Beet feet

Can you believe another week has gone by??? Holy cow. And almost another month,too. Time truly does fly and so I better hurry up with this post. It has been a scary week for food and I will have a post on Monday dealing with the egg recall.

I have more than a few food loves and beets are among them. I love them for their deep earthy flavors, versatility and color. This is a soup I made recently and actually used some golden beets as well as red. Look at the color. Just beautiful. This soup makes a lovely summer-on-the-porch meal and is especially nice with last Friday's salad, sans beets. "Double beet" may be overload for some of you!

While deeply flavored and a little spicier than some borschts, you can control the heat in two ways: add cayenne after the soup has chilled and have a little yogurt handy. It is not super spicy at all...just has a nice little kick. I adapted this recipe from one that appeared in The New York Times.

Spicy Summer Borscht

1 1/2 pounds beets, any color 

2 garlic cloves, sliced

2 large shallots, sliced

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

3 cloves

1/8 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste 

1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup

2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar, or to taste

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon  sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 cup whole-milk yogurt, optional 

Chopped fresh chives or green onion tops, sliced (optional)

Peel and slice the beets and put them in a large saucepan. Cover with 8 cups water and add the garlic, shallots, bay leaf, coriander, cloves, cayenne, sugar, vinegar, oil and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, or until the beets are tender. Check the seasoning of the broth. It should be distinctly sweet, sour, peppery and flavorful. Correct the seasoning, adding salt and cayenne if necessary, and freshly ground pepper. Cool slightly.

Remove the bay leaf. Cool slightly, then purée the soup in a blender, in small batches so it doesn't explode all over the place. Strain into a large bowl. Chill in the refrigerator or over ice until cold.

Just before serving, taste and adjust the seasoning, adding a splash of vinegar if necessary. Thin with a little water to achieve the correct thickness — like a thin milkshake. To serve, pour into flat soup bowls or even pretty glasses. Garnish with freshly ground pepper and, if desired, fresh chives or chopped green onion tops. You can add a dollop of yogurt and swirl it in. Serves 6.

A Visit from The Tooth Fairy

I am not kidding...maybe it happened while I was sleeping. I got a visit from the Tooth Fairy. My "Sweet Tooth" is missing in action, or rather, so diminished that it is conspicuous in its absence. I am not sure what happened because the theft was so stealthy.

I used to have a pretty big Sweet Tooth. Legendary in our family. Show me a good cookie or delicious ice cream and I am on it. As a matter of fact, I felt like I had a special internal radar and could ferret out sweets, even from across town.  As a kid, I used to hide frozen, well, thawed Sara Lee Banana Cakes under my bed. As a cheerleader, I once bought 24 doughnuts, then ate them in an afternoon. When my son was in college in Boston, I planned my flights home by, "Honey, Scoops doesn't open 'til 11..." I am a five decade supporter of this magical place:

You get the picture.( And the "kulfi" flavor by the way, is out of this world!). I took sweets seriously. I mean, for heaven's sake, I have a whole cupcake tour of New York City!!

This sweet bent was particularly true when I ate a lot of animal protein, Adkins-like. I really, really craved sweets. Having to be very careful with my weight always, I would buy goodies and then hoard them, supposedly to ration and eat bite by bite. But you know the end of that story; I ate them 'til not a crumb or lick was left. I had a stash in the freezer, too. Yikes.

But, since moving my body into whole, plant-based foods, I have become much more balanced than I thought (ha!) and take sweets in tiny little bites to savor, not inhale. And, they taste really sweet. Weird...the change was so subtle. The other day, I ate a quarter of a favorite new frozen treat. A quarter. Goodness. And, it was just right. I had heard, along with the "your thighs will be thinner" rumor, that eating a plant-based diet cleanses your palate, things taste as they should and flavors pop. The fat from animal protein dulls sweetness, as well as other flavors, and so you eat more sweets to get your fix. Once the palate loses its coating of fat, the cravings for more and more sweetness diminish. I would have to say for me, yes, that is totally true. The thigh thing, no. Although I have lost a few pounds.

And so I am sharing today's recipe with a little bit of uncharacteristic ambivalence. A reader had asked about cheesecakes, another about spices and it is high peach season. This recipe sounds delicious and is from a company I wanted to talk about anyway, another mail order gem, Penzey's Spices. I got this recipe tucked in an order a couple of years ago. But honestly, I haven't made it yet and am thinking more about a big, juicy fresh peach than this dessert.

However, that is not to say, it probably is wonderful...cool, creamy and sweet. Penzey's is. And everything I have ordered from them is top-notch. Go check 'em out at http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/shophome.html and if you make this over the weekend, let me know how you like it! I just might not get to it.

Peach Cheesecake Squares **(This is Penzey's recipe. If you want my "OGT" or a vegan version, just email me.) 

2 cups ripe peaches, peeled and sliced
2 teaspoon cinnamon sugar
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Toss sliced peaches with cinnamon sugar, set aside. In a large bowl combine flour and powdered sugar. Cut in the butter until mix is crumbly and a little dry. Reserve 2 cups of this mixture for the topping. Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 9-by-13-inch pan (glass is preferred). Bake the crust for 15 minutes.

While the crust is baking, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in the condensed milk until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla. Mix well. Remove the crust from the oven (after 15 minutes) and carefully smooth the peaches over the crust. Drizzle with any juice in the bowl. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the peaches. Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture over the cream cheese filling. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until bubbly and starting to brown on the top. Let cool. Makes 10 to 15 servings.

Note: For those of you who are concerned, YES, I am going to being sharing more "less toxic" personal products next Wednesday. I have already started the post...let me know what your interests are and how I can help.

Let's do lunch!

You know that scene in The Blindside, actually, I think there were a couple scenes, where the ladies are "lunching"? What a mess of overpriced salads, competing designer clothes and attitudes. Glad I wasn't a LWL at that table. My dad used to ask, sort of incredulously, "Why does Mama always need to "do lunch"? Answer: "Because". When it's done right, what a lovely experience it can be. 

Earlier this summer, The Divine Ms. M had me and another pal over for lunch done right. She had a fabulous new deck and view to savor but most delicious of all was the relaxed companionship. I will get to the food in a sec. So fun and so relaxing that my pal and I needed a gentle reminder about 4:00 that she had a trainer coming in a few minutes and we were welcome to stay but...

And so here is the Rx for the weekend, or week day, whenever you choose and it can be  breakfast or dinner, too...gather around a table and stay awhile. Talk, laugh and share delicious moments. In our hurried lives, we do a lot of spinning. We over-schedule, under-explore. We talk and write in sound bites and Tweets. We leave a lot of moments untouched or lightly scratched with surface marks of interest. A table and friends lend themselves to an opportunity to share real conversation. Make some time soon to stop, sit and "do lunch" up right.

And now to the food...

In addition to being the brilliant instigator of this lovely afternoon, The Divine Ms. M is a fabulous cook and the whole meal was a vision. Always up on what is healthy, she is also a master at blending tastes, textures and adding in a personal splash of flavor. Here is what we feasted on: a crisp and crunchy tomato, lemon cucumber and feta salad that looked a lot like this:

and this soup...which is where Cajun Power Garlic Sauce comes in (Wednesday's post). One taste of this sauce and you want to use it on everything.  A splash or two added into this soup is divine, of course!

Divine Ms. M's and Dr. Ornish's Cucumber and Potato Soup with Dill

3 cucumbers (English cucumbers are good here), about 2 pounds
1 onion, sliced
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 small russet potato, diced
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh dill and/or 2 tablespoons minced green onion
sea salt and pepper
4 teaspoons sour cream or yogurt (optional)

Peel cucumbers, halve lengthwise and scrape out seeds. Dice enough to make 1 cup finely diced cucumber. Coarsely chop the remaining cucumber.

In a saucepan, combine the onion and 1/2 cup of vegetable broth. Bring to a simmer over moderate heat and simmer 5 minutes. Add remaining 3 cups stock, coarsely chopped cucumber and potato. Cover and simmer until veggies are tender, about 15 minutes. Puree in a blender until smooth. Return to saucepan and reheat to simmer. Add finely diced cukes and simmer until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in dill and/or green onions and season to taste with sea salt and pepper. Serve warm or chilled with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt on each portion, if desired.

Have Cajun Power Garlic Sauce ready to pass.
Serves 4.

And here is what we had for dessert...
xoxxxo to The DMM and to friends and tables everywhere just waiting for "lunch" !!

The Red, White and Food: Farm to Table Tour and Capi's!

A couple of weeks ago, the River Market Farmers' Market in Little Rock was a stop for Toyota's Farm to Table Tour. This tour is going to all kinds of cities and markets this summer and deliciously matching up local farmers with local chefs. Go to the link, http://www.farmtotabletour.com/ and see where they have been and support the talented farmers and chefs who are featured. There are still lots of stops left this summer. If the Farm to Table Tour is headed to your town, get your forks ready! 

As you can see from the link, there were many of our local Arkansas farms and chefs involved...matches made in culinary heaven, right here in our backyard. The Red, White and Food this week salutes the tour, all the farmers and chefs and gives an especially big thank you to Capi's in Little Rock for sharing their recipe for a fabulous Panzanella with me. 

As you can imagine, this rustic Italian salad had me at "hello". Take a look at this beauty...

The list of fresh-from-the-farm ingredients, the aroma of basil and vinaigrette, the promise of juicy, tangy freshness...all were oh, so enticing. I had to have some and I wondered if I could buy the whole bowl, platter and all. Settling for a generous sample, I was in heaven. What a perfect salad for a hot summer day! As soon as I got home, I emailed for the recipe, knowing you'd love a taste of this culinary marriage made-in-heaven, too.

Many, many The Red, White and Food  thanks to Capi, her staff and Sue's Garden and Carpenter Produce. The more we are in this together, the better everything gets and tastes!

Capi's Panzanella for 12

   * The Panzanella needs to sit for 1 hour before serving. Lots of luck waiting! Also, do not hold over for a second day (no worries, not a chance there will be any left, but feel free to cut the recipe in half!) and keep all ingredients at room temperature.

For the vinaigrette:

1 1/2 cups olive oil

6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons sherry vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh garlic cloves

3 tablespoons capers, drained

1 tablespoon minced anchovy

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until well combined. Set aside. Taste for salt and pepper.

For the bread

6 cups rustic French bread

3/4 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 400. Tear or cut bread into bite-sized pieces. Toss well with olive oil making sure all pieces are coated. Spread onto a sheet pan in one layer and bake until slightly golden, 3-4 minutes. Bread should be crisp on outside, still soft on inside. Watch carefully and let cool.

For the Panzanella

6 pounds heirloom tomatoes

2 cucumbers, peeled

2 red onions, thinly sliced

2 cups fresh basil leaves

2 cups drained, roasted red bell peppers, cut into strips

kosher salt and fresh pepper

Cut the heirloom tomatoes into one inch chunks. Slice cucumbers lengthwise in quarters, then cut crosswise into 1/2 inch thick pieces. Chiffonade basil leaves. In a large bowl, combine tomato chunks, cucumber, bread, red onion, basil and roasted red pepper with the vinaigrette. Toss well. Season with salt and pepper. Let stand one hour at room temperature before serving.

To serve, place Panzanella on a chilled glass plate. Garnish with 4 cherry or grape tomatoes, 6 or more slices of halved Kalamata olives, crumbled Ricotta Salata and a basil sprig or toss together in a beautiful bowl as pictured. For 12 servings, you will need 3 cups cherry tomatoes, 1 1/2 cups Ricotta Salata, 3/4 cup Kalamata olives, sliced in half lengthwise and 12 whole basil leaves.

For more on the delightfully creative and fresh food at Capi's, visit this link, http://capisrestaurant.com/. Don't miss The Story of Stella. Wait until you see her in person. Beautiful!  And, along with lots of other information on the link, you will also see that Capi's is a founding member of the Arkansas Green Restaurant Alliance. When you are head out the door, grab another fork. Trio's, their sister restaurant, is an equally tasty destination as well!

  .

The Red,White and Food: Sharing

This beautifully weathered box from a C.S.A. is full of personality and seasonal goodies. Some weekly "shares" arrive in baskets, some in boxes and some are "grab and go". There are veggie shares, egg shares, fruit and flower shares, and shares of whatever the farmer has to offer. Community Supported Agriculture programs "share" their farm's bounty with members and in addition to farmers markets and food clubs, are a very popular and fun way to eat delicious local food and support local farmers. 

What caught my attention recently was an article about a C.S.A. started by a 13, now 14 year old. I love the two younger generations...so full of creativity, vision and gumption. This particular young woman has a wonderful story which is perfect for The Red, White and Food.

Last summer, at 13, she decided to spend her summer vacation farming a half acre of vacant land. Originally, she had visions of her own farm stand, but her parents thought that was not the best idea for a young girl. A creative go-getter, she grew all kinds of veggies and sold "shares" to 6 families, forming her own C.S.A. This summer she has about 15 kinds of veggies (and each veggie has several varieties!), herbs, and flowers. There is a whole group of families involved as regular shareholders and several neighbors involved as barter-type shareholders, swapping out their eggs and milk for her veggies. 

One of the most intriguing crops she has also came from a neighborly "share" that, in turn, came from another "share"! Her neighbor, a WWII veteran, got the seeds for his tomato plants from a German guard in a prison hospital. For 60 years he has grown those tomatoes and now, has shared them with her. Fabulous!!!

I was so taken with her story that I called her and talked to her mom for quite awhile (she was in the garden!) and they were gracious enough to share one of her recipes. Here is a big The Red, White and Food thank you...for sharing so much!

To find a C.S.A near you, click on this link:

http://www.localharvest.org/csa/

Minty Green Bean Salad...deliciously refreshing and summer-y

1 pound fresh green beans

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons chopped onions

1-2 sprigs fresh mint leaves

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1 teaspoon snipped basil

1/4 teaspoon prepared mustard

1/2 clove garlic, minced

sea salt and fresh black pepper

Cook green beans until tender but still crisp and drain. Put in a medium bowl and mix with garlic, onion and mint. In a small glass jar, mix olive oil, vinegar, garlic, basil, mustard, sea salt and pepper. Shake well. Pour over green beans and toss well. Let stand 1 hour to let flavors blend.

Note: When I made this, I made twice the amount of dressing to use again and added in a little more basil and mint.

The Power of Great Design

Hmmm... I don't know why the header is pulling up "Saturday" because it is actually "Monday". Oh well, whether you are visiting on Meatless Monday just for today and one recipe, I am so glad to "see" you ! If you are here because you think our meeting "meatless" like this could turn into an every day of the week, every week of the month, life-long adventure, I am thrilled! I have gotten lots of questions about my new vegetarian eating plan and I am happy to share everything, starting with the first 2 things I had to learn, even for eating well on Meatless Mondays.

Most choose to become "(fill in the blank...you name it)" for very personal reasons. I had more than several and as I learn more, that list continues to grow. This decision was so right for me. I feel terrific and am having a blast. But, I do not like being proselytized...Talk to the hand!  And so, I am just going to share some tips so that if you do choose, even for a day, to go veg, that day will be a big building block in your overall health and will support your own personal journey. For more specific info, you can always email me. I love mail!

Here are the first two things I needed to learn:

Number 1: Time management

I was concerned I would be in the kitchen all day, which, hey, I would love but just isn't practical.  I do have a life. Clients to see and orders to fill. The great news is that I start dinner about 6:00 and eat about 30-45 minutes later. There are some recipes I make the night before (while cooking other things) so they can chill or whatever. But overall, the kitchen time is surprisingly breezy.

Number 2: Plate design.

Not this... (actually served in some restaurants as their meatless option! Talk about gag order...)

                                        Soggy Plate

But this....Here is a great visual "cheat sheet" for a balanced veggie meal that I got from a wellness group in New York. It takes all the guesswork out. No worries, no protein angst, just great eats:

Great design is everything in architecture, beauty, fashion and food....everything, and I eat first with my eyes. The good news is vegetarians work with a list of masterpieces. It isn't called the Plant Kingdom for nothing!!! There are a phenomenal number of beautiful foods to try out and what a joy to be exploring foods outside the "frequent 10". Most Americans cook and/or eat the same 10 foods over and over and over. Take a look at these beauties...and these are just a few of the veggie Kings and Queens! Legumes, fruits, grains...get in front of that camera! 

With that powerful, plant-rich plate in mind, here is a luscious salad made from the figs my neighbor brought over. Sweet and short-seasoned fresh figs are also available at farmers' markets and some regular grocery stores. The recipe is from my friend Stuart (not my pup!!) who is a chef on the West Coast. There are no exact measurements. Just remember the reduction will also be your salad dressing, and so add in vinegar, perhaps a smidge more butter, until it is the amount you need to dress your salad and taste to see if you need a little more honey to balance it out.

This is regal stuff, magnificently designed from the Plant Kingdom. Just add some fabulous whole grain crackers and you have a Power Plate! I served this with a gorgeous chilled beet soup, but in larger portions, it could be a light, stand alone meal.

Regal Fig Salad with Riccota Salata

Figs, destemmed and cut in half, lengthwise

Unsalted butter

Ricotta salata

Sherry vinegar

Toasted pistachios (I bought raw and toasted them)

Honey 

Field greens

Remove stems from several figs and slice in half. Heat a small amount of butter in  skillet. When hot, add figs, cut side down and sear. Continue to cook until they are caramelized. Remove figs from butter and place on top of field greens. Grate or shave ricotta salata over warm figs.

To drippings in pan, add sherry vinegar and scrape pan to loosen up leftover caramelized bits. Stir in honey and pistachios. Spoon over warm figs and greens.

*Note: I did have to hunt some for the riccota salata and found it at small chain called Fresh Market. I think you could use any sheep's milk cheese or even a mild feta. The tanginess was the perfect playmate for the caramelized figs.

CSI Week: Clearly in need...

There are two posts today, OGT's version of "Dinner and a Movie"...

Post #1...

As some weeks do, mine started off so-so and then got better. Kind of like this post will.  I am going to let the story start where it actually did, though, and lead into a delicious ending. Maybe there are some things in the middle that may be helpful. Just in case you have a week like mine.

This was my CSI Week: cancer screening intensive. Got 'em all done.There is a lot of cancer in my family: my dad, brother (diagnosed with 2 cancers the same day as my dad...baaaad day for us), cousin, mother-in-law and a couple others I won't mention to protect their privacy.

Our family is not unusual nowadays. You'd think there was something in the food and water...

One of the things that I feel needs a good health screening is the list of gloppy "clear liquids" okayed to drink before some tests. Good lord. Most were riddled with high fructose corn syrup, artificial coloring, artificial flavoring, tons of sodium, preservatives...all the suspicious characters that are linked to illness!! One "beverage" listed MSG, partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oils and hydrolyzed soy protein!!  No way was I going to down 48 hours' worth of those liquids. My parents had some beverage glasses with "Name Your Poison" written on them. Sure makes one think...

In case you don't want to slug back those sketch-y liquids or even if you just want a stash of healthy clear liquids on hand in case someone gets the flu, here is what I found that is tasty, refreshingly delicious and not at all toxic: all kinds of regular teas and herbal teas, coconut water, lemonade, water with cucumber and mint in it and tea made out of steeping a few star anise "stars" in boiling water. I also froze my leftover coffee for a "slushy". It was kind of fun actually, thinking up new clear "spa beverages". There are also many great sparkling beverages. Here are two of my fave's: Izze's Sparkling Apple and Reed's Ginger Beer.

Also here is an especially fabulous tea recommended by The Divine Ms M. Loved it just by reading the box...it had me when it listed "playful" as an ingredient. It is really delicious and great if you are trying to de-soda yourself or kids. Just do it!

Setting that fun aside, here is what I made to celebrate the end of  CSI week, such a colorful and happy dish and a great one to take to a potluck:

Celebration Soba Salad

8 ounces soba noodles*
1 pound sugar snap peas
3-4 stalks asparagus (optional), cut into 1 inch lengths
2 carrots, scrubbed and julienned
1/2 medium yellow and red bell pepper (they can be quite large!), deseeded and julienned
3 scallions, diced
2 T sesame seeds (toasted until golden in a hot skillet and then cooled. Watch closely. They can burn easily. If they do burn, try again. Burned sesame seeds are really bitter!)

Ginger Dressing

3/4  cup toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup shoyu or soy sauce
1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice and zest from whole lime
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon fresh black pepper

Heat a pan of water to boiling and add soba noodles. Boil until done according to the brand you buy. Times will be listed on the package and vary between 6-8 minutes. I do not salt the water. When done, remove noodles from pan and place in a colander to drain quickly. Rinse with cold water, drain again. Blot with towel and then pour 1/4-1/2 of dressing over noodles. Set aside.

In noodle water, quickly blanch snap peas, asparagus and carrots for a minute or two to your desired doneness. Plunge into ice water and drain. I prefer to blanch these veggies for this recipe instead of using them raw, but go ahead and omit this if you want.

Add veggies to noodles, add extra dressing and toss lightly. Sprinkle with chopped green onions, toasted sesame seeds and wedges of lime. If desired for a veg main dish option, also add in cubes of tofu.

*If you don't care for the nutty flavor of buckwheat flour soba noodles, you can substitute a fine spaghetti. Also, the dressing makes a lot and is great for other salads and as a marinade.

And now, for post #2...

What's a Girl Tutu? Gonnie's Salad is a Start!

Here is it in all its red, white and blue glory....the very thing my neighbor and I drooled over during our neighborhood's Fourth of July parade. Check out the looks on our faces... we want one...badly...and are having an impromptu Tutu Conference on just how to proceed. Give the two of us a holiday and we'll work it...

 

                                         

Eureka! Sweet gal that she is, the creator of this fabulous tutu has let me borrow it and I am in tutu creation mode. I plan on whipping these out for any gal who wants one...so let me know!! Maybe I can even take them up a notch to this beauty pictured below...or in my case, way down a notch to ballroom length!

                                                  

Tutu is a curious word, French-y and leads into a perfect segue for this post. There was an article in the NYT last week about French women and how most of them manage to age magnificently. Here is the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/fashion/15French.html?src=me&ref=general

One of the keys is not gaining weight. This advice made me think of my grandmother and a little book she had written, hoping to publish, about growing old...beautifully. She did just that. Gonnie died at 92 with still naturally lustrous dark hair, a figure to whistle at (complete with an almost flat stomach) and a feisty sparkle to match. She was 85 in this picture with my sweet Lissa.

I have that book in its handwritten form and dug it out of its safe spot. It is a treasure and covers everything from eating well to "charm". She has tons of natural remedies for soothing your "complexion", "brightening" your hair and tons of exercises for everything from tired eyes to "the hangover" or "loose flesh that hangs over the brassiere(!), bathing suit or worse yet, the lovely evening dress." While written over 45 years ago, her remedies, exercises and advice are timeless. I need to dig in and read it all!

And so, if you are not French, what is a girl to do? Here is her advice... set a three pound weight gain limit. When you hit #3, back off and take it off or before you know it, 3 will turn into 5 and we know how that goes. Once I lost my "big weight", I have done pretty close to that and it does keep you vigilant, with Plan B in hand.

Here is the page from her book with an example of her eating plan: (breakfast is on another page) lunch (a small sandwich), her afternoon snack (apple) and dinner. My veg-ified Plan B is very similar, although also minus the milk.

Gonnie loved fresh fruit in season and talked a lot about fruit in her notes. Her summer favorites were melons and she could pick the best honeydew melons. Here is a recipe for a wonderful salad and dressing made from honeydew melons.

Green on Green Salad with Honeydew Dressing

For the dressing:

1 cup honeydew melon pieces*

2 1/2 tablespoons light olive oil or grapeseed oil

Grated zest of 1/2 to 1 whole fresh lime

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon fresh snipped chives

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley (I use flat leaf)

1 tablespoon minced fresh mint

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Fresh black pepper

* The sweeter and more perfume-y the melon, the better this is! Mediocre melon? Make something else!

Place honeydew melons pieces in a blender and liquefy. Pour into a fine sieve and let juice drain out. You will have about 1-2 tablespoons of juice. Add rest of ingredients. Taste to make sure it is citrus-y enough. I usually tweak the lime zest and juice. You are basically making a vinaigrette.

For the salad:

Pour dressing over salad of fresh greens, melon slices, cucumber slices, avocado slices and some fresh slivered fennel with a few lacy fennel fronds added. Garnish salad with extra mint.

This dressing is very perishable and so make it and enjoy. Refrigerate any leftover dressing in a glass jar and it should still be good for about 3 days.

Surf's Up!

When I talk to my daughter most summer weekends, our conversation goes like this..."Hi Sweetie...whatcha doing?" Answer, "Heading to the beach!" My daughter loves the beach...all my kids do....and she has found some wonderful ones within driving distance of her home.

For me, the beach is one of the most magical places on earth and when I hear her plans, I am filled with delight for her and yes, envy. When I am not on Shelter Island with Mom, I live far inland, away from the water. Most days, my "beach" comes to life only when I close my eyes or when I take a deep breath of...coconuts.

No fragrance transports me faster to the shore than the smell of coconuts. Maybe that has something to do with why I love to cook with them....they help transform me and whatever I am cooking into a whole new world. I use flakes in Natural State Granola, love coconut milk based Purely Decadent ice "cream", and when not feeling totally swell, drink coconut water...a little tip I got when traveling in India.

One of my favorite cooking oils is extra virgin coconut oil...sooooo delicious and good for you. I love it just straight from the jar, too, spread on warm toast. Hmmm. (I know what some of you may be thinking..."I don't like coconuts." Well, if I hadn't tasted the real deal and had just left my taste buds rebelling over with the sicky-sweet canned stuff and the overly rancid movie theater stuff, I would agree with you!)The brand I love is Nutiva and I swear, when I open the lid and breathe in, I am dancing in the surf, blue polished toenails and all.

As I have said before, I am working on my grains and especially, showing rice some love. While Reshma and Christian were home, Reshma made sticky rice and added in a dollop or two of Nutiva's coconut oil. The result? Heaven in grain form. Here is another method I use to get the coconut and the love all in one bite.

Coconut Rice

1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk

1 1/4 cups water

1 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups basmati rice (I use brown)


In a 2-quart saucepan with a tight fitting lid, bring coconut milk, water and salt to a boil. Add rice. Return to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Cook 45 minutes, if using brown rice. For white rice, which is the more traditional choice for sticky rice, cook for about 15 minutes. To make it "sticky", add in more water as the rice cooks until you get the desired consistency.

Turn off heat and let rice stand and continue to steam for 5 minutes. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

This rice has a lovely, soothing aroma while cooking...great way to take the edge off the World Cup tension!! While delicious on its own, it is a launching point for all kinds of other flavors. Over the Fourth, we had Tropical Sals-up and homemade chimichurri sauce to pass and ladle over the rice, making it even more decadent. Ahhh...I can just hear the surf!

Amber Waves of Grain

Sunday is a "catch-up" day for me and yesterday, of all things, I caught up with myself and realized I am having a food challenge. Those amber waves of whole grains don't wave enough around here. I have to get more on my plate. Protein, veggies, fruits, fats? No problem, got 'em done. Grains? A big "oops!" I am not very "check-listy" about what I eat but whole grains are noticeably scarce, actually, almost off the radar. I am not a big bread or pasta eater and not so into rice either, although I do love both brown and wild rice. I do faithfully have a handful of Natural State Granola every afternoon which helps a lot.

There are some fabulous whole grain crackers I love and nibble on, too, but one serving is 13 crackers. Come on! 13? That's almost half the box! By the time I am cooking dinner, the time for cooking grains seems long gone, except for quinoa and couscous. I have bags of untouched grainy goods just begging for attention. OK...phew...I am through venting.

Solution time!! Here is what I plan to do....one day (or night) a week, while doing other stuff in the kitchen, I am going to cook up a bunch of different grains. They are simple to cook...I just have to plan and do it. Then, I will have some for the whole week to add to salads, soups, serve on their own. What I don't use up in a couple of days, I am going to freeze and see how they do. (Rice freezes pretty well.) Instant stockpile. Sounds great!!  It's a brilliant plan!! 

My bag of brown/wild rice was already open and so here is what I am going to make up for dinner tonight. I have had this recipe for years and it is still one of my summer favorites. While the rice is cooking, I have some another golden beauty on the stove...millet that I toasted in a pan. In many cultures, this sweet grain is the grain of choice, loaded with iron and more popular than rice. In our culture, it's bird seed. Until tonight that is...

Summer Rice (and Grainy Friends) Salad

3 cups cooked brown rice (or combo brown/ wild and millet. I love Lundberg rice.)
3-4 hard-cooked eggs
1/2 cup sweet onion, chopped
1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup green bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup celery, chopped
1/4 cup dill pickle, chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1/2-1 teaspoon sea salt
Fresh black pepper to taste
1/4 cup French dressing (your choice here..I play)
1/3 cup mayo
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Combine everything except the last three ingredients. Blend together French dressing, mayo and Dijon. Add to rice mixture and mix thoroughly. Chill and serve on a bed of baby greens. Serves 4.