Menu Idea: Summer Luncheon

We’re getting closer and closer to the official end of summer which really makes me sad, even though I live in a city whose summer extends into October. For me, summer eating is all about fruit- and vegetable-based recipes and fresh ingredients. If you’re thinking about hosting a lunch for some friends, here are some recipes that look and sound delicious and you might want to consider. There is a balance of sweet and savory, different textures and flavor combinations that should please a variety of palettes.

The Menu:

• Heidi Swanson’s Zucchini Ricotta Cheesecake
• Eggplant Bruschette
• Mixed Berries with Lemon Verbena Cream
• Triple Berry Margaritas

Heidi Swanson’s Zucchini Ricotta Cheesecake

How delicious does that look? I love 101 Cookbooks and highly recommend it for anyone looking for healthy, creative and delicious recipes. And Heidi, besides taking amazing photos, is also great about giving really helpful tips and instructions. This cheesecake (and keep in mind that the texture is not going to be like that of a cream cheese-based cheesecake) would make a perfect centerpiece of an afternoon party at home with friends.

Tip: Because this is served at room temperature, you won’t have the worry of trying to time the cheesecake to finish baking right when your guests arrive. You can slice it and set it out on your buffet table. Feeling ambitious and want to make your own ricotta? Check it out here.

Eggplant Bruschette

This is the type of recipe with which you can play around with the ingredients. If you want to amp the garlicky flavor you can easily do so. And it may be a good idea to prep more ingredients than the recipe calls for so that you’ll have enough on hand to adjust the flavors.

Tip: You can make the spread a day ahead of time. Dana and I like to prep as much as possible in the days leading up to a party so that we have less to do on party day. This is especially helpful if you are like us and plan to clean your home the morning of the party because you’ll have more time to take care of those last-minute details.

Mixed Berries with Lemon Verbena Cream

This looks mouth-watering delicious. It’s easy to serve and eat which makes it a good choice for a party.

Tip: You can make the cream a day ahead and that will save you some time. Also, make sure to taste the berries before serving to see if you need to adjust the sugar (more or less) in the cream for a flavor-balanced dessert.

Triple-Berry Margaritas

Let’s not forget the cocktails. Staying with the berry theme, this triple-berry margarita and its gorgeous red color will look beautiful on your table and there’s no doubt your guests will love it. For a fun addition to this drink, you can purchase colored sugar to rim the glasses. Or better yet, make your own.

Tip: Making colored sugar is pretty stimple: all you need is granulated sugar and food coloring. Add coloring, a drop at a time, to an airtight jar of sugar and shake vigorously until the color is evenly dispersed. Keep adding food coloring in stages to prevent the sugar from becoming too wet. Keep the sugar sealed in the jar until you are ready to use it.

If you need margarita glasses, here’s a beautiful set from Pottery Barn.

~Christina

Roasted Corn with Manchego and Lime

I hardly ever cook corn but I saw this recipe in bon appétit and it looked so delicious that I had to try it. Plus, it has cheese on it. That alone was enough to grab my attention. It’s very easy to make and it’s really tasty. If you add jalapeño, and I think you should, you’ll probably want to add it a little at a time. I combined the salad with the entire amount called for and it was just a tad too spicy.

My friend Johanna made this with me and we ate the corn with these pupusas she buys from Costco and fills with shredded pork as well as a homemade slaw. Man, that was a good meal.

Ingredients

• 6 ears of sweet yellow corn, unhusked
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons (¼ stick) unsalted butter
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 jalapeño, seeded, finely diced
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 lime, cut into 4 wedges
• 1 cup finely grated Manchego cheese
• ¼ cup thinly sliced chives
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 450°. Roast unhusked corn on a baking sheet, turning occasionally, until heated through and crisp-tender, about 15 minutes. Let cool. Shuck corn and cut kernels from cobs. Discard cobs.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add corn kernels and sauté until heated through and light-golden in spots, 3-5 minutes. Add butter; stir until melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Transfer corn to a large wide bowl or deep platter; sprinkle jalapeño and crushed red pepper flakes over. Squeeze lime wedges over; sprinkle with cheese, chives, and lime zest.

~Christina

Rummy Apricot Compote

I have to state up front that this wasn’t supposed a be a “rummy” dish but you know how things go sometimes. It started off when I found a recipe for “Apricot Compote” in this month’s bon appétit magazine. I was visiting my friends Johanna and Mark and their daughter one Sunday and Johanna and I poured through a couple of recipe sources before deciding to make this. I was pretty excited, especially because I don’t eat apricots that often (not fresh ones, anyway) and I liked the fact that I could eat these with some Greek yogurt.

After cooking and chilling the apricots we took them out of the fridge and tasted them. Ugh. We were so bummed because they just tasted like chilled apricots. I cooked them in lime juice and sugar for 8 minutes and they tasted like I hadn’t done anything to them at all. Perhaps the problem was that the apricots weren’t ripe enough. They should probably need to be more than just-ripe. But the recipe does call for “firm ripe apricots.” Hmmm. Maybe it wasn’t my fault after all.

So Mark mentions that the apricots would probably taste really good cooked in rum. Rum! And that’s what we did. Johanna added some sugar and rum to a skillet and we re-cooked the apricots in that mixture. Ah, so much better! The sugar and rum amounts you will have to determine on your own. It really is about personal preference with this one.

Ingredients

• 1 lb firm ripe apricots, halved, pitted
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 – 3 tbsp sugar
• Greek yogurt or vanilla ice cream
• Fresh tarragon leaves (optional)
• Rum (optional)

Directons

1. Combine apricots, lime juice and sugar in a large skillet. Cook over medium heat, turning occasionally, until apricots are glazed and syrupy, 7-8 minutes. If you’re going to add rum, I would do it at the end – when the fruit is glazed.
2. Transfer to a small bowl and chill.
3. Serve with yogurt or ice cream and garnish with tarragon leaves, if desired.

~Christina

No Mayo Macaroni Salad

This is another great picnic or party dish that light but full of flavor. And it only takes about 20 minutes to make from start to finish which might be the best part. No, it’s the taste. I saw this on Heidi Swanson’s 101 Cookbooks site (Have I mentioned how much I love her work? If not, you should check her out). Since I was planning to make this for myself and not a crowd, I divided the recipe by fourths and just made a quarter of the amount. It worked out perfectly. You’ll have to adjust the ingredients a bit to your taste. I love garlic so I used a little (ok, maybe a lot) more than the recipe calls for but you might want to increase the salt, pepper, lemon, etc. Another thing I really love about this recipe is the fact that it doesn’t require mayonnaise. I’m not anti-mayo but I always love an alternative.

Ingredients

• 1 pound elbow macaroni
• 1/4 cup / 60 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cups thinly sliced green onions {~3-4 bunches}
• 3 medium cloves garlic, chopped
• fine grain sea salt
• lots of freshly ground black pepper
• zest and juice of one lemon
• 1/3 cup / 2 oz grated Parmesan
• 4 big handfuls arugula
• 1 large apple, diced

Directions

1. Cook the macaroni in a large pot of well-salted water per package instructions. Set aside at least 1/2 cup / 120ml pasta water. Then drain pasta and set aside.
2. In the meantime, heat the olive oil in a large skillet until hot. Add most of the green onions, all of the garlic, and a pinch of salt. Cook until the onions soften, and the garlic begins to take on some color, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for a couple minutes.
3. Use a hand blender or food processor to puree the green onion mixture along with 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, zest of the lemon, half the lemon juice, and the reserved pasta water. Puree and taste. The green onion flavor should be assertive. Stir in the Parmesan.
4. Combine the macaroni with the green onion sauce in a large bowl. Toss well. Add the arugula and most of the apple and toss again. Taste, and add more pepper, salt, or lemon juice if needed. Serve topped with the remaining apple and green onion.

~Christina

Summer Produce

Ah, summer! The greatest time of the year and particularly for the delicious fruit and vegetables that are in season. And summer adds grilling to the variety of cooking methods available to us which makes it all the more fun. If you’re not one to load up on produce and it’s rarely seen on your plate, now is the best time to change those habits and start incorporating more healthy foods into your diet. Besides being delicious, most fruits and vegetables are low in fat and calories, making them a great way to lose weight and they can help decrease the likelihood of developing chronic diseases.

May I suggest shopping at a local farmers market at which you can see a wide variety of fresh, in-season produce. Find one here: http://www.localharvest.org/farmers-markets/

Community Supported Agriculture

What is it? Essentially, a great way to get local, fresh, in-season food in a way that benefits both you and a farmer. If you’re thinking about purchasing a share or want to learn more about them, click here: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/

So, what’s in season? Plenty! Here’s a sample:

 Veggies:

Black-eyed peas	Peppers
Corn	Potatoes
Cucumbers	Radishes
Eggplant	Rhubarb
Garlic	Spinach
Green beans	Squash
Lettuce	Sweet potatoes
Okra	Tomatoes
Onions	Zucchini

 

Fruits:

Apples	Peaches
Blueberries	Pears
Cherries	Pineapple
Figs	Plums
Kiwi	Raspberries
Mango	Red grapes
Melons	Strawberries
Nectarines	Valencia oranges
Papaya	Watermelon

 

Raspberries

If you’ve ever bought raspberries you know how delicate they can be. They will go badvery quickly. When you buy them fresh you’ll need to use them within a couple days, stored in the refrigerator. Rinse them gently with a light spray as they will break up under heavy flowing water.

Recipe

Try this refreshing raspberry cocktail, courtesy of Gourmet

Strawberries

Love, love, love strawberries. They are still my all-time favorite fruit (and I’ve already explained my pesticide issue). Did you know that strawberries are good for your skin as well as teeth-whitening?

When picking out strawberries, go for bright red. You don’t want to see green or white tips because they may be bitter or bland. Store in the refrigerator and wash before you eat them. I usually fill a bowl with a mixture of water and veggie wash and swish those babies around to give them a good cleaning.

Note: If you start to see some of your strawberries turning moldy, remove them immediately from the bunch as the mold will spread to the others.

Recipe

Who are you calling a fool? Courtesy of bon appétit

Peaches

Peaches are proof to me that there is a God. What could be better than a sweet, juicy peach. Really? Peaches are also a great source of antioxidants and beta carotene, as well as vitamins A, C and potassium. So, how do you pick ’em? Smell ’em! Peaches should not be green or hard. When ripe, they should be just slightly soft when you press on the flesh. Store ripe peaches in the fridge. Not-yet-ripe peaches can be set out until ripe.

Recipe

Plum and Peach Crisp, courtesy of Heidi Swanson at 101 Cookbooks (one of my favorite sites)

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are another good source of vitamins A and C. When purchasing, look for potatoes that are firm, dark in color and smooth. They should not have “eyes” bruises or wrinkles. Sweet potatoes go bad quickly. Store them in a pantry, not in the fridge. If you store them at room temperature, use them within a week. Before using, wash well and peel the skin off after you’ve cooked them (unless your recipe doesn’t allow for it).

Note: Sweet potatoes are sometimes confused with yams. They are not the same.

Recipe

What else? Courtesy of Alton Brown

~Christina