Perfect Summer Salad

The past couple of weeks have brough quite the heat wave to New York.  The kind of oppressive heat that makes the air so thick that even a short walk becomes an chore-- you start sweating before you have a chance to even move.  Every conversation you have or overhear has something to do with the weather; complaining, yes, but mostly just commenting on how unbelievably hot it is.  I had a craving for something light, fresh, summery, and completely no-cook the other night, which lead to this creation of this salad.  Paper-thin slices of zucchini, fresh raw corn, and sweet tomatoes make the best of summer's produce. I've made this salad many times since as it is colorful, healthy, and just about all I can handle in a blazing hot apartment.

Summer Salad
serves 1
1/4 cup lemon juice, about 1 lemon
2 tbls olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

2-3 handfuls of arugula
1/2 large (or 1 small) zucchini, sliced lengthwise into ribbons with vegetable peeler or mandoline
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 large tomato, chopped
1 ear of corn, kernels cut off cob
1/4 avocado, diced
1-2 tbls pumpkin seeds
5 basil leaves, thinly sliced into a chiffonade

1. Whisk lemon juice and olive oil together in a small bowl, season to taste with salt and pepper.
2.  Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl and pour dressing over.  Toss well to combine.

Reason #5,543,765,234,654,001 why I love her...

Every tabloid/news station/celebrity site has been plastered with photos and news about Prince William and Kate Middleton's visit to America (not that I'm complaining...)  And yes, while I do love Kate and think she is stunningly beautiful, poised, and fashionable, there is someone who takes the cake.

Of course.  When William and Kate (can we call them that anymore?  The Duke and Duchess?  Let's just say the Royals) went to LA to watch a polo match, none other than my girl Giada was asked to prepare a meal for them and the other guests.  I could not have been more thrilled to hear it and was so excited to see what the menu would look like .  And even better was to see she made one of my all-time favorite recipes of hers-- Pea Pesto Crostini.

I've made these crostini countless times and they are always a hit.  If I have it on hand, I like to throw in a handful of basil to the food processor while pureeing the ingredients.  Since it calls for frozen peas, this truly is a versatile recipe, which would be equally at home at a summertime bbq or a Christmas party-- the red tomatoes and sweet green peas are a nod to the season but not over the top cheesy.  Served with crusty bread (or even as a pasta sauce?) the Pea Pesto Crostini never disappoint.  Thank you, Giada.

over the top Christmas

Pitting Olives

So many recipes call for pitted black olives, and it usually isn't an issue to find pitted Kalamata olives at the antipasto bar of most grocery stores.  But what about when they ONLY have black olives with pits in them?  You either have to suck it up and "fillet" the tiny olives by slicing around the pit... or pick a new recipe.  I wouldn't think of using canned black olives.

However, there's a trick to pitting olives which will make the tedious task infinitely easier.  Taking one olive at a time, position the heel of your hand over the flat edge of a wide knife and gently press down on the olive (be careful as they can splash!).  This will break the olive and create an opening around the pit, which you can then easily tear out.

It's not the most important cooking technique to know, I'll admit, but it's one I've used countless times.

Slacker

I know, I have been SERIOUSLY slacking on writing posts.  I've been swamped at work and with the weather being so nice... the last thing I want to do is sit in front of a computer any more than I have to.  But I do miss writing and still think I have some mildly relevant things to say, so I am going to get back into the swing of things.

With the past month being as crazy as it has been, work-wise, I've had very little time to cook; most meals have been consumed at my little cubicle.  On the few nights that I was able to come home at a decent (ok, semi-decent) hour, I opted to throw together something for dinner since the thought of another takeout box was enough to turn my stomach.

When you are having one of those late nights, it's nice to have a couple staples in your pantry and recipes in your repertoire.  For me, this usually means some sort of quick salad with random veggies, nuts, quick-cooking or leftover grains, or (my favorite!) beans.  I absolutely love all types of beans, and since I don't eat much meat, I am constantly incorporating them into my diet.  Chickpeas, cannellini beans, black beans, navy beans, edamame, string beans... I'll take them all.

I was so excited when I saw this article in the New York Times a few weeks ago.  Not only is there a delicious recipe listed-- thinly shaved asparagus, radishes, and fennel-- but also multiple suggestions as to how this salad can be adapted to different seasons and cravings.  Behold the cannellini bean salad-- a healthy, delicious, affordable, and wonderfully simple way of highlighting the lowly bean.  

Casablanca

A few weeks ago I went over to a friend’s apartment for dinner and a movie—the first of (hopefully many) themed dinner and movie nights.  Same idea as a book club, picking out a movie and making a dinner that somehow ties into the location.  Somehow I had never seen Casablanca before, so we ordered it from Netflix and made a Moroccan dish to have while watching the movie.  The end result was a riff on a chicken tagine which was both healthy and delicious.  We decided not to follow a recipe and just used a general cooking method with whatever vegetables looked good at the grocery store.  That’s the beauty of this recipe; it’s so adaptable to your tastes and would be good with any combination of spices and vegetables.  Start by chopping your vegetables—here, we chose zucchini, carrots, tomatoes, leeks, new potatoes, and chickpeas.  Then, take chicken legs, thighs, and breasts, heavily coated them with a spice mixture of salt, pepper, cumin, curry, turmeric, and cayenne, and browned them in olive oil.  Remove the chicken, add one chopped onion and a couple garlic cloves, sautee vegetables, add the chicken back in with some broth, cover and simmer until done.  Once the initial chopping is done, it’s a very hands-off dinner, allowing for a glass of wine as everything cooks.  It is perfect when served over a bed of couscous or warm pita.

Casablanca was one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time.  Granted I haven’t seen a movie in a while, but I loved it nonetheless.  The WWII-era expats living in Morocco, the corrupt Nazis, the drinking, the music, the clothes, the iconic quotes (“Here’s looking at you, kid”), the striking beauty of Ingrid Bergman… I guess there is a reason it’s always on those “best moves of all time” lists.  It made me realize that there are so many classic old films I haven’t seen and need to add to my list; Roman Holiday, Citizen Kane, The African Queen, La Dolce Vita… looks like I have a lot of move-watching to do.  And I’m sure I can come up with some food to go along with them.

Salmon with Fennel-Orange Salad

Though I love cooking, there are times that I feel uninspired and at a loss of what I want to cook-- or even what I want to eat.  This mostly happens mid-week, when I'm so exhausted and pre-occupied that I can't think of anything fun, new, or exciting to make.  

There are others times, however, when I do have inspiration...whether by a recipe I've seen in a cookbook or blog, or a restaurant dish I want to re-create, or by a craving so specific that I know exactly what I want to make and how to make it. 

Today I had a fennel bulb in my fridge, which is an ingredient I absolutely love but haven't had in a while-- which meant I couldn't wait to create a meal around it.  The resulting dish is very reminiscent of something my mom used to make a lot during the summer.  The gorgeous stretch of weather we've had in New York called for something crisp, light, and with minimal cooking.  This recipe is easily adaptable and would be great with some substitutions here are there-- grapefruit or even mango for the orange, scallions for the red onion, or swordfish or tuna for the salmon.

Salmon with Fennel-Orange Salad

serves 1

for the salmon

1 6-oz filet of salmon

1 tbls. white wine

1 tbls lemon juice

lemon zest

salt and pepper, to taste

for the salad

1/4 fennel bulb, very thinly sliced

1/4 red onion, very thinly sliced

1 navel orange, zested and segmented

6 cherry tomatoes, halved

1 handful arugula

1/4 avocado, diced

4 basil leaves, sliced into chiffonade

for the dressing

1 tsp. dijon mustard

1 tbls. lemon juice

1 tbls. red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

2 tbls. olive oil 

salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 375.  Combine the fennel, red onion, orange segments, orange zest, tomatoes, and arugula in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the mustard, lemon juice, vinegar, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.  Slowly add in olive oil while whisking constantly, until dressing is fully combined.  Pour over salad, toss to combine.  Gently fold in avocado and basil so they do not bruise; set aside to let flavors come together.

2. Line a baking sheet with foil.  Place salmon in center of the foil square and season with salt and pepper.  Fold up sides of foil to create a packet around salmon.  Top with lemon juice and wine, and seal foil packet tightly.  Cook for 20-23 minutes, until salmon is just opaque in the center.

3. Assemble by putting a little a heaping mound of salad in the center of your plate.  Top with the salmon still hot from the oven, so arugula and fennel begin to slightly wilt.  Pour over any dressing remaining in the mixing bowl.

New Song Obsession

Short post today-- but I CANNOT stop listening to this song.  It's been on repeat since I bought it on iTunes, and I just hit my monthly limit on Pandora about 10 minutes ago since "Adele Radio" has been on non-stop for the past, oh...40 hours.  She's so unbelievably talented in both her singing and song-writing.  Hard to believe she's only 21 years old.