serve hot with marinara sauce or not. 

 

This is summer comfort food!

 

 

How did we like this recipe?

 

I’m keeping it real here folks.  This got 8 thumbs up out of a possible 14.  There weren’t a lot of surprises on the division here.  Evil Genius, myself, Liam and Aidan made up the 8 thumbs.  Ty tried it and didn’t like it contributing 2 thumbs to the opposition.  Leif and Rowan made up the we-wouldn’t-touch-it-with-a-10-ft.-pole contingent adding 4 more thumbs to the ‘nay’ category.  Oh well.  I’m going to keep making it.  Eventually they’ll grow to love it.  And if not, well, eventually they’ll leave home and I’ll keep on eating it. 

 

 

…And for those who might be interested, click here for the Record-Eagle column where I originally ran this recipe.

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Main Dish, Rebecca, Side Dishes, Stretching your dollars, Vegetarian Tagged With: , ,

Golden Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread

August 24, 2008 by 7 Comments

Golden Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread with a natural companion; butter!

I have previously mentioned my bias against toaster ovens.  This week my baking ignitor in my oven went right during the most gorgeous stretch of fall-like summer weather.  My husband, the Evil Genius, inexplicably has a love of toaster ovens and has been trying to bring me over to the dark side for years and thinks I’m being close minded in my anti-toaster oven tendencies.  For my part, I suspect that he wants me to admit I like it so that I’ll switch over and do all my baking in it and the propane bills will drop precipitously. 

 

Whatever.  Today I had to do something with the zucchini that were threatening to take over our home, porch and every available square inch of lawn.  My kitchen was piled high with dog-sized zucchini (hound dog, not chihuahua.)  I was racking my brain trying to figure out what I could make.  I could make Zucchinissoise.  That would use up one of the gargantuan squash leaving me with… let’s see… roughly 75 other squash.   Most of them were huge which makes them good for grinding down for bread and butter relish, but that still left me with a major stack-o-zucchini.  Since the oven was broken, stuffed zukes were out of the question.  I really wanted zucchini bread; not-too-sweet, little flecks of green, crusty heels…  You know the stuff.

 

A quiet, annoying voice at the back of my mind started saying, “Just try the toaster oven.  What’s it going to hurt?  Are you afraid you actually will like it?”  I wheeled around, told my husband to stop whispering behind my head, and slogged down to the basement to grab the offending article. 

 

An hour later I was prepared to eat a little crow.  **I heard four and twenty are good when baked into a pie. Not much crow, but a little.  The toaster oven did a bang up job on the zucchini bread.  It helped that I had little silicone mini-loaf pans at my disposal.  Three of the pans fit just perfectly into the oven.  I think those contributed to the overall success.  I could actually visualize myself using the toaster oven for quick breads on a regular basis. 

 

Yikes!  Fun house mirror effect. 

 

And because I am trying to mature into a reasonable human being, I admitted as much to the Evil Genius.  To his credit he did not gloat.  …But I am pretty sure that while he was walking away I heard him say under his breath, “Excellent!  It’s all going according to plan.”

 

 

Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread

This is not your usual zucchini bread recipe.  It’s only slightly sweet and not heavy, using significantly less sugar and oil than the average zucchini bread recipe.  It’s fantastic when topped with cream cheese or whipped butter.  Mmmmm… And you can feel good about eating a lot of it since it’s actually *gasp* great for you!  This is inspired by a King Arthur Flour recipe, but we’re not real lovers of nuts-and-raisins in our quick breads.  I know some of you are ‘tsk’ing me and wagging fingers at me, but there you have it, I’ve been picky like that since I was a kid.

 

Ingredients:

 

  • 2 cups white whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup unbleached bread flour
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini with the liquid

Preheat oven (or toaster oven!) to 350°F.  Grease and flour three mini loaf pans or one 9″x5″ loaf pan.  Set aside.

 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.  In a large measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vegetable oil.  Pour the liquids into the dry ingredients and stir until most of the flour is incorporated.  Stir in the zucchini and liquid until the batter is evenly moist.

 

Divide the batter evenly between the three mini loaf pans (or add in its entirety to the 9″x5″ loaf pan.) 

 

Bake mini loaf pans approximately 45 minutes, but start checking at 30 minutes.  If using a 9″x5″ pan, begin checking at 45 minutes and expect that it’ll take between 1 hour and 1 hour + 15 minutes to be done.  Whichever pans you use, the loaves will be done when the surface looks dry and a cake tester inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

 

Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes in the pan on a rack and then removed from the pan on a rack until totally cool. 

 

If the vultures  children and husband do not descend on it and devour it, you can wrap it tightly and store in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to a month. 

 

 

How did we like the recipe?

 

This got 12 thumbs up out of 14.  The one who maintains a nearly clinical fear of all things green in food initially refused to try it.  He did eat a piece about the size of a dime and proclaimed it, “not horrible”, but I’m not sure that in fairness I can describe that as two thumbs up for him.  So we’ll leave it at 12 out of 14.  I’m not sure HOW he saw the green in it since I nearly obliterated it in my food processor.  I couldn’t actually make out any zucchini and I put it in there.  Kids.

 

As I started saying up above, this is not your standard zucchini bread.  It’s healthy, low in oil and low in sugar.  It’s not coat-your-tongue sweet.  But it’s wonderful.  It has a golden crumb and a nice crust.  I encourage you to try this as a change from the every-day.  I’m willing to bet some of you will switch your allegiance to this one…

Filed Under: Bread, Rebecca Tagged With: , , ,

Food! It’s what’s for dinner. Monday, June 9th, 2008.

June 9, 2008 by Leave a Comment

While scrolling madly through the contacts on my cell phone desperately trying to find someone to talk to about my meal plans for the evening I had an epiphany…

 

Instead of pestering my mother, sisters, brothers, aunts, grandmothers, cousins, friends, and the UPS guy daily with detailed discussions of the evening’s dinner prep and plans I can pester everyone who comes to my site!

 

Here’s the plan. Every day -when I figure out what it is I’m doing for dinner- I’ll post details right here. It may be detailed enough to include recipes (if the boys are behaving) or just a blurb about what brand of hot dogs we’re having for dinner (if the boys are not.) If I’m feeling particularly ambitious, I’ll photograph the meals and post an update the next day.  If I don’t get the recipes up and you want them just ask!  We aim to please.  Please aim.

 

I reserve the right to omit any dinners of which I am ashamed (for instance- three night in a row hot dog meals) or in case of illness (as in “sick of making dinner”.) I doooo have a reputation to preserve.

 

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Filed Under: Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Rebecca Tagged With: , , ,