Summer's Bounty: No recipe recipes

I am totally digging our garden (ha! look at that pun!). But honestly, it's been great, with kale, fresh basil and summer squash. We had peas earlier, and we're still waiting on tomatoes and watermelon to ripen.

So tonight, I am going to let you loose without a recipe. You can do this. I know you can.

First, get some summer squash or zucchini, tomatoes and onion. Slice them all really thin. The amounts depend on how much you want to make. I made this vegetable gratin (that's the fancy word for baked vegetables) for dinner for three of us, so I had two tomatoes, one onion and about 3 squash (I actually cut up 4, but didn't use some of it, so I'm estimating here).

 

Then, you pour some olive oil in the bottom of the baking pan you are using. I suggest one that is fairly shallow (wider with narrow-ish sides) and thinly slice garlic over the oil:

 

 Then, layer the veggies thusly and sprinkle salt and pepper over everything. I also sprinkled dried thyme. Feel free to add whatever herbs you like. Fresh rosemary would be good. Or basil.

 

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes, then take the pan out and grate fresh parmesan over all of it. Return to the oven for another 5-6 minutes, until all of the veggies are softened. Pull it out and you will have something that looks like this:

Sorry for the poor photo quality. I was using my phone instead of my camera, because the camera's battery needed to be recharged. But you get the idea.

It was really good! I served it with flatbread and a watermelon salad (watermelon, diced red onion, basil, crumbled feta cheese, salt, pepper, olive oil):

It's summer, so take advantage of all the fresh veggies that are available! Enjoy!

A Simple Salad -- When It's Too Hot To Cook

I know I've posted about it before, but here in Virginia it can get too hot to even think about turning on the stove or oven.  On those nights, I like to do a salad, but it has to be filling enough for my husband and pre-teen (I can't believe I have one of those already!) so they don't feel like they need to eat again an hour later, so making sure there is protein is key. Also, the kale and beans serve to really fill you up!

Here is a salad that hits all the right notes:

Trendy superfood (kale) -- check
Protein (tuna) -- check
Fiber (veggies and beans) -- check
Flavor (Dijon dressing and roasted red pepper) -- check

It's chewy, crunchy, creamy, and tangy, hitting even more of the tastes and textures that make eating enjoyable.  Also, to take a little of the chew and (sometimes) bitterness out of the kale, I have a little trick that you might find useful.  After ripping it into bite-sized pieces, I massage a little olive oil into the leaves and let it sit on the counter at room temperature for a few minutes.  It changes the texture just enough to make the leaves a little more tender -- no heat involved!

The tuna and the Dijon dressing reminds me of my student days when I studies in the South of France, so I will call it:

Provencal Tuna Salad

1 bunch kale
1/4 cup olive oil plus 2 Tbsp olive oil, divided

2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp white wine or cider vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

1 can canellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 jar (6.7 oz) good quality tuna packed in olive oil (I got mine at the Fresh Market)
1 stalk celery, chopped into a small dice
1 roasted red pepper, chopped into a small dice

First, clean and pull the leafy part of the kale off the the stalk, discard the stalks (or save them -- I keep a bag in the freezer and put kale stalks, carrot peels, celery ends and such to make vegetable stock once the bag is full). Tear the kale leaves into bite-sized pieces, put in a large mixing bowl and drizzle with 2 Tbsp olive oil.  Using your hands (cooking can get messy, my friends), rub the olive oil on to the leaves, kind of like giving the kale a massage. I'm not kidding.  After the oil has been (more or less) evenly distributed on the kale leaves, set the bowl aside while you put together the rest of the salad.

In a separate, medium-sized bowl, put the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil, Dijon mustard and vinegar. Using a fork, whisk the dressing ingredients together until completely combined.  Taste, then add salt and/or pepper to your liking.

[TIP: for a general vinaigrette, the oil to acid ratio is about 3:1, but you can also adjust that ratio to your liking as well -- start with three parts oil to one part vinegar, combine and taste. If it's too acid or sharp tasting, add more oil.  If it's too oily, add a little more acid, which can be vinegar, lemon juice, etc.]

Then, just dump the rest of the ingredients (beans, tuna, chopped celery, chopped bell pepper) into the dressing and carefully combine.

To serve, put some kale in a bowl, then top with some of the tuna-bean mixture:

 

This makes 4-6 servings, depending on how hungry your family is.  I had enough kale left over to make kale chips and have some of the tuna-bean mixture for lunch the next day.  :-) Let me tell you, that even my picky eater liked some of this (he ate the tuna-bean mixture, but didn't like the red bell pepper). He probably would have eaten it if I had used raw bell pepper...and my oldest, who eats almost anything, ate all of his kale first.  I almost cried, I was so proud!

Which brings me to my next point -- this is a really flexible dish.  If you don't have roasted red bell pepper, then don't use it. Sub in an extra stalk of celery, or a raw bell pepper, red onion, whatever.  If you can't find tuna fillets packed in oil (I used Tonnino brand), then use regular tuna, but add a little bit more seasoning (herbes de provence would be good, or oregano). It's your salad; these are just guidelines.  Have fun with it!

Two for One: Making weeknight meals easier

I am all about easy prep and quick weeknight meals.  An easy way to make dinner happen is to prep ingredients ahead of time, then all you have to do is throw everything together and voila! Dinner is done.  For example, this week I made a sausage and cheese strata, but cooked all of the sausage (one pound's worth) and saved the other half to put in a soup later in the week.  Similarly, I bought a whole head of savoy cabbage, but used it three ways (in a citrus slaw with roasted salmon, in soup, and as a side dish).  Makes easy work for weeknights AND it's economical.

Here's what I did:

I cooked all the sausage, along with half a chopped up onion and 4 oz. of chopped, fresh mushrooms. Beause there was some great crispy bits of sausage left in the pan, I put half a cup of water in the hot pan to scrape up all those bits of flavor, then put everything in a bowl and stored it in the fridge for later.
 

When it came time to make the strata, I ended up only using about 1/3 of the sausage, which I scattered over a mixture of 4 eggs, 1 1/3 cups of milk, salt and pepper, 5 slices of thick-cut bread (cut into 1-inch cubes) that had soaked together for about 15 minutes.  On top of everything, I scattered some grated cheddar cheese, then baked it in a buttered 8-inch by 8-inch pan at 375 for about 30 minutes (until the top was golden brown in places and the cheese was all melted).

The next night, I took half a head of savoy cabbage (it was a large head), sliced it into 1/2 inch thick slices, then sliced those slices across into 2-inch lengths.  I also took a whole onion, cut it in half length-wise, then sliced across in thin (1/4 inch) slices.  I tossed the cabbage and onions with salt, pepper, and some olive oil and roasted it on two large baking sheets in the oven at 400 degrees for 12 minutes (some of the cabbage might get dark brown, and that's okay), tossing the veggies once about halfway through.

With one pan of the cabbage, I tossed it with a little soy sauce and sesame seeds and put it away for a snack, some lunch or for a side with another dinner later in the week.

With the other pan of cabbage, I added that to a 4-quart pot, which was already simmering with 32 oz. of chicken broth and the rest of the sausage mixture that I made the day before, with a little bit of dried coriander (about 1/4 teaspoon) and dried marjoram (1/2 teaspoon).  After I added the cabbage to the pot with the other ingredients, I let them simmer together for about 10 minutes, just to let the flavors unite.

And there you have it!  Actually, the original recipe I was using was supposed to have some sweet potato in it, but I forgot.  It was okay, though, because it was still really tasty and even my picky eater liked it!

Tuna Melt O' My Heart!

What is it about tuna melts?  They are so comforting and delicious, but I rarely make them. Maybe I just sort of forget about them, until I need something for dinner when I haven't planned anything else.  Tuna melts to the rescue! And please don't get on me about the dry mini-carrots. I told you, I didn't have much else, so we had to do with what we had. Deal, people.  My life is not picture perfect.  :-)

I don't usually have English muffins on hand, so that was really the only thing I had to buy specifically for this recipe. If you don't have actual English muffins, you could do this just on regular bread, too.  Same technique will work for both.

Surprisingly, even my picky eater ate two of these, so you might want to try it with your kids (they even at those dry carrots).  Make sure they wait a little for the cheese to cool, otherwise they might burn the tops of their mouths.  Happens to me almost every time!  :-)

For a non-dairy variation, I broiled one without cheese, then added sliced avocado after I took them out of the oven.  It was delicious, and I didn't miss the cheese (much) at all!

And, in case you don't have either of these tools, you really need to get them if you like to eat tuna salad.  The Pampered Chef can opener and can strainer are fabulous!!

Tuna Melts, My Way


2 cans white albacore tuna, packed in water, drained
two big spoonfuls of mayonnaise (approx. 1/3 cup)
1 stalk celery, small (1/4 inch) dice
2 green onions, chopped fine
1 heaping Tbsp sweet relish, or about 5-6 sweet midget gherkins, diced small
a squirt of fresh lemon juice
Salt, pepper (to taste)
3 English muffins, split
butter
6 slices of cheese (I use American because it melts smoother)

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl (or you can just use your own favorite tuna salad recipe). Stir together to completely incorporate (you might have to smash through some of the larger chunks of tuna).

Turn on broiler.  Place English muffins on a rimmed baking sheet.  Butter lightly (you can skip this part and just toast them dry if you want).  Toast muffins under broiler (pan should be about 4-6 inches away from the heat), about 1-2 minutes.  You just want a little color on them so the middle doesn't get too soggy when you put the tuna on it.  Pull the muffins out of the oven.

Top the muffins with the tuna salad, then top with slices of cheese. I cut the squares down a little smaller, because I don't like having the cheese melt over the sides, dripping down and then burning on my pan, but that's just my Type-A quirkiness shining through.

Put the tuna melts back under the broiler for about 2 minutes, but keep an eye on them. You don't want the cheese to burn, just melt (hence the name of the dish).  :-) When the cheese starts to brown and bubble, pull the tuna melts out and serve.