Vegetables - Summer Salads

Salad.

I have salad on the brain.

A friend asked me what to do with all the summer vegetables that can take over a kitchen if not careful? I usually roast them, that is when it is not 90 degrees and turning on the oven is a sane thing to do. It is hot as all get out here in the desert, firing up the oven turns our apartment into a sauna. No likey.

Now, in the heat of summer I can eat raw vegetables and be totally satisfied. If I do heat up the oven it is for pizza which is also a great way to eat loads of produce. 

With produce in full swing, get to chopping, tossing and dressing!

I hope this helps spark some inspiration!

Summer Pasta from The Wednesday Chef

 

Carrot and Zucchini Salad with Seeds via Food52

Warm Beet Greens with Sour Cream Dressing via Food 52

 

Marinated Roasted Peppers with Capers and Mozzarella from Smitten Kitchen

Salad with New Potatoes and Pickled Spring Onions from Smitten Kitchen

 

Green Israeli Couscous Salad from Joy the Baker

 Heather's Quinoa Recipe from 101 Cookbooks

 

Quinoa with Currants, Dill, and Zucchini from 101 Cookbooks

 

Cucumber Peanut Salad from 101 Cookbooks

 

Cheese Grits with Asparagus and Spring Onions

I have been thinking about Texas a lot lately. Father's Day is closing in on the horizon and I would love to spend it deep in the heart of Texas with the world's greatest father in law.

I want to go see family, eat fried okra, go fishing, explore Austin again, devour tomatoes, pretend that I will meet Guy Clark at the local bar.

Totally normal things for a girl to be dreaming about.

I want to drink a cold Shiner Bock while sitting on a porch swing with scruffy country dogs curled up at my feet panting, exhausted from the heat.

People wave to each other on dusty country roads in the south. They really do wave while driving. It is like a breath of fresh air. Friendly strangers, God bless them.

There are cowboy hats, bouffants, fire flies and big open skies that I can't find in Washington.

I want to eat Tex Mex until my eyes go crossed.

I want J to wake me up in the late hours of the night to watch a lightening storm from the bedroom window.

Until our lives settle down a bit we have to make our own Texas here in Washington. Cheesy grits will have to hold me over until we can take our time visiting the south.

I can eat my weight in cheesy grits, I know I will be just fine when the buttery fried egg hits the mound of grits. Comfort food. John Prine and Guy Clark are always on the play list, a bit of Texas to hold me over.

Cheese Grits with Asparagus and Spring Onions

serves four, or 3 servings for me and 1 for J.

4 cups water

1 cup stone ground grits (also known as polenta)

salt and pepper

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 pound asparagus spears, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 cup thinly sliced spring onion

1 large garlic clove, minced

Fresh juice from 1 lemon

Optional (not really):

4 fried eggs
Slices of tomato

Butter four bowls and set aside.

Bring water to a boil.  Add grits to the boiling water while whisking to prevent clumps.  Add a bit of salt and pepper.  Lower heat, bring to simmer and cover until water is absorbed.  Follow the directions on your box of grits or polenta.  Cooking times vary.  Once thick, remove from heat and stir in butter and shredded cheese. Divide the grits among four buttered bowls and set aside.

In a (cast iron) skillet over medium heat brown onions and garlic with a pat of butter.  Add the chopped asparagus and another pat of butter to the onions and cook until the asparagus turns a bright green, this should take only a few minutes and the asparagus should still have a crunch. Remove the pan from the heat.

The grits in the bowls should now be set, turn each bowl so the grits slide onto a plate, creating a "dome of grits". Top each serving of grits with a pile of asparagus and onions. Squeeze a lemon over top of each one.

Fry a couple eggs if you desire and place a fried egg on top. Enjoy a few slices tomato tucked between bites. 

Serve immediately.

Ribboned Asparagus Salad

I heard someone say today that days like these are what Pacific Northwest dreams are made of.

I smiled, I understand. Days like these, when everything is perfect, mainly the sun is shining with all its Spring time might without the clouds in that way, the air is calm and the mercury rises to new highs for the year, will burn off any ones blues.

These are the days when you come home tired, hungry and happy.

These are the days that make it all worth while, three (four, five?) months of rain and gray skies are a distant memory and the energy saved during those endlessly long months comes bursting at the seams today.

Everything starts to grow, grow fast and furious. Grass is neon green, flowers are crisp and buds are ready to explode with enthusiasm. This is why we choose to endure long winters that blend in to fall and spring.

How do you celebrate a day like this? I eat the freshest, greenest, crunchiest food I can find and thank the full moon that I made it through the winter eating countless potatoes and onions.

I go back for seconds.

I wish I made more.

Ribboned Asparagus Salad 
 
Inspired by the Smitten Kitchen

There are no exact measurements in this recipe. Everything is to taste, make it your perfect flavor. Deb at the Smitten uses olive oil, lemon, toasted nuts and shaved Parmesan cheese which is amazing.


1 pound asparagus, rinsed
1 lemon, halved
Rice vinegar
Olive oil
Toasted sesame seeds
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper

No need to snap off the tough ends of your asparagus. Lay a single stalk on its side on a cutting board. Holding onto the tough end, use a vegetable peeler to shave off thin asparagus ribbons from stalk to tip, peeling away from the tough end in your hand. Discard the tough ends once you’re done peeling ( save mine for making stock). Gently pile your ribbons on a medium-sized serving platter. Squeeze some lemon juice over the asparagus, drizzle it with a bit of olive oil and and vinegar, sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Toss gently and then sprinkle on toasted sesame seeds. Repeat with remaining asparagus, a third of the remaining bundle at a time. Eat immediately.

Caramelized Onion Hummus

I made it through college alive, amazing feat as I think back upon it, some people didn't. Time has slipped in several years between now and those dazed college years, I warmed many different houses, churned through a couple of boyfriends, and phased out a few different hair cuts. 

The first two years were uummmmm..... well I can't really remember them. The truth comes out, don't be like me. The first two years of college in my quiet but increasingly eclectic hometown,  I lived with my best friend in a cute little cookie cutter house on Sunset Drive, across the street from a beautiful Greek church. I had my first compost pile and I grew dahlias from my grandma at this house. There was lots of natural light that I did not appreciate and a wall of my bedroom was wood paneling, teek wood paneling, it was gorgeous. We had an apple tree as old as time and a useful clothes line in the back yard. We laid in the grass, next to the apple tree, for hours working on our tans and sipping iced tea. We were young and carefree, she sang all day long and let me wear her clothes, she listened, rolled her eyes and gave me big hugs as I churned through a couple boys, looking until I found the keeper, she forgave me as I grew into the much more sensible woman I am now. A true friend.

My friend skipped the whole college gig and went straight to work, we lived in completely different worlds but managed to see past this and enjoy each other immensely. She came home from work one summer day and I remember asking her if she would take me to Germany, crazy, she said yes. We went that Christmas and stayed with her family and friends in Berlin for three weeks. She met the love her life, a German chef and I was glad I made it home safe and sound. A few months later, her knight in shining armor came state side to ask for her hand in marriage and by that summer she got rid of everything that did not fit in her suitcase and moved to Germany. I had returned from Germany, in one piece and within a couple of months met J and as I said goodbye to one friend, I said hello to a new one.

I remember making hummus every week while balancing school, work, a boyfriend and all the other bells and whistles of college life. My kitchen was bare-boned and hand me down, my boyfriend's kitchen at the time was even sparser. We figured out how to use potato mashers and forks to smash the chickpeas to a chunky consistency, we used lots of olive oil and spoonfuls of tahnini. It worked, we were young and hungry and probably hung over.

A couple years pass, I am deeply in love with J and we are living in a one bedroom apartment about a mile from that house on Sunset Drive. Still in school, I much happier and healthier with a fresh outlook on life. J makes hummus for a dinner party and it was another sign that he was the one. His hummus was full of roasted vegetables rather then heavy with oils and tahini, it was the best I have ever had.  

Caramelized Onion Hummus

Makes about 3 1/2 cups

Ingredients

• 1 sweet onion, caramelized
• 4 garlic cloves, minced and then mashed
• 2 15-oz cans of garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
• 2/3 cup of roasted tahini 
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• parsley, chopped for garnish
• smoked paprika for garnish

Over medium heat cook until caramelized a sweet onion.
 
In a food processor, combine the onion, mashed garlic, garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, 1/2 cup water, and olive oil. Process until smooth. Add salt, starting at a half a teaspoon, to taste.

Spoon into serving dish and sprinkle with toasted chopped parsley.

Serve with crackers, raw vegetables such as carrots or celery, or with pita bread.


**next up: those cute little crackers that I used to inhale this entire batch of hummus. you will love them!