COUSCOUS SALAD WITH ZUCCHINI AND PINE NUTS

Posted in Salads, Side dishes, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

From one of the latest issues of Food and Wine magazine, this recipe was the only bright spot on a day in which everything that could go wrong (in the lab) went wrong. But, as we were driving through intense Los Angeles traffic that Thursday, I knew that getting home and making dinner would improve my mood. It always does, actually. Especially if I already have it all planned and laid out in my mind, which was the case that day.

COUSCOUS SALAD WITH ZUCCHINI AND PINE NUTS
(adapted from Food and Wine, May 2011)

1 cup diced zucchini
2 Tbs olive oil
salt and pepper

1 cup couscous
1 cup boiling water

3/4 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup water
2 Tbs lemon juice
2 Tbs olive oil
1/2 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
fresh mint and parsley, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a non-stick skillet and sautee the zucchini until golden. Season lightly with salt and pepper. You can prepare it in advance and keep it in the fridge.

Pour 1 cup of boiling water over the couscous in the bowl you intend to serve the salad. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes as you prepare the rest of the recipe.

Boil the peas for 2 minutes, drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the water. Add the lemon juice and olive oil, a little salt, to the reserved pea water, and whisk well. Fluff the couscous with a fork, pour this dressing over it, mixing it well. Gently mix in the cooked peas, reserved zucchini, toasted pine nuts, and fresh herbs. Taste, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, and serve.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Next time, I will dice the zucchini in slightly larger pieces, because I’d like their presence in the salad to be a little more obvious, not only visually, but also in texture. I love the popcorn-y taste of pine nuts, but you can use almonds (as in the original Food and Wine version), or walnuts. Make sure to toast them first.

It is crucial to let the zucchini get some color, so I like to leave it undisturbed in the sautee pan for a couple of minutes, before moving the pieces around.

This could be a nice vegetarian entree, as couscous is very filling, but we enjoyed it next to a juicy, grilled chicken breast. And that was a perfect antidote for the “lab-blues.” 😉

ONE YEAR AGO: A Simple Salad a la Jacques Pepin

14Feb2010

TORTA DI ZUCCHINI

Posted in Side dishes, Vegetarian-friendly, Veggies by sallybr

I sincerely hope that I’m below the radar of the food-blog-police, or I may be in trouble for posting too many zucchini recipes. Without a doubt, to my mom’s shock and disbelief, zucchini is one of my favorite vegetables. While growing up I wouldn’t even try it, little did I know my how much my tastes would change!

The first time I tried this recipe was more than 20 years ago; it comes from an old, out of print cookbook by Giuliano Bugialli. It’s unusual because this “torta” takes no flour. It also contains zucchini cut in two different ways: grated and sliced. The grated component becomes creamy during baking, surrounding the more defined slices to form a light, refreshing, sort of crust-less quiche. By skipping the breadcrumbs, this recipe is also low in carbohydrates, for those who are counting.

TORTA DI ZUCCHINI
(from Giuliano Buggiali)

1 pound zucchini (2 medium-size), grated
1 pound zucchini, sliced thin
4 eggs, beaten
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup grated parmiggiano cheese
salt and pepper
fresh parsley, minced
fresh bread crumbs (about 1/2 cup)

Grease a pyrex pie dish with butter. Sprinkle some bread crumbs to coat.

Mix the beaten eggs with the lemon zest, parmiggiano cheese, 1/4 cup of bread crumbs, parsley, salt and pepper. In another bowl, place the grated and sliced zucchini. Shake the dish carefully to distribute the slices more or less evenly. Add the egg mixture to it, mix gently, and pour into the prepared pie dish. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of bread crumbs on top, forming a very light coating.

Bake in a 375F until set and golden on top. Allow it to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: This “torta” makes a nice light meal, possibly served with soup or a salad. In the summer I like to match it with tomatoes from the garden or from the farmer’s market. Leftovers are best re-heated in the oven, because microwaving tends to make it watery.

On a side note… in Brazilian Portuguese, if someone says things that make no sense, either because they are wrong or have no relevance whatsoever, the favorite expression is “to talk zucchini” (falar abobrinhas). I have absolutely no idea where the expression comes from, but maybe it helped shape my negative childhood view of zucchini. Glad I got over it. 😉

15Sep2009

GOLDEN ZUCCHINI: A TASTE OF YELLOW

Posted in Side dishes, Veggies by sallybr

It is almost impossible to find a person whose life has not been touched by cancer. Whether friends, family members or co-workers, we all know someone who either battled this disease and hopefully beat it, or sadly, someone whose life was cut short by it.

A Taste of Yellow is a food blogging event that started through the initiative of Barbara from “Winos and Foodies”, who is herself a cancer survivor. You can read her touching tribute here. She launched this event in support of The Lance Armstrong Foundation, an organization with the goal of increasing cancer awareness in society.

Food bloggers participate by sharing their stories and a recipe with a yellow ingredient; Barbara assembles all the links and publishes them in her website. This year the event was postponed until October 2nd, to fall on the 10th anniversary of Lance Armstrong’s cancer diagnosis (LiveStrong Day). As everyone knows, he not only won that medical battle, but went on to win the Tour de France seven times! And after taking some time off from competing he went back at it this year and finished in third place. Of course, he did run a few marathons while away from the “Tour”… Talk about an inspirational story!

This is my first time in “A Taste of Yellow”. I chose yellow zucchini to convey the “LiveStrong” message.

Even though yellow is often associated with lemons, a nice golden zucchini also says yellow in all its glory… This past week our farmer’s market had such beautiful golden zucchini for sale that I had to bring some home with me!

I went with a mix and match of recipes, joining the method from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and my favorite yogurt sauce from Mediterranean Fresh. I tweaked the yogurt sauce ever so slightly. Both cookbooks are amazing, by the way…

ZUCCHINI DUO WITH YOGURT SAUCE

(receita em portugues na proxima pagina)

for the veggies:
2 golden zucchini
1 green zucchini
1 T olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper

for the sauce:
1/2 cup Greek style yogurt
1 T olive oil
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 T fresh mint leaves, minced
pinch of cayenne pepper
salt to taste

Remove both ends of the zucchini; slice them in half crosswise, then lengthwise in 1/3 inch-thick slices. Cut each slice again, into sticks, also 1/3 inch thick, as shown in photo. Sprinkle the slices with salt and place them in a colander for 20-30 minutes. Rinse well and drain, pat dry.

Prepare the sauce by mixing all the ingredients. If using regular yogurt, then drain it for a couple of hours, because you need thick yogurt for this recipe.

Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan, and add the zucchini sticks when its very hot. Cook them undisturbed for a couple of minutes to get the pieces lightly browned, then move them around, cooking for a total of 5 minutes.

Transfer the zucchini to a bowl and spoon some of the sauce over it when serving. Garnish with fresh mint, if you like.

ENJOY!

To print the recipe, click here.

jump for comments, photos and receita em portugues…

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31Jul2009

Summertime gratin

Posted in Veggies by sallybr

ready1

The week is not complete unless I visit the farmers market on Saturday. My favorite vendors are now used to seeing me early, in my running outfit. Indeed, “as early as possible” is the only way to exercise this time of the year, but, the farmers market is my first priority: how else would I get the best possible zucchini? Or ANY eight-ball zucchini, or the cinnamon rolls? All those disappear quickly. At the farmers’ market the early bird definitely gets the worm (no need to remind me that only the late mouse grabs the cheese…) 😉

I usually buy more than I should, anything that looks great goes into my bag, as part of the fun is getting home and deciding what to make with the beauties. Last week both the golden and magda zucchini were spectacular. I considered many different options, but settled on an “oldie but goodie” from Fine Cooking magazine, June 1999. I remember making it for the first time just after the issue arrived in the mail (hard to believe it’s been 10 years!). You can use any summer squash in the recipe, Japanese eggplant also works quite well.

(receita em portugues na pagina seguinte)

ZUCCHINI AND SUMMER SQUASH GRATIN
(recipe adapted from Fine Cooking, originally written by Susie Middleton)

For caramelized onions:

2 Tbs. olive oil
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
salt to taste

For gratin:

1 + 1/4 lb ripe tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch slices
2 small zucchini cut into 1/4 inch slices on the bias
2 small golden zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch slices on the bias
3 T olive oil
1/4 cup fresh thyme leaves (I used lemon thyme from our garden)
1 tsp coarse salt
1/2 cup grated cheese (I used a Mexican fresh cheese)
freshly ground black pepper to taste
lemon juice

First, caramelize the onions: heat olive oil in a skillet, add the onions, salt, and saute’, stirring often, until golden. Don’t let it burn: use medium-heat and pay attention to it. The difference between caramelized and burned is small in time, but huge in taste. You can do this step in advance, as it will take you at least 20 minutes (see my comments after the jump).

Heat the oven to 375F. Put the tomato slices to drain if they are too juicy, discard the juices. In a small bowl, toss the zucchini with 1.5T olive oil, some of the thyme, salt, and black pepper. Layer the cold caramelized onions inside a gratin dish. Now distribute the tomato slices and two colors of zucchini on top, sprinkling some cheese and thyme as you go (see my photo after the jump). Arrange all the slices until the dish is full. Season the ingredients with salt and pepper, add cheese on top, the remaining thyme, and drizzle the dish with 1.5T olive oil and a little lemon juice. Cook uncovered until well-browned, with the juices well reduced. It will take between 50 and 60 minutes. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Bon Appetit!

for comments, more photos, e receita em portugues click here

5Jul2009

Tomato Confit with Arugula and Zucchini

Posted in Salads, Veggies by sallybr

The recipe comes from “Simple to Spectacular”, a great cookbook by Vongerichten and Bittman. The book picks one basic ingredient and shows 3 or 4 recipes of increasing complexity. I was looking for a nice dinner salad and came across their “tomato confit” series.

The tomato confit is essentially a slow-roasted tomato, but if you say you made “tomato confit”, your friends will be a lot more impressed. 😉

The preparation of the confit might seem too long, because you need a couple of hours to make it. But it’s 120 minutes of just waiting for the oven to perform its magic…no work. Plus, it is a low oven (275F) that won’t overheat your kitchen. Trust me, the results are worth every minute of the time. If you are not yet convinced to try this recipe, then make sure to read my additional comments.

tomatobefore

Choose ripe (but not overly ripe) tomatoes, make a small cross-cut on their skin, drop in boiling water for 20 seconds, then shock them in cold water to peel them easily. In the oven, together with garlic, thyme, and olive oil, they will be transformed into delicious bits of sweet and juicy red jewels that will amaze your taste buds and shine in many different kinds of recipes. Yes, I am in love…

click here for the full recipe and additional comments