Delightful! Roasted Summer Squash with Roasted Garlic and Fennel

/

 Wow. That's all I can say. This summer squash with roasted garlic and fennel salad blew me away.

(yes, I know I came up with it and that's not a really modest thing to say, but I'm just being honest).

The taste of fennel brings me directly back to Gran Fran and Joe's house. We eat fennel raw, like it's celery. I didn't realize this was not the way normal people ate fennel. I was surprised to find it cooked in a dish at a restaurant and everyone at the table looked at me like I was crazy.

When we were kids, I remember once we told one of the neighbor kids that it was gum, but I have no idea why we decided to trick this kid. I happened to have some fennel in my mouth that I'd been chewing for a long time, so it had become a kind of a paste. I guess the kid believed us, not sure, I remember just following along what one of my older sisters told me to do and ended up chewing that fennel for a very long time.

But I digress. The short story here is that I came up with a perfect combination in this recipe (no modesty again). The crunch and anise of the fennel against the soft sweetness of the roasted squash is just right. By adding in some mellow roasted garlic and a bit of vinegar, the dish comes together perfectly. If you eat cheese (which I can't), make sure to have some nice grated Parmigiano Reggiano on hand to sprinkle over top.

 as featured on The Fruit Guys website

Roasted Summer Squash with Fennel and Roasted Garlic

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup summer squash of your choice, cut into chunks
  • 3/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/8 cup red vinegar
  • 1 bulb fennel shaved
  • 4 cloves roasted garlic (recipe here)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and place an empty jelly roll pan in to heat up at the same time.
  2. Once the oven has preheated, carefully remove the tray from the oven, pour 1/4 cup of the olive oil onto the tray and place the summer squash on top.
  3. Turn the squash chunks over several times to coat in the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  4. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the pieces have browned and softened.
  5. In a large salad bowl, mix the roasted summer squash with the shaved fennel, roasted garlic and the remaining oil and vinegar.

Serves 4. Prep time, 5 minutes; cook time, 20 minutes.

Cook’s note: Serve alongside a frittata or a pizza.

Memorial Day Salads: Salmon Salad, Grilled Radicchio Salad, Avocado and Tomato Salad

/

Happy Memorial Day Weekend, everyone. If you haven't already planned out all of your dishes for the many BBQ's you will be attending this weekend, consider one (or all) of these three salads. The components for each can be put together in moments, and complement grilled meats and veggies ever so well. I realized I maybe a little late in sharing my Memorial Day ideas, but here they are. There maybe a few posts today, so I can be sure to share as many ideas for your weekend entertaining as possible. Hope you enjoy and that you are able to spend some quality time with your friends and family.

Salmon Salad

Ingredients

  • 1 pound salmon, skin on
  • 1/2 cup leftover mashed potatoes (method here, dairy free option included)
  • 1/2 cup steamed cauliflower (or any other nice veggies you have around)
  • 1 cup mache salad greens (any greens will do here, esp. something peppery like arugula or mache)
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Method

  1. Heat BBQ grill until super hot, but not smoking.
  2. Place the salmon, skin side down, on the BBQ grill.
  3. Cook for four minutes, or until you see the edges of the salmon turning light pink.
  4. Flip the salmon over and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
  5. Put the mache on a platter, add the mashed potatoes in dollops over the salad and distribute the cauliflower around the platter.
  6. Place the salmon on top and finish by drizzling the olive oil and lemon juice on top.

Grilled Radicchio Salad

Ingredients:

  • 1 head Radicchio
  • 1 large Shallot, minced
  • 2 ears Corn
  • 1 large Heirloom Tomato, chopped
  • 1 bunch Frisee, shredded
  • 1/3 cup Olive Oil
  • Salt and Pepper to Taste

Method:

  1. Heat BBQ grill until super hot, but not smoking.
  2. Cut up radicchio into chunks.
  3. Pour olive oil over radicchio on toss to coat.
  4. Place radicchio chunks on grill, grill on one side for two minutes, making sure flames don’t get too high.
  5. Turn radicchio over, pouring remaining oil onto it. Cook for two more minutes, or until soft.
  6. Remove from heat, and chop into smaller pieces.
  7. Take corn off the cobs, placing the loose kernels into a large bowl.
  8. Add tomatoes, shallots and grilled radicchio to bowl. Toss, gently pulling the radicchio leaves apart.
  9. Sprinkle shredded frisee on top of mix.
  10. Finish with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

Avocado and Tomato Salad

Ingredients:

  • 2 large avocados, cut into chunks, skin and pit removed
  • 4 tomatoes (I used Roma, but love Heirlooms the best)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

  1. In a large bowl, combine tomatoes and avocados with salt and pepper.
  2. Whisk together the oil and lemon juice in a small bowl.
  3. Pour the dressing over the tomatoes and avocados, stir gently to coat all ingredients and add a final grind of fresh black pepper on top.

Greek Sandwich Salad Style

/

Recently, I went to dinner with my uncle (known as Uncle), who is Gran Fran's brother. For the most part, I'm a lettuce with olive oil and salt kind of salad girl. Uncle ordered just this as his salad, which floored me. I hadn't realized there maybe a family connection to my style of salad. He told me that he has always eaten his salad this way, and that he thought it did come from his parents. Who knew?!

Warm weather has arrived in San Francisco. You never know how long this nice patch of weather will be in town, so it's fun to pretend like we have seasons and cook like it's going to stay warm for a few months.

This weather puts me in the mood for a good salad. I made a nice roast pork with Greek flavor a few weeks ago, reminiscent of a the Greek sandwich I had in Paris.  Since I have salad on my mind, I decided to take all the Greek sandwich fixings and make a huge salad.

Seeing as I don't usually make fancy salads (except for my salad nicoise) , I really had to think about how to layer everything in. Some special dressing, which includes Za'atar, a Middle Eastern spice, added a nice extra kick. It's earthy, sour, salty and just interesting. You can just use oregano here, but I love the unexpected flavor.

You don't have to follow my ingredients exactly, but do put the roast pork, red onions and fried potatoes in the salad as these are the keys to the Greek sandwich-ness of the salad.

Greek Sandwich Salad Style

Ingredients

serves 2

  • 1 heart of romaine lettuce, cut into pieces
  • 2 potatoes, oven fried (recipe here)
  • 8 slices of Greek roast pork (recipe here)
  • 1/2 red onion, sliced thinly
  • 1 red bell pepper, sliced into chunks
  • 8 to 10 small tomatoes cut in half
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon Za'atar spice blend or dried oregano
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Method

  • Lay the romaine on a platter, making a mound in the center.
  • Layer on top the red onions, potatoes, tomatoes and red bell peppers, with the pork on top.
  • Put the mayonnaise, olive oil, Za'atar (or oregano) and salt and pepper into a bowl and mix until combined.
  • Drizzle dressing over the salad and serve.

You can put some nice warm pitas out on the table to serve with this great salad.

 

Beet Salad with Oranges

/

 Gran Fran knows her way around beets. She would make them for us on a regular basis. Her salad involves only some olive oil and vinegar. And, she also cooks her with the skin on, removing it after cooking. Her method involves roasting the beets in the oven individually wrapped in foil (Gran Fran, let me know if I'm wrong here). Skinning the hot beets made me stay away from beet cooking for a good long time. My hands not only turned red from the juice, but also were slightly burned each time I tried to de-skin one of the beets.

My sister Danielle taught me this method, which turns your fingers red immediately, but leaves you with fewer burn marks on your hands. I think I end up with more beets, too. Using a vegetable peeler allows you to remove just the brown skin and preserve more of the good stuff.

I cook the beets in what will become the dressing for the final product, too, which gives you a really flavorful dressing. And, you are able to eat these hot, if you want to, without having to waste any time peeling off the skin.

The addition of oranges and sunflower seeds to this salad make it the perfect Spring-is-Here dish. It's fruity and earthy with just a little bit of crunch.

Featured on The Fruit Guys website.

Beet Salad with Oranges

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 beets, skins peeled off, greens removed, cut into eighths.
  • 1 small shallot, cut into quarters
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 orange cut into small pieces
  • 1/2 teaspoon sunflower seeds
  • Salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Place the beet and shallots onto a rimmed baking sheet, or into a baking pan large enough to allow space between the pieces.
  3. Mix together the vinegar, oil, salt and pepper and pour the mixture over the beets, making sure to coat all sides of the beets.
  4. Roast the beets in the oven for 40 minutes, or until fork tender, turning the beets every ten minutes or so.
  5. In a large bowl, mix together the warm beets with the orange segments.

Salade Nicoise: How-To: Another Cooking for One recipe

/

The salade nicoise has got to be the best salad ever. It involves only a handful of ingredients (two of which I've featured recently as make-ahead basics, here  and here).

When my daughter and I were in Paris, I ordered salade nicoise. What I got was not at all what I was accustomed to from our American version.

For one thing, there was rice in it. Yes, you read that right, rice. For another thing, the tuna tasted and looked odd, and overcooked. Lastly, there was some heavy dressing with a bit of cream in it. I won't judge the entire country on how this one brasserie made their Nicoise. Instead, I guess I'll just have to venture back over to France to find the perfect version.

In the meantime, I decided to try my hand at home making this lovely salad. Usually, there are boiled eggs included, but when I was almost finished making (and photographing) the salad, I realized I had forgotten to make them. To my surprise, I didn't miss the eggs at all.  I actually think I preferred it without the eggs, but you can go ahead and add them back in if you want to.

The key to my success was the freshness of the tuna steak. Of course, if you can't locate a tuna steak, you can use a can of best-quality (that's a Gran-Franism, the best quality thing) solid olive oil packed tuna fish. Drain some of the oil out, so that the flavor of the dressing will shine through.

I really enjoyed making this, especially since it was so simple and tasted so darned good.

Salade Nicoise

serves 1

Ingredients:

  • A large handful of Salad Greens (I didn't measure, just grabbed as much as I thought I'd eat)
  • 1 serving of cooked Green Beans (recipe here)
  • 1 serving of Boiled Potatoes (recipe here)
  • 1/4 pound Tuna Steak
  • 4 Tbsps Olive Oil
  • 2 Tbsps Red Wine Vinegar
  • 1 tsp Mustard
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

  • Place the salad greens, green beans and potatoes on a plate. Set aside.
  • Heat a heavy-bottomed non-reactive pan over high heat.
  • Salt and pepper the tuna steak.
  • Once the pan is good and hot, add a small amount of olive oil.
  • Add the tuna steak to the super hot pan.
  • Cook on first side for five minutes.
  • Turn over the tuna steak and cook for another 3 minutes.
  • Remove the tuna from the pan and let rest for a few minutes.
  • Mix the olive oil, mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper for the dressing.
  • Slice the tuna and place on top of the salad.
  • Sprinkle the dressing over the top of the salad and enjoy!

 

They're Supposed to be Green (Beans)

/

Have you ever tried a green bean salad from a salad bar? The beans are usually somewhat grey, dressed with too much oil and not enough vinegar, and often times they are covered in some weird herbs.

I'm here to share with you a really good, quick and easy green bean salad recipe. The key is in how you prepare your beans. You can make any number of dressings for the beans, once they've been cooked properly. If you over cook them no matter how you dress them, they just won't taste right.

If you follow these very simple steps, the most important being to rinse the beans in cool running water for a bit to stop the cooking, you will be ever so pleased with the results.

I'm thinking that a version of this recipe will also end up as one of the Cooking for One series I've been working on. I figure you can cook all the beans at once, store them in air tight containers in portion sized servings. Then, when you're ready to eat the green beans, you can add any number of a variety of sauces. One is included here, just a basic lemon, olive oil and caper combination.

Green Bean Salad

serves 2

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound Green Beans (or yellow), tips cut off
  • 3 tbsps Salt
  • 1/2 of a Lemon
  • Olive Oil to sprinkle over the cooked beans
  • 1/4 tsp capers, drained
  • salt and pepper to taste

Method:

  • Boil a large pot of water with the salt in it.
  • Place the green beans in a steamer basket.
  • Submerge the basket in the boiling water.
  • Partially cover the pan, leaving enough space for the steam to escape.
  • Cook the beans for 6 minutes.
  • Take the steamer basket out of the pan, and rinse under cold water for one minute.
  • Put the beans (about half the cooked amount will do for two) in a shallow bowl and squeeze the lemon over them. Sprinkle some olive oil on top and add the capers, salt and pepper.
  • Mix it up and enjoy!

Candied Salmon and Poached Egg

/

Candied salmon makes me happy.

I first discovered this Whole Foods wonder about four years ago. Back then, I ate is as a very tasty sweet snack. Nowadays, as I'm trying to watch my girlish figure, I eat just a little of this golden treat alongside greens and a poached egg.

There are other brands of this lovely delicacy, so try and find some and make yourself a special breakfast.

Poached Eggs ala Gran Fran

Ingredients:

  • small saucepan for boiling water
  • 2 tsps red or white wine vinegar
  • 1 egg

Method:

  • Fill saucepan 3/4 of the way full with water
  • Add vinegar.
  • Set the pan on the stove to boil.
  • Crack the egg onto a small plate or saucer, being careful not to break the yolk.
  • Once the water is boiling, spin the water around in the center of the pan using a fork to create a whirlpool.
  • Quickly and carefully pour the egg into the center of the whirlpool.
  • At this point, I use a large metal spoon to help the whites congeal together around the yolk. Just keep on gently pushing the whites toward the yolk and eventually, they attach to each other.
  • Remove the egg from the boiling water once the white seems set (it takes a bit of trial and error).
  • If the spoon is big enough, keep the egg on there and pour off any extra water onto a paper towel.
  • Serve it up with the candied salmon and some greens.

Enjoy!