Vacation Recipes

It's rare, but every once and awhile I find myself with some quiet time on a weekend afternoon. The house is clean, dinner is planned, and I have a chance to read a few chapters of an engaging novel, peruse the stack of magazines that have piled up next to the couch, or find something mindless to watch on TV.

Almost every moment of a week at the beach feels just that way, without any obligations aside from enjoying yourself and making delicious dinners to share with everyone in the house. Thankfully, Davy's family likes eating just as much as mine, and cooking is taken very seriously.

Aside from the traditional mid-week lobster night (always a treat), we enjoyed pasta with red sauce and sausage made by Davy's Aunt Jan in New Jersey, which was transported to the Outer Banks and then carefully prepared by his Uncle Bruce. Dinner included garlic bread to die for, and a giant, crunchy salad.

Cary and Brian put together an extensive taco feast, complete with grilled chicken, pan-fried tilapia, corn and flour tortillas, homemade cole slaw, kale salad, and pico de gallo. The picture of my plate doesn't really do it justice - everything was exceptional.

Taco night was a tough act to follow, but my parents made a fabulous meal with a variety of fresh seafood, ciabatta, and roasted vegetables. Davy discovered a hidden talent for oyster shucking that night, and I found a small pearl in one of the beauties below. 

When it was our turn to cook, we decided on a Greek-inspired spread, including chicken and pork souvlaki, Greek salad, tzatziki sauce, pita, and baked feta (an appetizer we'd ordered two days in a row from the same little restaurant in Oia). I've included a recipe for our version below. We made it again when we got back to Richmond to try to bring back some vacation magic during the work week. 

For the salad and the souvlaki, we adapted parts of this method, which I love because the dressing and marinade are composed of the same ingredients. My tzatziki, which I learned how to make on a boat tour around Santorini, is slightly different from the Serious Eats recipe in the link above, so I've included instructions below. It pairs beautifully with many different types of foods and can be made in advance, allowing you to soak up even more of that precious, precious down time.

Tzatziki Sauce

1 big clove garlic, grated

1 medium cucumber, peeled and grated

1 cup yogurt (preferably full-fat Fage, but if you can't get full-fat, let the yogurt drain over paper towels in a colander)

a few teaspoons red wine vinegar (to taste)

1-2 Tablespoons olive oil 

1 teaspoon salt for cucumbers, plus some to taste

1. Toss the cucumber with salt in a colander, and allow it to sit for 20-40 minutes.

2. Drain the cucumber - I rinse it, then squeeze out as much moisture as I can.

3. Combine the yogurt, garlic, and cucumber, then add vinegar and olive oil. At this point I just sort of play around with the olive oil, vinegar and salt until it tastes right to me. It also helps to let everything rest together for an hour or so, and then taste again. 

4. Scoop that deliciousness up with some yummy pita, serve with grilled fish, dip veggies in it, or anything else you can think of!

Baked Feta

1 lb feta cheese, crumbled or chopped

1 medium tomato, diced

half of a big green pepper, diced

1 small yellow onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

chopped parsley

black pepper

olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place the feta in an oven-proof dish.

3. Heat the oil in a saute pan over medium heat, then add the onion and cook until it starts to soften and turn clear.

4. Add the green pepper and let it soften a bit, then add the tomato and garlic.

5. Saute until the tomato has broken down a fair amount, and add the vegetables to baking dish with the cheese.

6. Stir ingredients until they're well mixed, and bake for 10-15 minutes until the feta is melted and mixture is bubbling. 

7. Serve with chips, crackers, or pita.

Is Anybody There?

Well. Here we are at the end of May! I have no idea how time disappeared so quickly, but I'm grateful to anyone who's still checking the blog to see if I've written. 

Yesterday kicked off the second week of my 2013 CSA, and I'm thrilled to be getting strawberries and vegetables from Amy. I'm also attempting to grow my own vegetables again, in brand new raised beds, and will keep you informed of their progress.

For today though, I'd like to share a grain salad recipe, which has endless possibilities for substitutions and additions. It's really more of a method, based loosely on a recipe from the The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. 

I discovered Trader Joe's 10 Minute grains a few months, ago, and haven't looked back since. They taste just as good (to me) as the long-cooking versions, and come in small pouches that are ideal for a two-person household. I keep the farro and barley around at all times in case I need a quick and healthy base for a meal.

The version below is from early spring, but I made a salad just yesterday with roasted spring onions, summer squash, and oregano. The possibilities really are endless, as the dressing is fairly neutral, and feta tastes good with just about everything. 

Speaking of feta, I'm leaving for a big trip to Greece in two days! I can't wait to eat my weight in cheese and baklava. Thank you so much for reading, and I'm looking forward to posting more when I return (in June!!!).

Farro Salad
adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

1 cup farro

olive oil

1/2 pound carrots 
seasoning salt

fresh thyme

2 cloves minced garlic

kale - a few handfuls, chopped

dressing:

5 Tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon hot sauce/chili sauce (or more to taste)

1 teaspoon agave nectar

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

pinch of cumin

salt
black pepper

1/2 cup crumbled feta, more or less

1. Cut the carrots into bit-sized sticks, toss with olive oil, seasoning (I used Texas Heat, but you could use any kind of seasoning salt) and fresh thyme; roast at 425 to desired doneness. I checked them after 10 minutes, stirred them, and had them in for another 10.

2. Boil water for the farro and cook for 10 minutes or until it's got a slight bite but isn't too soft. Drain and set aside.

3. Whisk the dressing ingredients in the bowl you're going to use for the salad, and adjust flavors to taste.

4. Cook the kale: heat olive oil over medium heat, add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes, then add kale and cook until it's slightly wilted and chewable.

5. Add carrots, farro, and kale to the bowl and stir to coat everything with the dressing. Top with feta and ground black pepper. 

Dessert for Breakfast

My standard, eaten-at-my-desk, weekday breakfast is one of two combinations: whole wheat toast with peanut butter, or yogurt with cereal or granola and (often) Craisins. Or it was, until I discovered this Peach Breakfast Bake via Pinterest yesterday.

It looked easy enough to prepare, healthy enough to pass as the most important meal of the day, and I happened to have a ripe peach at home. Voila! A special Friday breakfast, made ahead of time, and reheated in the office kitchen.

This really does taste enough like luscious fruit cobbler to satisfy an early morning dessert craving (don't judge - it's not chocolate). Peaches may not be in season for much longer, but I'm certain that this would work well with apples or various other types of fruit.

I consumed about a third of the portion shown above, and am already anticipating next Monday at 9 AM to have another round. Well, anticipating may be a strong word, but my new favorite breakfast will certainly take the edge off of any work day morning.

Peach Breakfast Bake (adapted from Chocolate-Covered Katie)

(Serves 2-3)

• 1 1/4 cups sliced peaches
• 1/4 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tbsp cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 3/8 cup shredded wheat, crushed (I used the Trader Joe's version)
• 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp applesauce (For a more buttery taste, replace this with an extra tbsp of the margarine)
• small amount of vegetable oil, if desired
• 1/8 tsp salt 
• yogurt for serving

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix the peaches, lemon, cornstarch, cinnamon, 1/2 the salt, and 1/2 the sugar in small oven-proof serving dish. Let the mixture rest for ten minutes. 

Meanwhile, stir the crushed cereal, remaining sugar, remaining salt, and applesauce in a bowl until well-blended. If it seems to be dry, pour in a small amount of vegetable oil. Top the peaches with the cereal mixture, and bake for 20-30 minutes.

CSA Meals - Weeks 9 and 10

I'm officially in holycowit'smid-Julywhereisthesummergoing? mode. The last couple of weeks went by in a whirlwind of celebration, relaxation, and travel.

Our house guests were in Richmond through the 4th of July, which meant that the annual party benefited from Lyndsey's extreme chopping talent. She used some of her salvaged cabbage and carrots, and our CSA red onion, to compile a simple, pretty coleslaw. If you don't believe me, the proof is in the photo below; it looks like bagged slaw mix sliced by machine, but it was all done by a skilled hand.

In the meantime, I put together a haphazard pasta salad with roasted summer squash, mozzarella, and several basil leaves (pictured). The rest of the basil was made into pesto the following week.

I believe my contribution was eaten, but it wasn't very noteworthy compared to the slaw and several of the other dishes gracing Tex's air-conditioned kitchen.

We recovered from the holiday in Seabrook, SC, and our first dinner there was a group effort that incorporated components of our share from Week 9. Davy and I steamed the yellow and green beans, and made flank steak with chimichurri sauce, which was decent. Keith and Carrie's dish, however, outshone ours, and the cucumber and cherry tomatoes we brought added a lot to the roasted shrimp and orzo salad. At the end of the meal, we added the remaining steak and beans to the salad to keep it going for lunch the following day.

In an attempt to clean out our fridge a little before the next round of CSA produce, I repeated a Splendid Table recipe from the spring (Spring Vegetables and White Beans Scented with Fresh Bay). Instead of spinach, I used dandelion greens - courtesy of Lyndsey and Travis, chicken stock instead of vegetable broth, and added some freshly made pesto. The "stew," as Lyne Rosetto Kasper and Sally Swift call it, was light and garlicky, and had an earthy flavor from the greens and carrots.

By some miracle, I managed to make caramel for turtle brownies the same night. The bubbling corn syrup and sugar were mesmerizing, and made a delicious sweet topping for the fudgy brownies. 

Davy and I whittled away at our cherry tomato and mesclun salad mix supply with a few green salads throughout the week, adding different ingredients depending on what we had and what was appealing at the time. 

I was visiting family in Harrisburg over the weekend, and we brought a big cucumber and tomato salad over to my grandma's for dinner on Sunday night. There were sungolds, slicing tomatoes, sweet peppers, and cucumbers from my share, and different types of herbs, tomatoes and cucumbers from my parents' CSA and garden. My mom and I worked on the salad together, and dressed it with a little olive oil, red wine vinegar, and sugar.

Despite the fact that it feels like summer is already slipping away, I know that there are many more meals and memories to be made over the next couple of months.

CSA Meals - Week 3

Sometimes inspiration comes in the form of hearing what you already know from someone else. Two weeks ago, I experienced a renewed interest in my CSA after taking a cooking class called "Late Spring at the Farmer's Market" through the University of Richmond School of Continuing Studies.

The instructor gave us a few tastes of local and grocery store products to compare the difference between the two, which is more pronounced when they're sampled back to back. I'm already sold on fresh eggs, local strawberries, and turnips grown by someone I can talk to face-to-face, but it was the creamy, tangy, locally made goat cheese we had in class that re-opened my eyes about buying food at a farmers' market. Looking back, my meals during Week 3 seem much more interesting as a result.

On Wednesday, I prepared a salad with some of Week 2's kale, and massaged the leaves with my trusty Asian sesame dressing and lime juice. Sunflower seeds, corn, and edamame helped make the salad into a more substantial meal. That evening, I put together a penne, arugula and feta dish that turned into lunch on both Thursday and Friday.

Although it doesn't have anything to do with local produce, the encouragement I felt from my class led me to change my regular breakfast routine. I tried out a Martha Stewart recipe for breakfast quinoa, which was sweet and comforting. I'm not sure I'd want to eat it every day, but it was a nice switch from my usual wheat toast with peanut butter, and was very filling.

No vegetables were harmed during our Thursday night wine, cheese, and salami dinner, either, but the salami is local (to Harrisburg), and the round cheese and chutney were made within 100 miles of Richmond.

The dish I prepared in class was "Spring-to-Summer Vegetable Ragout Over Goat Cheese Grits," and I loved it enough to attempt it at home for some friends visiting from out of town (recipe below). I made a special trip to the St. Stephen's farmer's market for some extra vegetables, and picked up beautiful baby carrots and large, shelled peas. 

The ragout can be made with a variety of vegetables - we substituted edamame for peas in class - and in my opinion, the dish can be eaten any time of the day. I finished the leftovers for breakfast one morning, and they tasted completely appropriate as the first meal of the day.

A head of broccoli and a container of little cucumbers also found their way into my bag at the market, and I added them, with some peas, to a Thai-inspired noodle salad as part of Shannon's birthday dinner. Along with the noodles, we had arctic char from Yellow Umbrella that Davy grilled, and it was absolutely delicious.

On Monday, Memorial Day, I sauteed the curly kale with some garlic and red pepper flakes, and used some of it to make a frittata. Going with what seems to be the theme this week, I only took pictures before I did anything with the veggies. Luckily, they're pretty enough on their own.

To finish the week, I made another kale salad, this time with tuna fish, cannellini beans, cucumber, lemon juice, and olive oil. It's ideal for warm weather, and could also be used as a sandwich filling.

My trip to the St. Stephen's farmers' market was the first I'd made to a market during CSA season (outside of picking up my share). I'm really going to try to keep it up as we move into summer, and continue to branch out with local products other than what's given to me each week.



Spring-to-Summer Vegetable Ragout Over Goat Cheese Grits
Yields: 4 servings

For the Grits:
1 cup water
1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
1/2 cup stone ground white grits (coarsely ground)
1/2 T salt
2 t pepper
1/2 cup goat cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest

1. Bring the water and stock to a boil
2. Add the grits, and stir with a small whisk. Skim off any floating husks and reduce the temperature to medium. Continue stirring for five minutes, or until the grits absorb the liquid.
3. Remove from the heat and cover with a lid, or wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Set in a warm area for 35 minutes - the grits will finish cooking by steam.
4. Add the salt, pepper, goat cheese, and zest, and stir to incorporate. Keep warm until ready to serve.

For the Ragout: 
1/2 cup shelled peas
4 oz small carrots
4 oz small zucchini or yellow squash
3 green or spring onions
3 cloves garlic
2 T olive oil
salt, to taste
1/2 cup stock or water
1 T chopped mint
1 T chopped thyme 

1. Cut the carrots and squash into quarters lengthwise and then into 2 in lengths. Cut the onions in two inch lengths, quarter, and set aside. Slice the garlic thinly.
2. Cook the garlic in the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the carrots, onions, a pinch of salt, and the liquid. Cover and cook until the onions soften, about 3 minutes.
3. Add the squash/zucchini and cover. Cook until it softens, about 3 minutes. 
4. Add the peas and cook uncovered until everything is tender (2-3 more minutes). Stir in herbs, taste, and adjust seasoning as necessary.

Serve the ragout in bowls over the grits.

Pizza Night

My brother- and sister-in-law live in Chicago, and when we go to the beach, they're usually asked to make pizza on their assigned cooking night.  My brother-in-law is also thrilled to come to the east coast so that he can eat soft shell crabs, and this year he decided to utilize the fresh seafood in a delicious dinner for pizza night.

Cary and Brian started with my pizza crust recipe (below), topped it with my homemade pesto, added sliced jalapenos and fried soft shell crabs, and covered everything with shredded mozzarella.  The resulting pie is pictured below, and it doesn't need much more of an explanation aside from me saying that it was a delicious as it looks.

Homemade Pizza Crust

1 packet dried yeast, dissolved in 1/2 cup water

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 Tablespoon oil

Stir flour, salt, and sugar together; add oil and yeast dissolved in water

Combine and knead until smooth and elastic; form dough into a ball

Grease a large bowl with oil, turn dough to coat, and allow to rise to twice its size (up to an hour and a half)

Once the dough has risen, punch it down and knead until smooth

Press into pizza pan, brush with oil, and allow to rise for 10 minutes

Bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes until the crust is slightly brown

Add toppings, and bake for another 10 minutes or so until the cheese is brown and all toppings are heated through

(If you're pressed for time, omit the resting phase and simply top the raw crust, then bake the entire pizza at 500 degrees until the cheese is brown.)

CSA Meals - Week 6

Most people are aware that mint is easy to grow, and that it's a highlight in mojitos and desserts.  What came as a surprise to me is that it can be a subtle and welcome addition to savory dishes, even in a non-jelly form. 


On Saturday, Davy and I grilled some extraordinary red snapper from Yellow Umbrella.  To accompany the fish, I made braised kale with onions and potatoes baked in parchment.  The potatoes were prepared based on a recipe from The Splendid Table's weekly newsletter, which they reprinted from At Elizabeth David's Table: Classic Recipes and Timeless Kitchen Wisdom.  

It's a simple combination of new potatoes, butter, salt, pepper, and two mint leaves.  The mint contributes just a slight amount of coolness to the buttery potatoes, though they don't need much of an enhancement to be delicious.


Coincidentally, the other recipe I tried last week was also from The Splendid Table's weekly newsletter.  The "Salad of Beef with Lime, Chili, and Mint" appealed to me because of its similarities to my beloved rice noodle salad.  Its flavors are inspired by Laos, so there were some major differences in taste, but this salad is just as refreshing and wonderful in its own way.  


The mint and hot pepper balance each other, while the vegetables add crunch and sweetness.  I wasn't thrilled with the rice noodles I got (and I forgot to take pictures of the salad with the noodles), but otherwise I really loved this dish and want to make it again and again.  The cabbage from our share is tender enough to eat uncooked without tiring out your jaw, and the spring onions added just the right amount of bite to the meat.  

My only tip is to store the salad separately from the noodles so that they don't get too soggy.  And also, make an effort to try mint in a new way while it's growing (or taking over) in your backyard.  You won't be disappointed.

POTATOES IN PARCHMENT

Adapted from At Elizabeth David's Table: Classic Recipes and Timeless Kitchen Wisdom 
(Enough for 4 people)

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Clean approximately 24 very small new potatoes, and halve or quarter any larger potatoes. Place them on a large square of parchment paper on a cookie sheet.

Add 2 leaves of mint, a little salt and 2 tablespoons of butter to the potatoes. Fold the paper in half, and then crease the edges to seal the packet.

Let the potatoes cook for about 35 minutes.

SALAD OF BEEF WITH LIME, CHILE AND MINT INSPIRED BY LAOS

adapted from The Splendid Table weekly newsletter
Serves 4 to 6

Noodles:
• 1 pound wide or linguine shaped rice noodles
• 4 quarts boiling water

Dressing:
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
• 2 packed teaspoons brown sugar, or to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon each salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Juice of 1 large lime
• 1 tablespoon Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce (nuoc mam)
• 2 tablespoons water

The Salad:
• between 3/4-1 lb. flank steak, seared on the grill then diced
• 4 scallions or spring onions, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves, torn
• 2 jalapeños, minced
• 2 small cucumbers, peeled, seeded and cut into thick sticks
• 1 carrot, peeled and cut into sticks to match the cucumber
• 1 cup coarsely shredded green cabbage
• 1/3 tight-packed cup whole fresh mint leaves

Garnish:
• Lime wedges

1. Cook noodles according to box directions, and rinse with cold water when they're finished
2. Heat vegetable oil a saute pan over medium high heat and add the flank steak when it's hot.  Stir for a minute, add the onions or scallions, and continue stirring until the meat is cooked to desired doneness.  Turn off the heat and leave the pan on the burner.
3. Blend the dressing ingredients in another large bowl and toss with the vegetables.  Add the meat, stir to combine, and serve accompanied by a bowl of the rice noodles.
4. Take a small amount of rice noodles and spoon the salad over them. Squeeze on lime juice to taste.

CSA Meals - Week 5

Sharing recipes and methods of cooking with friends is one of my favorite parts of participating in a CSA.  Last week ended up being slightly different than normal, because Shannon and I arranged for a veggie swap over the weekend.  She gave me a giant zucchini and lettuce from her garden, and I unloaded cabbage, radicchio, and kale into her produce drawer.

We both had the benefit of variety, and I got to try a recipe that I've been holding onto in anticipation of the zucchini harvest: "Pasta and Fried Zucchini Salad."  The New York Times recipe includes zucchini, fresh mozzarella, basil, and lemon, all of which scream summer to me.  

Frying the zucchini takes a lot of time, and I don't think that it has to be fried to make this dish.  Next time I would grill or roast the zucchini, which would probably improve the taste and healthiness of the salad.  

My favorite part of the pasta salad wasn't the tenderness of the mozzarella or the kale pesto-coated penne (although I always love pesto-coated pasta).  What I liked most was the inclusion of capers, red wine vinegar and lemon zest, all of which brightened the dish and elevated it to a more interesting level.  The dish isn't simple, but every component of it blends together effortlessly.  I forgot to take a picture of the final product, but the recipe and my modifications are below.

The other big cooking effort of the week was "Kale Fried Rice," from Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook, and it was recommended by my friend Lyndsey.  I used my garlic scapes in place of garlic cloves, and added eggs and edamame to make it into a one pot meal.  I also ran out of brown rice, and ended up using half brown and half jasmine, which made the dish a little bit lighter.    

   

 

My kale should have been sliced more finely, and I used more than called for, but this fried rice is deceivingly flavorful and satisfying.  

We munched on the green beans and cucumbers raw, which really makes me appreciate just how fresh and cared for our CSA produce is.  After the swap, we were only left with potatoes at the end of the week, which will endure longer than the greens I traded away.

Pasta and Fried Zucchini Salad

Published: April 26, 2011 (NYT)

Time: 45 minutes

Adapted from “Plenty” by Yotam Ottolenghi (Chronicle Books)

Salt and black pepper

2/3 cup sunflower oil (or vegetable oil)

3 medium zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

3/4 cup frozen edamame

2 cups basil leaves, shredded coarsely*

1/4 cup parsley leaves*

1/3 cup olive oil*

9 ounces penne

Zest of 1 lemon (I used zest and juice of 1/2 lemon)

1 1/2 tablespoons capers

7 ounces buffalo mozzarella, torn into chunks.

*I used kale pesto from my freezer and a few leaves of fresh basil

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. In a medium saucepan, heat sunflower (vegetable) oil over medium-high heat. Fry zucchini slices in batches (do not crowd them) for 3 minutes, or until golden brown on both sides. Transfer to a colander to drain. Tip zucchini slices into a bowl, pour vinegar on top and stir, then set aside.

2. In the hot water, blanch edamame for 3 minutes; drain, refresh under running cold water and set aside to dry. Keep boiling water in pot.

3. In boiling water, cook pasta until al dente; drain and rinse under cold water. Return pasta to pot. Pour zucchini slices and their juices over pasta. Add edamame, basil sauce (kale pesto), lemon zest and juice, capers and mozzarella. Stir together gently, then taste and season with plenty of salt and pepper. Before serving, stir in remaining basil.

Yield: 4 servings