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Summer Cooking: Spinach Spread

 

Happy Sweet September!
(can't believe the 9th month of the year is already upon us...)

This will most likely be my last installment for Summer Cooking even though technically Autumn doesn't begin for a few more weeks.  I made this a few weeks ago when it was quite hot, and now I need to make more.  This spinach 'dip' is more paste-like than dip-like and spreads well on bread or crackers.  We ate it with whole grain baguettes.  (Really need to find a homemade recipe for that.)  Once again, I adapted the spinach recipe from Rodale Whole Foods Cookbook.  It uses frozen spinach which makes for a quick recipe.  I'm sure that fresh spinach could work too.  Even picky boy gave it a thumbs up!

Spinach Spread
adapted from Rodale Whole Food Cookbook
16 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed & excess water squeezed out
2 Tbsp olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
handful fresh basil leaves, snipped
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (next time add more)
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp salt
lots of fresh ground pepper

Heat oil in pan.  Saute garlic & pepper flakes until garlic is golden and fragrant.  Transfer all to a food processor and pulse until smooth.  Cover & refrigerate until ready to serve.   It is a little thicker, so you may have to thin it out in the processor with a tad more oil or water. 

Summer Cooking: Napa Cabbage with Cilantro, Parsley & Basil

It's Summer Cooking again!  Won't you join in?
If you have a recipe to share,
just leave it in the comments with a link to your post. 
New post or old post...doesn't really matter,
because hey, summer cooking is good to eat anytime.

Summer cooking will probably need to go on hiatus soon (~I hope~ since I love Autumn weather and all that it brings), but a few more simple summer recipes are always a good thing.  I made salad this several weeks ago when we received a napa cabbage in our csa bundle.  We already had parsley and basil on our deck.  On impulse, I bought a small bunch of cilantro from the market without a specific recipe in mind.  Began a search.  Adapted a recipe from Rodale Whole Foods Cookbook, which by the way is becoming a go-to cookbook of late.  The original recipe calls for fish sauce which I'm sure lends depth of flavor, but since I didn't have any nor would use it (way too much sodium), it said you could substitute soy sauce.  Didn't have low-sodium soy sauce at the moment either, so I used liquid aminos (which can be somewhat high in sodium too, but tastes delicious). So much for trying to remain low salt!

Napa Cabbage with Cilantro, Parsley & Basil
adapted from Rodale Whole Foods Cookbook

1 head of napa cabbage, outer leaves removed if not the best, stem end cut off, sliced cross-wise into thin shreds
1/2 pkg shredded carrots (or shred your own)
1 orange bell pepper, diced
2 yellow banana peppers, diced
1/4 cup cilantro, snipped
1/2 cup basil, snipped
1/2 cup parsley, snipped
4 Tbsp liquid aminos (can use soy)
3 Tbsp rice vinegar
3 Tbsp peanut oil (or sesame oil)
2 tsp sugar
salt & pepper, to taste

Combine cabbage, carrots & peppers in large bowl.  Whisk together aminos, vinegar, oil, sugar, s&p.  Add cilantro, basil & parsley to oil mixture.  Pour over cabbage mixture and combine well so that all is coated.  Let sit for about 10 minutes, stir again & serve. 

 

Summer Cooking: Cold Bean & Asparagus Salad with Lemon

Another warm week requires another cold salad.  I should have had the Future Gardener help me with snapping the beans since I did end up using some of his wax beans he planted.  (but Future Gardener was busy building Lego cars and contraptions)  This salad is loosely based on one that I had eaten from a (now-defunct) restaurant about 7-8 years ago.  I don't remember the details exactly, just that it had beans and lemon.  So I made it up as I went along. It is light & refreshing. 

Cold Bean & Asparagus Salad with Lemon

3 handfuls green beans (about 1 1/2 lbs?), snapped in about 1" pieces
handful yellow wax beans, snapped in about 1" pieces
1 bunch thin asparagus, cut into about 1" pieces (you can remove the more fibrous portion first)
1 small red onion, diced
handful of radishes, sliced thinly and haphazardly
1 lemon (juice & zest)
olive oil (for drizzling)
a few splashes of rice wine vinegar
a few generous shakes garlic powder
salt, to taste
lots of fresh ground pepper, to taste
feta, crumbled (optional, but very tasty)

those are kale chips in the background - yum

** I'm thinking now that I should have added in some grape or cherry tomatoes (like the sungolds or italian ice) cut in half & maybe some fresh basil.

Bring a pot of water to boil.  Add beans. Set timer for about 2 minutes (if you like crisp) and about 3 minutes (if you like slightly softer).  I did the 2 minutes.  When timer beeps, remove beans with slotted spoon and transfer to bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.  Add asparagus to your boiling water.  Set timer for 2 minutes.  When done, remove asparagus with slotted spoon and plunge it, too, into the ice water.  When they're cold, drain ice water in a colander.  Return to bowl.  Add all the rest of the ingredients. Stir to coat well.  Adjust seasonings to your liking.  Add in the tomatoes and/or basil if you want. Chill slightly or serve right away (if you're hungry) with feta. 

Summer Cooking: Kale with Pasta & Lemon

Kale is so yummy, and most of my family is enjoying it.  I found this Lemony Kale Pasta recipe and changed it just a tad (of course!).  It is definitely a thumbs-up recipe.  It combines the same ingredients that I typically use for sauteed swiss chard (minus the red bell pepper), but everything here (save the pasta) is raw.  I ended up using thin spaghetti even though the recipe called for penne (which I prefer, really, but we didn't have any in the house).  Made this twice it was that good.

After you eat this, you may want to pop a few mints before engaging someone in conversation!

Kale with Pasta & Lemon
adapted slightly from Annie's Eats

1 pkg whole wheat thin spaghetti (or pasta of your choice)
2 bunches red curly kale (ribs removed), chopped fine
4 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 2 lemons
1 cup Parmesan
olive oil, drizzled in
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (chipotle flakes would work well here too)
fresh ground pepper

Cook pasta until al dente.  While pasta cooks, combine garlic to pepper then add in kale & coat well.  Add 1 cup hot pasta water.  Drain the rest of the pasta & mix all together.  Serve with more Parmesan & lemon, if desired. 

I can easily see diced red bell peppers added to this or fresh basil and some pine nuts.

Summer Cooking: Gazpacho (and learning a valuable lesson)

Thank you, all, for such lovely comments yesterday.  Glad that Ginny started the yarn-along!

Well, it's Summer Cooking again!  Won't you join in?
If you have a recipe to share,
just leave it in the comments with a link to your post. 
New post or old post...doesn't really matter,
because hey, summer cooking is good to eat anytime.

With all the farmer's market and csa veggies we've had recently, I thought it was time to make one of our favorite soups: gazpacho. 

I love the recipe from Moosewood Cookbook (mine's the older version) and have made it gobs of times throughout the years.  I remarked to my husband that wouldn't it be interesting to try it with roasted tomatoes as the base?  I thought so, and I guess others agreed.  So now we'll have to try a new version.

What was my valuable lesson, you wonder?

Recently I found a brand-new immersion blender like this one at a thrift store.  I had it on my list to be on the lookout for et voila!  (do you make lists like that?) Anyway, I learned that you DO NOT lift the contraption up & down while having your finger on the button! Unless of course you want a whirring mess on your hands, face, hair, countertop...

 

Summer Cooking: Cucumber Salad

With the hot and sticky weather upon us, I try not to heat up the kitchen unnecessarily.  Even with ac running, the kitchen can get warm.  Since we don't own a gas grill or any grill for that matter (every year we say we're going to buy a gas grill at the end of the summer, but we've been saying that for oh, some 15 years? never gotten around to it), I enjoy making cold salads and such for the summer.  I thought I'd do a few posts next week about Summer Cooking, but rather than wait for next week to begin...here's a quick cold salad to enjoy.

Summer Cooking:  Cucumber & Onion Salad. 

This is great as-is.  It accompanied homemade pulled pork sandwiches recently, and I can easily see it atop a pile of fresh lettuce leaves or a cracker spread with cream cheese. It's simple and refreshing and has a pickled taste to it (minus the overly salty brine).  I left the skin on the cucumbers which gives them more snap, in my opinion.  However, next time I make this, I will make the slices thinner and possibly add more onion.  I'm also thinking of adding in more fresh dill.  Yes, I brought some dill into the house from our garden (pots on the back deck) partly for decoration, and partly because it was beginning to bolt.  Dill flowers are so pretty, but I'm hoping to stave off anymore bolting by moving the plant into the shade or at least snipping off the flowers. 

Cucumber & Onion Salad
printable version

2 largish cucumbers
1 large sweet onion
1 tsp sugar
pinch salt
fresh ground pepper (to your liking)
2+ Tbsp fresh dill, snipped
4 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp vinegar* (cider, rice, white wine)
sour cream, labne (kefir cheese), ricotta, plain Greek yogurt (opt)

Cut cucumbers in half lengthwise & scoop out seeds with a spoon. (If paring cukes, do so before cutting). Slice onions very thin (1/8" or thinner). Cut onion in half then slice finely. Combine all in big bowl; mix well. Refrigerate, covered, for about 1 hour or overnight. I left it in overnight ~ I think it mellows the onion that way. Toss before serving. Top with a few dollops of sour cream, labne, ricotta or plain Greek yogurt if using.

 *I can see this with lemon juice instead of vinegar and maybe some lemon zest.

 

If you'd like to join in with your Summer Cooking recipe,
just leave a comment with a link to your post.