Quick Roasted Salsa

Quick Roasted Salsa

It's that time of year again! Summer has set in across the country and with it's warm weather, sunshine and long days, it is time to start sharing recipes again (hey, I'm a high school teacher, I don't get a lot of time during the year to make elaborate food!) 

Oh and it's TOMATO TIME!!!!!!  As backyard gardens and farmer's markets begin to fill with the bright red, juicy goodness of my favorite fruit/veggie, many people find themselves at a loss as what to do with all these yum yums! 

I was late planting my tomatoes this year, but have high hopes for a great crop later in the summer. This year I have 4 plants going: Roma, Beef Steak, heirloom Golden Torpedo (OMG I can't wait) and a Tomatillo plant one of my students gave me at the end of the year. If you haven't had a chance to try growing heirloom tomatoes, I highly suggest it. The variety of flavors, shapes and colors are delightful. 

This all leads me to today's treat: Quick Roasted Salsa. I had a bunch of large tomatoes come in our last Farmer's Market delivery and a good early crop of other salsa ingredients in my garden so I thought salsa seemed like a good idea. I always hate how watery fresh salsa is and how strong the garlic/onion flavor usually is, so I was inspired to try something new.  Recently, I made a recipe that called for broiling tomatoes and I thought I'd give a whirl for the salsa. Turns out, I was on to something. By cooking all the veggies lightly first, all the water turns more into a juicy sauce than a sloppy mess!

Ingredients

4-5 large ripe tomatoes, cut in half

1 medium red or white onion, sliced

1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed or leave them for a spicy salsa

1 garlic clove, peeled

1/4 cup cilantro 

1 small lime, juiced

1 handful chives, optional

Salt & pepper to taste

Cooking Spray or vegetable oil

 

Ready for the broiler

 Lightly browned onions and tomatoes

  

 

Finished salsa!

Directions

1. Preheat broiler to high
2. Place first 4 ingredients (through garlic) on a baking sheet and coat lightly with cooking spray oil
3. Roast under the broiler for 15-20 minutes keeping a close eye on the veggies. You want everything to get lightly browned but not blackened! You may find that you need to pull the garlic and jalapenos out sooner.
4. Remove veggies from the oven and allow to cool enough to avoid getting burned. 
5. You should notice that your jalapenos are starting to pull away from their skins. Use a butter knife or your fingers to gently remove the meaty part from the skin. Discard the skins. 
6. Add roasted vegetables to a food processor and gently pulse to break down the chunks. 
7. Add cilantro, lime, salt & pepper and give it a few more pulses.  I like my salsa chunky so this is where I stopped, but keep going until you reach the consistency you like.
8. Place salsa in the fridge to cool completely

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

Summer came late to our little corner of the California Coast and as a result I'm enjoying a late bumper crop of tomatoes! Slow-roasting tomatoes brings out the sweet, rich taste of tomatoes and would be a great way to bring a taste of summer when winter time rolls around and you can only get those bland hot-house tomatoes at the grocery store. Throw these guys into the oven on a weekend morning and you'll be delighted come dinner time!

I used my roasted tomatoes in a lively marina sauce for chicken Parmesan and pasta. Recipe to follow another time when I can get delicious pictures. We had company over so my husband frowned on me stopping everything to get just the right photo.....

 Tomatoes Before.....

Tomatoes After!

 2-3 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1-2 lbs tomatoes, sliced in half or quarters depending on size

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees

2. Combine first 7 ingredients, tossing gently to coat the tomatoes

3. Arrange tomatoes cut side up, on a baking speed coated with a bit of cooking spray. 

4. Place in oven and leave to roast for 3 hours

Yep, that's it! 

Once cooled you can serve in a salad, chopped and tossed with hot pasta and a touch of olive oil or added to your regular tomato sauce for a boost of flavor. These tomatoes would be a great accent to fish or chicken as well. 

Krab and Avocado Salad with Wasabi Dressing

It was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon today and I spent most of it outside in my garden clearing weeds and trimming up.  When dinner time rolled around, I didn't feel like making a big production out of dinner. With a fresh delivery of lettuce from our Community Supported Agriculture box and an avocado from my neighbor's tree (it's fine, he lets us take them) I decided to throw a light salad together.  

Now feel free to use crab with a C if you want, but I tend to enjoy krab with a K (don't judge!) I happened to have some in the fridge. This salad comes together in less than 15 minutes and serves 2 really big salads or 4 normal salads. If you have left over krab, use it on a sandwich the next day.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons mirin (rice wine, NOT the vinegar)
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Wasabi paste
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 red jalapeno pepper (or other Chile pepper) seeded and minced
1 1/4 Cups krab, chopped
squeeze of fresh lime juice
1 ripe avocado
1-2 teaspoons chopped chives (I used garlic chives from my garden, but regular should do)
1 head of lettuce chopped

1. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the mirin, rice vinegar, wasabi, salt, sesame oil, mayonnaise and jalapeno.

2. Set aside 4 tablespoons or so in a large salad bowl and save for later.

3. Add the chopped krab to medium bowl and toss to coat well. Set aside.

4. Add lettuce to the large bowl and toss to coat.

5.  Divide the lettuce among 4 plates and add equal scoops of the krab in the center of each salad.

6. Scoop 3-4 small bits of avocado on each plate. Finish with a sprinkle of chives on each salad.

Hint: make sure that you smoosh up the avocado with each bite!

Grilled Summer Vegetable and Chicken Salad with Oyster Sauce Dressing

Don't freak out! Yes Oyster sauce....as a salad dressing. I know what you're thinking, um gross, but I promise it's not!  

Let's face it, it's been stupid hot across the entire country, climbing into the upper 70's here on the California Coast (I know that's not hot, but it is if you don't have AC and need to turn on your oven) so I wanted a hearty dinner salad to use up all of my fresh summer vegetables that came in our weekly Community Supported Agriculture box (if you haven't tried one of these, I suggest doing a little research and find a CSA near your home. Some need to be picked up and some are delivered to your house.)

The original recipe calls for fish sauce as the main dressing flavor, but I chose to use oyster sauce because it's much lighter in flavor making for a less fish dominant dressing. 

Ingredients for the Salad:

1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, toasted (sweetened with work too if that's what you have.) 

Vegetable oil

6 fresh okra pods or 1 cup frozen okra, thawed  (I'm going to call this optional because while it's good, I feel that the okra didn't really add anything to the salad)

3 ears of corn, shucked

2 large zucchini, halved lengthwise

2 long red chiles (such as Holland or Anaheim), stemmed

1 small eggplant, cut lengthwise

1 tablespoon sea salt

1 small head of butter or Romain lettuce, torn to bite sized pieces

1 store-bought roasted chicken, shredded

1/2 cup white rice, cooked

Ingredients for the Dressing:

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon  light brown sugar

2 tablespoons oyster or fish sauce (such as nuoc nam or nam pla)

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

2 handfuls (loosely packed) mixed fresh tender herbs chopped (such as basil, cilantro, fennel fronds, marjoram, mint, and tarragon, basically whatever you have on hand or in your garden, but MINT is a must!)

Getting started....

Heat your grill to medium, too hot and you'll toast your delicate veggies.  

First, rub your ears of corn with vegetable oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, place on grill to char. 

Also, place your whole peppers on the grill as well. 

Next, you want to make your dressing because the flavors seem to get better as they sit together in the fridge.

In a small bowl whisk all the ingredients for your dressing, adding a little salt and pepper to taste. Set aside in the fridge. 

While the corn grills (hello, it takes longer) you want to prep the rest of your veggies for the grill. 

• Use a pastry brush to evenly coat all of your cut vegetables with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Yep, everything, even your okra if you're using it. 

• Using tongs, place everything cut side down on your hot grill.

• Turn over the corn and the peppers. Remove the peppers when they begin to blister. place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap while you finish everything else. This will steam the peppers and make it easier to remove the skins. 

• Cook vegetables until softened and have lovely grill marks, use your judgement on the time as some people like their veggies cooked more than others, but plan about 6 minutes for the zucchini and eggplant. 

Once everything is grilled, it's time to put your salad together.

Chop all of the vegetables into bite sized pieces and remove the corn from the cob (easiest way is to stand the corn up on it's flat end and gently slice down with a sharp knife.) Taste your peppers before adding all of them. We learned the hard way that ours were really hot. 

Toss with chicken, rice, coconut, and lettuce.

Give your dressing one more good whisk to make sure that nothing separated. Drizzle your dressing over your salad and toss to coat well. 

Bonus! If you happen to have good french or sourdough bread around, coat with oil, salt and pepper and grill alongside your veggies for homemade croutons! 

Cherimoya Coconut Creme Brûlée

Within the last year, I discovered that I am allergic to dairy. No more cheese, no more cream, no more milk, no more everything awesome. I lamented the loss of some of my favorite desserts. Ice cream, cream cheese frosting, whipped cream, and of course creme brûlée... I've scouring the net, reading blogs and discussion boards about how to still enjoy a food life without dairy. I quickly discovered that soy or coconut milk coffee creamer is a pretty decent substitute for heavy cream and that a can of coconut milk can be turned into whipping cream very easily.  

I had a wicked craving for some creme brûlée and really wanted to try out my new kitchen torch, so I started sifting the net for dairy-free version of the creamy sweet, crunchy, hot-cold treat. I also had a Cherimoya on hand (a custardy, tropical fruit) 

I came across 2 recipes that intrigued me, 1 with heavy cream and Cherimoya and one traditional one that replaced the heavy cream with coconut cream. I made a hybrid of yumminess. 

Here's what I came up with:

Cherimoya-Coconut Creme Brûlée 
Serves 4

1 medium Cherimoya, peeled, seeds removed and pulp mashed up (* if you don't have Cherimoya, simply add 6 more egg yolks)
1 vanilla bean split lengthwise, with bean grains scraped out
1 can coconut milk (or 16 oz heavy cream if you're into dairy)
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar 
1/4 cup granulated sugar for the top

The night before you want to make your dessert put you can of coconut milk in the fridge. By chilling the milk, the "cream" portion will rise to the top of the can and the water will settle to the bottom.  Carefully scoop the cream out for the recipe trying to avoid as much of the water as possible. 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the cream, vanilla bean grains, and salt in a sauce pan and simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes. Do not let it boil!
3. Remove pan from heat and add the Cherimoya and orange zest, stir to combine. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until combined. This only takes a few moments.
5. Slowly pour warm cream mixture into the egg/sugar combo while whisking to mix thoroughly.
6. Divide mixture into 4 baking ramekins and place the ramekins in a lasagna or other baking pan.
7. Fill baking pan with water 2/3 of the way up the sides of the ramekins and bake Creme Brûlée for 45 minutes to an hour, until set and not jiggly.
8. Remove from pan and allow to cool for 30 minutes. Place in refrigerator for 6 hours to over night.

The next day...

Sprinkle 1/4 sugar evenly over all 4 custards. Use a kitchen torch to slowly caramelize the sugar. Be cautious so you don't burn the sugar (it tastes bad...)

If you don't have a kitchen torch, set your oven to broil on high. Place sugar covered custards in the oven and keep an eye on them while the sugar caramelizes.

Let cool slightly and then enjoy by cracking with the back of your spoon and devour!

Asian Inspired Shrimp Salad

Forgive me readers, for I have sinned. It has been nearly a year since I last posted something tasty and delicious to share with you. I shall wash dishes by hand for 2 meals as a form of repentance.....

Over the past year, I spent way too much money visiting our local Farmer's Market and wasted far too much produce because I can't help but buy too much. As a result, I decided to sign up for a local CSA produce delivery company. We get a mini-box for $25 a week and it comes with just enough stuff to keep us vegetable friendly for most of the week. We used ALL of it last week.  Even the pea shoots (I was like, WTF do I do with pea shoots? Turns out they're great) and I wanted to share an amazing salad we tossed together for an easy dinner one night.

For the dressing:

2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons canola oil
1-2 teaspoons red curry paste (up to you on how spicy you want it)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon honey
pinch of kosher salt

Whisk together and set aside until ready to serve.

For the salad:
1 pound shrimp (marinated in soy sauce, pineapple juice and sesame seeds)
1 large bag of mixed greens
1 handful of pea shoots or other Asian greens of your choice (watercress?)
2-3 medium radishes, sliced thin
1-2 medium carrots, cut into bite sized pieces, sliced thin
1 head broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces


1. Drizzle a medium sized skillet pan with a little bit of olive oil. Heat over medium-high heat.
2. Add shrimp to pan with just a little bit of marinade. Sauté, stirring frequently, until shrimp is curled and no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Remove shrimp from pan.
3. Add broccoli to pan and stir until bright green, but still slightly crunchy, soaking up some of the yummy marinade caramel left over from the shrimp cooking.
4. Combine the greens, pea shoots, radishes, carrots, broccoli and shrimp.
5. Pour dressing over salad and toss to coat everything!

Enjoy a great, healthy, light but hearty dinner! A few small slices of a fresh baguette would be amazing to soak up any left over dressing!

We had enough left over for me to take a small lunch and my salad stayed fairly crunchy.

South of the Border Lettuce Wraps

Recently I tried a juice diet........It went pretty well and turns out that the book had some delicious meals included in it. The South of the Border Lettuce Wraps were so tasty that I adapted this recipe for after the strict non-meat plan.  The book is called Cherie Calboum's book The Juice Lady's Turbo Diet, just in case you're interested.

2 ripe avocados
3 tomatoes, diced
1/2 jalapeno pepper, diced and seeds removed
2 tbsp diced onions
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 corn kernels
2 tsp fresh lime juice
6-8 large lettuce wraps
1 Cup diced firm tofu or 1lbs chicken breast, grilled and sliced into bite sized pieces
*shredded cheese, sour cream, salsa optional

Original recipe calls for keeping everything raw and just mixing it all together...

1. Lightly saute onions, garlic and jalapenos in a drizzle of olive oil.
2. Add tofu or chicken and cook until warm.
3. In a separate bowl, mash avocados.
4. Place remaining ingredients in separate bowls and allow diners to assemble wraps as they wish.