Vegetable Gratin

At this time of year, we can be positively overrun with fresh, tasty vegetables. This side dish provides another option for enjoying them, and it is an appropriate accompaniment for almost any meal. A vegetable gratin is also one of the most delicious ways to serve eggplant. A little cheese makes everything taste better! Leftovers also taste great the next day, at room temperature, as a salad.

Vegetable Gratin

• 2 small onions, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 small or 1 medium eggplant, cut into thin rounds
• 4 small or 2 medium zucchini, cut into thin rounds
• 5 small or 3 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and cut in half
• 2 tsp. fresh minced herbs
• Salt to taste
• ¼ cup olive oil
• Grated Parmesan cheese to taste (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously rub the bottom of a gratin dish with the cut sides of the garlic. Add the onion to the dish in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and herbs, and drizzle with some of the olive oil. Continue layering with the eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes, again sprinkling each layer with salt, herbs and oil, finishing with a generous layer of Parmesan. Cover with aluminum foil and bake until the vegetables are very tender, about 1 hour. Remove the foil and broil for 2-3 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Enjoying Summer Cucumbers

Cucumbers Español: Pepinos Português: Pepinos (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We are finally getting to that point in the summer when it seems like we have more fresh, tasty produce than we know what to do with. At this time of year, everyone rhapsodizes about tomatoes, and of course, nothing can beat a fresh tomato straight out of the garden. But I want to recognize another summer favorite: the cucumber.

Most of the year, I avoid eating cucumbers, because I find them bland, mushy and generally without personality. But when I started growing my own cucumbers, I discovered that fresh-picked cucumbers are subtly sweet and snappy. (If you don’t have a garden, cucumbers should be abundant at the farmers market about now.)

To bring out their best flavor, I try to choose cucumbers that are still fairly small. I cut them in half lengthwise and scoop out most of the seeds with a spoon. Then I slice them into rounds or sticks and sprinkle them with coarse salt. Let them sit for few minutes in a colander and drain off any excess liquid. They make a terrific snack just by themselves.

I have two favorite ways of dressing up cucumbers. Almost everyone likes pickles, so I like to reproduce that flavor by quickly marinating cucumbers. These slices make a great appetizer or a side for grilled foods.

Combine 3 cups of thinly sliced cucumbers with 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons olive oil, the grated zest and juice of 1 lime, and salt and pepper to taste. If you prefer some sweet with your sour, add 1 teaspoon sugar. Cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Just before serving, add 2 tablespoons fresh dill or basil, minced, and toss gently. 

This simple salad is just a starting point, and it is amenable to all sorts of additions. Some of my favorites include thinly sliced red onion, minced jalapeno, diced avocado or tomato wedges.

A creamy cucumber salad is another way to showcase this vegetable. This recipe is similar to an Indian condiment called raita, used to cool spicy foods. Either eat this as a side salad, or dice the cucumbers and use it as a dip or as a condiment for fish, grilled chicken and even burgers.

Slice or dice 1 medium cucumber. Combine it with ¾ cup plain yogurt (or substitute sour cream, if yogurt isn’t to your taste). Stir in 1 small minced garlic clove, 1 tablespoon olive oil and the leaves from 2 mint sprigs, thinly sliced. For a little spice, you could add a pinch of cayenne or red pepper flakes. 

Enjoy those veggies!

A Salad of Garden-Fresh Tomatoes

I am getting excited because we have lots of green tomatoes on the vines in our garden right now. I am looking forward to tomato season, when we eat tomatoes from the garden every day — practically every meal — and still have enough to puree or slow-roast and freeze for the winter.

It is still too early to eat tomatoes from the garden, but local tomatoes are making an appearance at the farmers market and co-op, and they are almost as good. The fact is, every summer I can’t wait to eat tomatoes. That’s because the rest of the year, tomatoes aren’t worth buying; grocery store tomatoes have no flavor. I would rather stick with canned tomatoes during the colder months and just gorge myself on fresh tomatoes when they are in season.

The absolutely best way to eat garden-fresh tomatoes is in the classic BLT sandwich, in my opinion. But this salad runs a close second. You really don’t need a recipe for this. I never measure out ingredients for this salad; I just put it together by eye and taste.

Start with 1-2 garden-fresh tomatoes per person. Slice them and arrange the slices on a large platter. Sprinkle the slices with coarse sea salt and and let sit for a few minutes. This salad is very pretty with different colored heirloom tomatoes.

Sprinkle the tomato slices with 2 tablespoons vinegar; I prefer sherry or balsamic vinegar for this salad, but red wine vinegar is also good. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil. Season with pepper. Wash and sliver a handful of basil leaves, and scatter them over the top. Serve.

If you like, you can alternate the tomato slices with thin slices of Vidalia or red onion, or slices of a soft cheese, such as goat cheese or fresh mozzarella. If you use mozzarella, you’ll have made a classic Caprese salad, of course.

Green Bean (or Any Other Vegetable) Salad

Green-beans (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is such a simple recipe, you will probably memorize it after making it once or twice. But I have found myself making it a lot lately, now that fresh vegetables are in season and abundant. A simple preparation highlights the deliciousness of really fresh green beans, and it goes with everything. This salad tastes good warm or after sitting in the fridge for a day or two. It serves four.

Trim the ends off ½ pound green beans, and snap them in half if the beans are long. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the green beans and boil just until tender. Drain and spread out on a plate to cool. Meanwhile, whisk together 1 small minced shallot, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, ¼ cup olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss the dressing gently with the green beans. Garnish with basil or parsley.

Of course, you could make this salad more hearty by adding another vegetable to it. Boiled new potatoes, roasted red peppers or cherry tomatoes are all traditionally tasty accompaniments to green beans.

This formula will work with almost any green vegetable, so if you don’t have green beans, don’t let that stop you. Try this with broccoli, spinach, kale or whatever you have to hand. Summer is such a wonderful time for eating your vegetables.

Smooth Gazpacho + Fried Green Tomato BLT

I’m sorry I’ve been so delinquent updating this blog. Summer has gotten crazy-busy, and my only writing time has been severely curtailed ever since my little one got inconsistent about napping. When he doesn’t nap, I don’t get any writing time, so I can’t blog. It’s definitely cut into my productivity.

I cooked my last challenge a couple of weeks ago, but I’m just now getting around to posting it. It’s still seasonally appropriate, though. The challenge was to make a chilled soup, one I hadn’t tried before. I have to admit that I didn’t go very far out on a limb for this one. I made a blended gazpacho.

Usually, when I make gazpacho, it’s pretty much a salad in a bowl. This time, I was inspired by Thomas Keller‘s recipe for Sun Gold Tomato Gazpacho, from Ad Hoc at Home. This soup is blended until it is silky smooth. It has a wonderful mouthfeel that encourages you to keep eating and eating. My husband also loved it. (Although the Kid, as per usual, turned up his nose.)

This soup uses cherry tomatoes, which should be abundant just about now. I was going to take advantage of some wonderful heirloom cherry tomatoes I spotted in the co-op, but by the time I went back to get them, they were all gone. So instead of using the yellow tomatoes that are called for, I substituted red. It didn’t hurt the soup any, so far as I could tell.

I served this with another great recipe from Sara Foster‘s Southern Kitchen: Fried Green Tomato BLTs. I didn’t have actual green tomatoes yet, so I used red ones from the co-op that were still a bit mealy. They fried up great and the sandwich was tasty, although nothing really beats a basic BLT at the height of tomato season. I encourage you to make your own mayonnaise for your BLTs. I stirred in some chopped basil, which gave it a summery taste. Here is my recipe for fool-proof homemade mayo.

Cherry Tomato Gazpacho

Yields: 6 servings (leftovers keep well in the fridge)

• 1 cup cold water
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
• ¼ cup coarsely chopped onion
• 2 lbs. cherry tomatoes, stemmed and halved
• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into large pieces
• 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, or to taste
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• pinch or two of cayenne pepper, or to taste
• salt, to taste
• ¾ cup good-quality olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced basil, for garnish

1. Reserve 1 cup of the tomatoes, ½ of the cucumber and ½ of the pepper for garnish. Dice the cucumber and pepper. Refrigerate until serving.

2. In a large bowl, add the water, garlic, onion and remaining tomatoes, cucumber and pepper. Let marinate in their own juices for 5 minutes or so. Transfer to a food processor or blender and blend until completely smooth. Strain to remove any larger bits of tomato peel.

3. Return the mixture to the blender or food processor. Add the vinegar, smoked paprika, cayenne and salt. With the blender or food processor running, slowly pour in the oil, blending until very, very smooth. Taste and add more vinegar or seasonings as desired.

4. The gazpacho can be refrigerated up to 2 days. To serve, garnish with the reserved diced vegetables and minced basil leaves.

Adapted from Ad Hoc at Home, p114.

Old-fashioned American Potato Salad

I know, summer is almost over. You don’t have to tell me. But we have one more holiday weekend, which means we can have one more barbecue, which means we can make one more potato salad. Hooray!

This is my absolute favorite potato salad recipe. It tastes much like the beloved Southern-style potato salad my grandma used to make, complete with hard-boiled eggs. Yet it is very amenable to adaptations, depending on what you have on hand to throw into it. (Bacon is always a good choice.) I think the essential ingredient that makes it so tasty is the vinegar. The warm potatoes are tossed with the vinegar before being dressed, so they have some time to absorb its flavor. This gives the salad a tang that contrasts nicely with the creamy mayonnaise dressing.

The original recipe comes from Cooks Illustrated‘s The New Best Recipe, but as I say, it is a classic and belongs in your recipe notebook. Feel free to substitute freely.

American Potato Salad

From The New Best Recipe. Yields 4-6 servings.

• 2 pounds red potatoes (about 6 medium or 18 small), scrubbed
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice, or 2 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
• 1 medium celery rib, minced (about ½ cup)
• 2 tablespoons minced red onion
• ¼ cup sweet pickles, minced
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons minced parsley leaves

Cover the potatoes with 1 inch water in a large pot. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring once or twice, until the potatoes are tender, 25 to 30 minutes for medium potatoes or 15 to 20 minutes for small potatoes.

Drain; cool the potatoes slightly and peel if you like (I rarely bother). Cut the potatoes into cubes while still warm.

In a large bowl, add the potatoes, vinegar, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper, and toss gently. Cover the bowl and refrigerate until cool, about 20 minutes.

Toss the potatoes with the remaining ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day.

An End-of-Summer Menu + Refrigerator Pickles

I could tell that summer is winding down even if I didn’t know the date. The humidity and record temperatures have thankfully eased off. The garden is looking bedraggled and is only spitting out the odd zucchini at this point. Winter squash and root vegetables are becoming prevalent at the farmers market.

Last night, I thought I’d celebrate the last days of summer with an end-of-summer tribute meal. I tried to pull as many of the ingredients as possible from the remnants of my garden, focusing on herbs, tomatoes and cucumbers. Here’s the menu:

• Refrigerator pickles (see below)
• Bruschetta with fresh tomatoes and basil
• Eggplant broiled and marinated in a mixture of parsley, capers, balsamic vinegar and olive oil
• Chicken marinated in a mixture of red wine, mustard, rosemary, basil and olive oil, and pan-roasted

It was an excellent meal — almost like a picnic at the dinner table. Everything was good, but the refrigerator pickles, a recipe from Sara Foster’s Fresh Every Day, were particularly easy and tasty, so I wanted to share the recipe with you (with my few minor adaptations).

Refrigerator Pickles

• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 4 to 5 small cucumbers, sliced into ⅛-inch-thick rounds — You could use pickling cucumbers, but I used the regular kind, and they worked fine.
• 2 scallions, sliced thinly

Combine the vinegar, sugar, salt, black pepper, cloves, bay leaves, red pepper flakes and dill seed and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Layer the cucumbers and scallions in a quart jar or 2 pint jars. Press them tightly into the jar. Pour the liquid mixture over to cover. Place the lid on the jar, shake it well and refrigerate at least 4 hours. These pickles will keep in the refrigerator for at least 1 month.

Related Articles

• Cucumbers from the Garden (simplycooking.wordpress.com)

A Simple Summer Dip

For my snack today, I made a quick dip filled with the flavors of summer. I ate it with cucumber slices, but it would also go well with any type of crudite (carrot sticks, peppers, squash) or with pita chips, I would think. It would probably also be an excellent salad dressing. Make sure to let it sit for an hour or two to let the flavors marry.

Tomato & Basil Dip

Please note: All measurements are approximate and should be done to taste.

Combine:

• ¾ cup sour cream
• ¼ cup plain yogurt
• 3-4 small roma tomatoes, minced
• 2-3 lg. basil leaves, sliced
• 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

Refrigerate for an hour or two before serving.

Related articles

• Cucumbers from the Garden (simplycooking.wordpress.com)

Summer Eggplant Parmesan

It was Tomato Fest at area farmers markets this past Saturday, which meant that every stall had bowls of fresh tomatoes set out for sampling. From cherry tomatoes to thick slicing tomatoes to my favorite, the sweet-tart green zebra-striped ‘maters, it was snacking heaven. Our garden tomatoes haven’t ripened yet, so of course we had to buy plenty.

Fresh eggplant also on hand and basil from the garden inspired the above dish of summery eggplant parmesan. I usually consider eggplant parmesan to be a heavy dish, but it can be lightened considerably by eliminating the eggy breading that typically coat the eggplant slices before frying.

My husband made the tomato sauce from roma tomatoes, but you can use this recipe to make your own sauce. Cook the tomatoes down until they are very thick and smooth. You don’t even have to puree this sauce, although putting it through the food mill does get rid of the skins.

I lightly sauteed thin eggplant slices in a little olive oil first so that they would be tender in the casserole. In a baking dish, layer the tomato sauce, sauteed eggplant slices, sliced fresh mozzarella (the kind packed in water), slivered basil leaves and grated Parmesan. Add another layer of everything, starting with sauce and finishing with even more sauce and a generous covering of Parmesan. Bake at 350 degrees until bubbly, 20-30 minutes. Delicioso!

Grilled Eggplant Salad

I have been away, on summer vacation. And I haven’t been doing much cooking. But we are back now, and I will try to offer the occasional recipe that is perfect for summer.

This grilled eggplant salad is such a recipe, because it’s done on the grill and it takes advantage of the fresh garden vegetables available to us right now. It begins with eggplant, thickly sliced, brushed with a mixture of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, basil and garlic, and then grilled until it looks like this. (My husband took the lovely photos; he also did the grilling.)

You could go ahead and eat the eggplant right now, and I’m sure it would be delicious. But it’s even better dressed up as a salad. The eggplant is chopped and combined with fresh tomato, fresh mozzarella and more basil. This is a salad you can’t eat enough of, equally lovely with grilled chicken or on a picnic.

Here’s the recipe.

Grilled Eggplant Salad

Time to make: ~20 minutes plus time to cool
Yields: 4-6 servings

• 1 medium eggplant, thickly sliced
• 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 5-7 basil leaves, minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 4 oz. fresh mozzarella, cubed
• additional basil for garnish, julienned

Combine the olive oil, vinegar, minced basil, garlic, salt and pepper, and whisk well. Brush both sides of each eggplant slice with this mixture. Grill the eggplant for 3-4 minutes per side, until softened and slightly charred. Let the eggplant cool, preferably to room temperature.

Cube the eggplant slices. Combine in a bowl with the tomato and mozzarella. Sprinkle with basil and additional salt and pepper. Toss gently and serve.