My Tomatoes Runneth Over...

If you are a tomato person, you will want to check back here from time to time and here's why:  I have an exploding tomato population.  As someone said to me a few days ago, this is not a bad problem to have! 
So let me just tell you now that for the next few months, there will likely be a number of recipes here using tomatoes...  Salsas, tomato tarts, tomato jam, tomato soup, etc.

Sometimes I am hesitant to put recipes here that I think will be too simple or maybe you just won't find that interesting.  Recently, there was a discussion amongst a few of my foodie friends regarding the subject of "overdoing" food. 
Example: a cookie inside of a brownie inside of a cupcake inside of a pie, then deep fried and topped with caramel and chocolate sauces, whipped cream and sprinkles.
Obviously this is a gross exaggeration, but you catch my drift.

My point is, sometimes food doesn't need fussing with.   When you are working with gorgeous produce (or any other food for that matter), it's ok to let it stand on it's own.  If something is at it's absolute best, let that be the focal point.
When things are doused in sauce or coated with too much crap, I often wonder what the cook is trying to disguise.  Sometimes it's nothing, but there are times when the product needs a little help or it's about to turn, and that's fine too if it prevents food from going to waste.
We've all been a bit overzealous in our purchases from time to time and there have been occasions when we just can't get to everything before it goes bad. 
This is the salad to make when everything you have is at it's peak.

This salad is the perfect light and refreshing side to grilled fish or chicken.  It is a healthy swap for  potato chips when you need something with a little crunch and texture alongside your sandwich.

If possible, use a variety of tomatoes as they each have slightly different flavors and textures. 
The mix of colors will also make it more visually appealing.

Tomato & Cucumber Salad

1 English cucumber, quartered & sliced
2 large tomatoes, diced or 2 cups grape tomatoes, halved or whole
1 cup marinated quartered artichoke hearts
1/2 cup pitted mixed olives
1/4  lemon, sliced paper thin
1 tsp lemon thyme (or regular thyme), chopped
2 tbsp Italian parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1/2 tsp fresh chives, chopped
3 - 4 tbsp Olive oil
1- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
pinch pepper

-Place all ingredients in medium bowl and mix to combine.  I usually let it sit for 10 minutes or so, that's about the extent of my patience.   Dig in!

One Last Bite of Summer...

Labor Day has passed and thus marks the unofficial end of summer (moment of silence, please).

Once again, it is time to put away the bathing suits and sunscreen.  No more tousled beach hair, salty lips from the sea or digging your toes into the sand.  Summer fruits and vegetables are still here for a few more weeks and I try to get every last bite I can before they disappear until next year.

Tomatoes will soon be those pale pink, insipid, cellophane-wrapped globes trying to pass for the real thing and even though we know better, some of us will buy them anyway...  only to be thoroughly disappointed.

I usually make a last-ditch effort this time of year to get the last of the summer produce before I am limited to root veggies.  Fall produce is wonderful and I love it,  but there's nothing like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, corn, etc. during the summer months.

This salad makes wonderful use of what most people grow in their gardens, so if you are lucky enough to grow some of your own veggies, you may not have to go farther than your back yard to get your ingredients!

I'm not quite ready to say goodbye to the sunshine and long days just yet...

Israeli Salad

• 3 tomatoes
• 4 mini cucumbers
• 1- 2 bell peppers
• 2 scallions
• 2 tbsp parsley, minced
• 1/3 cup good quality olive oil
• 1 tsp honey
• juice of 2 lemons
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp sumac
• 2 - 3 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper

1. Seed and finely chop tomatoes, bell pepper and cucumbers.  Thinly slice scallions.  Combine in medium bowl.  The key to this salad is to cut everything very small.  It takes a little more time, but the payoff is worth the effort!

 

2. Whisk together remaining ingredients, add to vegetables and stir to combine.
 

3. Dig in!  Can be eaten as a side dish, pile it in a pita for a light lunch or scoop up with toasted pita chips for a snack.  Or my personal favorite: with a big spoon straight out of the bowl.

*If mini cucumbers are not in your market, buy the long, thin English cucumbers.  Avoid the "regular" cucumbers, their flavor and texture is not as good.

*Sumac is a ground spice which is considered essential in most Middle Eastern cooking.  It is deep brick red in color and adds a bright, lemony tartness to the dish.  If you are not near a specialty store or Middle Eastern grocery store, you can find it here.
 

*For a more colorful salad, use a combination of red & yellow tomatoes and choose a purple or orange bell pepper instead of/in addition to red


 

On the Go...

It's finally summer and you know what that means...  picnics, barbecues and long days at the beach.
This pasta salad is perfect for taking on the go.  It is light, yet substantial and dressed in a light vinaigrette, so no worries over gloppy mayo sitting out in the sun.

I love this particular pasta salad because of all the veggies in it and you can even add more...  broccoli, julienned zucchini, summer squash, cauliflower, red bell pepper, summer beans, etc. would all be great in this salad.  The beauty of summer is that so much fresh, gorgeous produce is available! 

One of my goals in summer is to avoid turning on the stove most days...  The black tar roof of the building I live in is my ceiling, need I explain further how I have come to understand what a roast chicken must feel like in the oven?!

Another goal, I'll be honest is to make enough for left-overs.  I made a big bowl of pasta salad that will feed me for a few days.   I can have it for lunch the next day and maybe as a side for dinner the day after that... or with the 4th of July celebrations right around the corner I will pack it up and take it with me to a barbecue to enjoy with friends.


Mediterranean Pasta Salad

• 1/2 lb orzo (tri-color if you can find it)
• 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/3 cup marinated, quartered artichoke hearts
• 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, cut into quarters
• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup cucumber, quartered & thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup pitted, oil-cured black olives
• 1/3 cup feta, crumbled (or ricotta salata if you don't like feta)
• 1 tbsp lemon zest, grated
• 1 tbsp capers
• 2 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped
• 1/4 bunch parsley, finely chopped
• kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

Cook orzo according to package instructions.   Toss orzo with olive oil to coat pasta.
Add remaining ingredients and toss to combine.  Season with salt & pepper.
Eat!

In a Pickle...

In the Midwest, and certainly other parts of the country, the end of summer marks canning season at it's height.  This is when the air smells of ripe tomatoes being "put up",  jars of preserves and jams lining the kitchen counter like a glass army of winter provisions...  cabinets and cellars receive the summer's bounty before colder temperatures bring the first frost.

Canning may be a lost art form in other parts of the country,  but if you're near an agricultural area you are very familiar with the process.

My step-dad & I used to do this as a two man operation...   It was a bit of an elaborate set-up.  There were two stoves working simultaneously, I was at one cooking the fruit and he was at the other sterilizing jars.
We'd meet at the halfway point for the hand off: 
He'd sterilize the jars,  bring them to me piping hot,  I'd fill them and put the lids on then take them back out to him to process and seal.  We ran our operation like a well-oiled machine (he IS German, so there's really no other acceptable way).

Bread and butter pickles have always been my favorite.  They are sweet and yet have a little bite from the vinegar and they remind me of my Grandfather, they were his favorite too.  I sometimes feel obligated to "Chef" it up a bit,  but at the end of the day I'm just a girl from Ohio and the simple, familiar things are what I crave.

For this recipe,  I used Kirby cucumbers that I bought at the farmer's market.  
The beauty of this is there are few hard & fast rules, but if you chose to use a different cucumber, make sure it is a pickling cucumber.

Bread & Butter Pickles

• 6 medium Kirby cucumbers, about 7 lbs.
• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 3/4 c. salt
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 4 c. sugar
• 2 c. white vinegar
• 2 c. apple cider vinegar
• 1 c. water
• ice cubes
• 4 tbsp. pickling spice blend
• 1 1/2 tsp. turmeric

Pickling Spice

• 6 tbsp. mustard seeds
• 3 tbsp. celery seeds
• 2 tbsp. coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp. whole allspice
• 4 bay leaves, crumbled
• 1/4 tsp. white peppercorn
• 1/4 tsp. green peppercorn

1.  Slice cucumbers into rounds,  the easiest and fastest way to do this is with either a food processor or a mandoline.   I have an inexpensive Japanese style mandoline that I use and it works perfectly.  A mandoline or food processor will ensure that the slices are uniform and you'll be done in a fraction of the time it takes to slice everything with a knife.

2. Combine sliced cucumbers, sliced onions and crushed garlic with salt in large bowl and toss to coat evenly with the salt.  Cover with ice cubes and let stand.  The purpose of this is to pull some of the moisture out of the cucumbers.  The salt will leach the liquid out of the cucumbers and onions helping them to retain a crunchy texture.  They can stand anywhere from 3 hours to overnight,  but patience is not a virtue I possess, so 6 hours was my limit. 

3. Sterilize your jars and lids and let them sit in the hot water until you are ready to go. You could take them out and let them drain if you like, but I was told to just leave them in the hot water until I am ready to fill them, so that's what I do.

4. Drain the cucumbers and rinse if you like.  Discard the garlic.  (Salt & I are very good friends, so I chose not to rinse mine, but if you two aren't as close perhaps you'd care to rinse some of the salt off before you proceed).

5.  Combine the vinegars, water, sugar, turmeric and pickling spices in a large pot.  Bring to a boil,  then add in cucumbers and onions.  Return to a boil and then shut off.  Do not boil the cucumbers, get the liquid back up to the boiling point and then immediately turn off the heat.

6. Ladle pickles into glass jars, leaving about a 1/2" space on top and put the lids on.  Do not tighten the lids to the point that the air can't escape from the jar, but tighten enough that water won't go pouring into your pickles.

7. Carefully lower them into the pot and process.  I had a few different sized jars, so I pulled the smaller ones out at 10 minutes and left the large ones in for another 5 or 10 minutes after that.  If you do not have special "canning" tongs that are coated with rubber, make sure to wrap a dish towel around your metal tongs when removing the jars from the hot water.  (don't take a chance on chipping or cracking the glass).

8. Leave them to cool on the counter, step back and swell with pride at your creation.

It's all Greek to me...

Most of us are trying to eat healthier these days & lose a few pounds before we have to put on the dreaded bathing suit.  I am among the masses doing the very same...   I've been eating so much lettuce I'm afraid my front teeth are about to elongate into Bugs Bunny teeth.

The problem with salads, although to be quite honest I do like them,  is the dressing.  You think you are making a good choice by eating a salad for dinner and then you pour on a claggy dressing that has a ton of fat in it so you opt for the (sometimes chemical-laden)  fat free variety,  which in my book isn't always the lesser of two evils.

Making salad dressing at home takes 5 minutes at most and is so much heathier and tastier that it really is worth the very minimal effort.

Tonight's dinner was a Greek salad and chicken, so I made a Yogurt Dill dressing to tie the flavors together.

(A helpful hint to catch the lemon pits is to put a small strainer on top of the blender)

Yogurt Dill Dressing
juice of 2 1/2 lemons
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 seedless English cucumber, diced
7 oz  2% greek yogurt
1 bunch dill, chopped
3 TB avocado oil or grapeseed oil
1/2 clove garlic, minced

-Put all ingredients into the blender & let it rip!

yields: 2 1/2 cups


Store the dressing in a glass jar, refrigerated,  for up 5 days.

*side note:  if you like thicker dressings:  grate the cucumber first and put the pulp in the strainer to let it drain before putting it in the blender.