Summer fruit

We have been loving our morning fruit.

Organic melons, peaches, plums and grapes.

Is there anything more beautiful to start the day with?

Labor Day Barbecue

We had an excellent Labor Day barbecue.

Larry grilled me a portobello (brushed with a combination of balsamic vinegar, olive oil and tamari), complete with grilled red onion to gild the lily. (He said his hamburger was good too.)

Plus he grilled corn.

We have done this in the past, where we grilled the corn in the husk. It makes sweet corn, almost steamed in its own greens. (You can read about it here.)

But last weekend, we took it to another level.

I pulled back the husks, cut off the caterpillar-eaten parts, and ripped out the silk. Then I pushed the husks back up over the kernels. I soaked them in water for 10 minutes, and then gave them to Larry to cook over a hot fire (he could put his hand 5 inches above the grill for 1-2 seconds), turning occasionally, for 10 minutes. He then removed the husks (silicon gloves helped) and put them back on the grill and cooked them, turning as needed, until they were browned and tender, about 5 minutes more.

Brushed with butter, seasoned with salt and pepper, these were great end-of-season corn. Flavorful, smoky, yum.

Cookbook bonanza

Last Sunday was a bonus at the Hollywood Farmers Market - cheap cookbook day.

I never know when this fundraising event for the Los Angeles Public Library is going to happen. I turn the corner and there are boxes of cookbooks - modern, old, pamphlets, you name it - going for the ridiculous price of $3 or less.

This is what I came home with for $18.50:

Mediterranean Cookery by Claudia Roden

China Moon Cookbook by Barbara Troop

Better Homes and Gardens Cooking with Whole Grains

The Harrods Book of Entertaining by Lady Macdonald of Macdonald (how could I resist?)

My New Mediterranean Cookbook by Jeannette Seaver

Fresh from the Market: Seasonal Cooking with Laurent Tourondel and Charlotte March

Crave - The Taste of Five Senses by Ludo Lefebvre

Healthy Potato Salad

Potato salads don't have to have mayonnaise.

In fact, the Italian and French way of tossing the warm potatoes in a vinaigrette makes a very flavorful salad. And it's healthy too.

I combined the potatoes with green pepper, broccoli and onion to make a colorful salad that hit the spot on a hot day.

Healthy Potato Salad
2-3 potatoes, cubed (enough to make 2 cups)
1/3 cup Italian salad dressing
1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup chopped radishes
2 tbsp diced green pepper
1 tbsp chopped fresh dill (optional)

Peel and cube the potatoes. Put them in cold salted water, bring to a boil, and cook until tender, about 10 minute depending on the size of the pieces. Drain and toss with the salad dressing. Let it marinate in the fridge a couple of hours. (This is not essential, but it intensifies the flavor.)

Cut the broccoli in bite-sized pieces, and steam until tender. Add to the potatoes along with the remaining ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste, and a little more salad dressing if necessary.

Serves 4-5

Farmers

In her 1922 book One of Ours, about a midwestern farmer who enlists in WWI, Willa Cather writes:

The farmer raised and took to market things with an intrinsic value; wheat and corn as good as could be grown anywhere in the world, hogs and cattle that were the best of their kind. In return he got manufactured articles of poor quality; showy furniture that went to pieces, carpets and draperies that faded, clothes that made a handsome man look like a clown. Most of his money was paid out for machinery, – and that, too, went to pieces. A steam thrasher didn't last long; a horse outlived three automobiles.

Carrots with Lemon and Mint

This is a great salad that keeps well for a couple of days in the fridge. The key is to cut the carrots in matchsticks to keep their texture. This is more work than I usually like to do, but it's worth it.

Start by cutting the carrot crosswise into 1 1/2" lengths. Then cut it lengthwise in thirds or quarters (depending on the size of the carrot). Then stack a few of these slices and cut them lengthwise again in thirds or quarters. You should have matchstick-like carrots sticks. It's not worth obsessing about perfection, but it's fun practice for knife skills.

And as you enjoy this lemony minty salad you will forget the labor involved.

Carrots with Lemon and Mint
3 large carrots
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp dijon
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp mint

Peel the carrots and cut as above. Blanch them in boiling water until just tender, about 30 seconds. Drain and place in ice water to stop cooking.

Combine the lemon juice and mustard. Slowly whisk in the olive oil so it emulsifies. Stir in the mint, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Toss the carrots with the dressing. Chill until ready to serve.

Serves 2-3.

Arugula and Figs

There was beautiful arugula at the farmers market on Sunday. I brought some home and paired it with sweet figs - our first harvest of the year - and salty parmesan for a fun and zesty salad.

Arugula and Figs
1 bunch arugula, heavy stems removed
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 figs, quartered
a few shavings of parmesan
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves

Toss the arugula with the olive oil and lemon juice. Season with a little salt and pepper.

Pile the arugula on a platter, arrange the figs around the edges and sprinkle the parmesan shavings (made by running a vegetable peeler over a block of parmesan) and fresh rosemary over the top.

Serves 2-3

Simple Summer Supper

I came home from work pretty tired Saturday. Plus it was hot.

So a simple supper was in order.

I picked some basil and cherry tomatoes in the garden, and whipped up this simple pasta with pesto.

(Click here for my favorite pesto recipe.)

I would have made a salad too, but it was hot, and I was tired. Does pesto count as a green vegetable?

Summer Fruit

 The Hollywood Farmers Market is piled with peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, pluots, grapes, melons in more varieties than I can name, and strawberries.

That's along with all the apples and citrus fruit that I now take for granted.

It's hard to limit my fruit shopping. We eat fruit once a day - for breakfast - so we don't need basketfuls. I rarely cook fruit - it's too darned hot to cook, and why waste all that nutrition? So I control myself as I walk through the market buying two of this and two of that, restraining myself to a small basket of strawberries, two - oops actually three - melons.

The stone fruits tend to be hard - flavorful but not completely ripe. I leave them on the counter for a few days until they are fragrant. I check them each every day, looking for mold, squeezing gently for ripeness. When they are really ripe, I either put them in our morning fruit, or refrigerate them until we need them.

Melons, however, can be bought completely ripe and ready to eat. Last Sunday morning we bought strawberries and cantaloupe at Finley Farms stall and ate them for brunch. They were so sweet they tasted like candy. The accompanying omelet was a good counter-balance with heat from a homegrown anaheim pepper and some salty cheese.

We had the remaining strawberries and melon for breakfast on Monday morning, Tuesday was grapefruit and last week's Santa Rosa plums - finally ripe and incredibly juicy. Then on to the nectarines and peaches, and the other cantaloupe we bought. We still have a white Japanese melon that Mr. Ha says is good to eat now but if we can wait a week or two until it is soft it will be unbelievably sweet. Let's see how long we can wait.

Summer fruit: there's nothing like it.

Vegetarian Niçoise Salad

On these hot summer days, I don't feel like cooking.

But with the right produce in the fridge, dinner can be a nutritious and easy meal.

The other night I made this salad with leftover Greek Bean Salad as the main protein source.

I piled torn-up lettuce on the plate and dressed it with a simple red wine vinaigrette. I then added cherry tomatoes, diced avocado, hard boiled egg, black olives, cucumber and green pepper for extra crunch.

I spooned the bean salad in the center, and sprinkled a little extra dried oregano on top for color.

Protein from the eggs, beans and cheese, lots of vitamins and minerals from the vegetables, and a short time in the kitchen.

That's my kind of summer meal.

Eat organic

I'm fortunate to be able to eat a wide variety of organic produce. It helps to live in southern California and shop at the Hollywood Farmers' Market.

I know that not everyone is as lucky as me, so here is the annual list of foods that are safe to eat even if they are not organic.

Every year the Environmental Working Group tests US-grown food for pesticide residue. Although we don't know what long-term use of pesticides does to the human nervous and endocrine system, there are standards as to what is too much to consume.

The first list, The Dirty Dozen, refers to foods that should never be eaten unless they are organic, because the pesticide residue is too high in the conventionally-grown kinds.

The second list is of foods which have a minimal level of pesticide residue when conventionally grown.

Notice that greens must be organically-grown. Don't let that stop you from eating greens. Instead ask your produce manager or favorite organic farmer to stock organic greens. They're available, they're delicious and they're healthy. And even at $2.50 a bunch, they're a better deal than a multi-vitamin.


Dirty Dozen: eat only if organic
apples
bell peppers
blueberries
celery
cucumbers
grapes
green beans
kale / greens
lettuce
nectarines - imported
peaches
potatoes
spinach
strawberries

Low Pesticide Residue: These 15 foods are lowest in pesticide residue, and are considered safe to eat even if not organic.
asparagus
avocado
cabbage
cantaloupe
corn (probably gmo if not organic)
eggplant
grapefruit
kiwi
mangoes
mushrooms
onions
peas
pineapples
sweet potatoes
watermelon

Greek Bean Salad

Larry and I take bean salads to work most days. With a green salad and maybe some carrot sticks and an apple, it's a great meal full of protein and nutrients to keep us going all afternoon.

The other day I made a salad with the large white lima beans grown in Lompoc that I buy at the Hollywood Farmers Market. I added feta, cherry tomatoes, and dried oregano for a Greek bean salad.

Tossing the warm beans with vinegar and salt and pepper gives them extra flavor. If you're using canned beans, just drain them and stir in the dressing along with the other ingredients.

(If you don't have large white limas, you can use cannelini beans or kidney beans.)

The textures in this dish are all soft, so serve it with a crunchy green salad, or add some crisp red pepper or celery to give extra interest.

Greek Bean Salad
1 cup white beans
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 red onion
4 oz feta
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tsp dried oregano
1-2 tbsp olive oil

Cover the beans with 2 inches of water in a large pot, bring to a boil, and simmer until tender. The length of cooking time depends on the age of your beans. The ones I buy cook in under 2 hours. If yours are really old, soak them in water overnight, drain, then cook in boiling water until tender.

Drain the beans and sprinkle with the vinegar and salt and pepper. Stir well and let sit until cool.

Slice the red onion. Dice the feta. Halve the cherry tomatoes. Toss all into the cool beans along with the oregano and olive oil.

Taste the bean salad and add vinegar, olive oil, or salt to taste.

Serves 4-6

Peach Salad

The peaches are extra good this year - so sweet and flavorful. We are enjoying them in our morning fruit, and the other day I added them to this salad.

It's a slight variation on a recipe from Jack Bishop's wonderful book A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen. He cooks vegetables with a flair, yet simply enough for everyday eating.

The dressing has a base of reduced orange juice, an excellent way to use less oil without making too tart a sauce. The sweet orange juice and peach balance well with the salty cashews.

It's a great salad to serve with a barbecue, or with a simple dinner of bread and cheese and corn on the cob.

Peach Salad
1/2 cup orange juice (from 1 orange)
2 tsp lime juice
2 tsp olive oil
4 cups butter lettuce
1 ripe peach
2 tbsp roasted, salted cashews

Heat orange juice in a small heavy pan over medium heat until it's syrupy, and reduced to a couple of tablespoons, about 15 minutes. Let cool a little, then whisk in the lime juice, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

Toss lettuce with some of the dressing and spread on a plate. Arrange peaches on top and sprinkle with cashews. Sprinkle remaining dressing over top and serve.

Serves 2

Organic corn

Finley Farms had organic corn on the cob on Sunday - the first of the season. We grabbed some to eat for dinner that night, boiled and served with butter and a little salt and pepper. Yum.

I only buy organic corn. Non-organic corn (or no-spray corn) can be grown from genetically-modified corn kernels. I don't know what genetic-modification will do to my body or to the earth, but I don't trust it. Also, I don't want to give a dime to the multi-nationals who create gmos.

Eating only organic corn means most of the year we eat it frozen. And then for a couple of months we enjoy it fresh off the cob.

Shoppers often rip open the top of ears of corn to check for complete ears and insect damage. I don't bother. I figure most organic corn has insect damage - because it's not sprayed with poisons that kill insects. And the kernels might be a little erratic from faulty pollination - because it's grown in a field not devised in a factory. I prefer my food to look real.

Which is a good thing, because we brought a caterpillar home with the corn. You can just see it hiding in its little hole in the front cob on the left.

It's a harmless little thing, as long as it's not eating my corn. I threw it over the fence to the neighbor's chickens. You can also just put it in the trash or kill it and add it to the compost.

You can see the top ends of the corn where the silk tassels emerge looked pretty unsightly. It's caterpillar damage. Not harmful. I just cut the end off the cobs and serve the beauties you see below.
In fact, until I showed Larry these pictures, he did not know that the corn we brought home had a little editing done before I served it to him, delicious and sweet and beautiful.

So remember, organic corn can be ugly. But cut off the ugly part and you have something truly delicious, and you can feel good about where your food dollar is going.

Avocado and Strawberry Salad

It was too hot to cook the other night, so I rooted around in the fridge. Strawberries and butter lettuce from Finley Farm, avocado from Jorge --  that's the making of a great hot-weather supper.

I used equal quantities of oil and vinegar because I wanted a tart dressing to off-set the incredibly sweet berries. The goat cheese toasts mellowed the tartness and gave a rich earthiness that matched well with the toasted almonds.

Best of all, it went together in a flash

Avocado and Strawberry Salad
lettuce for 2 people
1 ripe avocado
1 cup strawberries
2 tbsp canola oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/4 cup almonds
2 oz goat cheese
crushed peppercorns
6 slices baguette


Wash the lettuce and tear into bite-sized pieces. Peel and dice avocado. Remove the stem from the strawberries and halve them. Toss lettuce, avocado and strawberries together.

Toast the almonds in a dry frypan on the stove. When they smell toasted, remove from heat and chop coarsely.

Lightly toast the baguette slices in the toaster oven or under the broiler. Turn the slices over. Cut the goat cheese into 6 and pat it into rounds. Roll the edges of the rounds into the crushed peppercorns (this is messy, but worth it.) Put the goat cheese on the baguettes and warm in the toaster oven.

Combine the oil and vinegar. Season with a little salt and pepper and toss with the salad.

Arrange on a serving plate, sprinkle the almonds over top, and arrange the goat cheese toasts around the edges.

Serves 2

Stewed Summer Beans

We came back from our trip to find our green beans had been prolific. They were not tender young beans, but long tough ones.

So I stewed them in tomatoes and basil to bring out their sweetness, served them with cheese-y toast, and we had a feast.

Old recipes for tough green beans usually contain added sugar, but if you caramelize the onion a little, and add enough dried basil (which I find is sweeter than fresh), the dish is sweet enough.

(I write this as if it was a solid recipe. It's not. It's something for you to riff off, depending on how many beans you have, how tough your beans are, etc. If your tomatoes are producing, use fresh instead of canned. It's hard to mess this recipe up.)

Stewed Summer Beans
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb green beans
14-oz can diced tomatoes
1 tsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

Warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until lightly browned, stirring occasionally.

Trim the green beans, and cut into 1 inch lengths. Add to the pan, along with the can of tomatoes. Add a splash of water if necessary. Stir in the basil. Cover and cook until the beans are tender, stirring occasionally, and adding more water if necessary to prevent scorching. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 2-3.

Montreal Cheese

Larry and I spent the last couple of weeks visiting my mum in Montreal.

Montreal in the summer is all about sitting outside, preferably with un bon café or a cold drink, watching the world go by.

We sat outside on great terrasses - McAuslan's pub on the Lachine Canal, Brûlerie St. Denis on rue St. Denis, Winston Churchill's on Crescent St., The Black Lion Pub on the Lakeshore, Juliette et Chocolat on Laurier.

Possibly the best terrasse was my mum's patio, where we watched the fireflies dart around the garden in the twilight. (We don't have fireflies in L.A., so this was a real treat.)

The hot humid weather made simple meals attractive, and some of the best meals we ate started at the fromagerie Atwater in the Atwater Farmers Market.

It was one of our first stops after we landed, and we picked up enough cheese for a few days.

I walked up to the cheese counter and announced that I was visiting with my husband - un Américain - and I wanted him to experience the bon goût du fromage québécois. My French is rusty, but the young man behind the counter was up for the challenge.

He suggested a sampling of Quebec cheeses, starting with the mild and moving to the more flavorful. He selected his favorite mild cheese, came around the counter, and gave us each a piece. Mum was off wandering the store, but he tracked her down to give her cheese. What a good guy. She stayed next to the counter after that.

He described each of the cheeses in French and again in English to accommodate Larry. (As the visit wound on, there was less French and more English. He knew his audience.) We bought a little of each of the four cheeses he recommended: Pied-de-Vent, a raw cow's milk cheese from the Magdalene Islands in the St. Lawrence River;  Louis d'Or 24 mois, a washed-rind raw organic cow's milk cheese from Ste. Elizabeth de Warwick,  Cheddar Brittania (Larry's favorite - a good sharp cheddar, $42.99 a kilo, but we only bought $2.59 worth), and Victor & Berthold, a semi-soft cheese with a washed rind from Notre Dame de Lourdes.

Cheese, baguette, salade verte. Lunches don't get much better than that.

Zucchini and Carrot Salad

Zucchini and basil are thriving now. Why not combine them in this easy summer salad?

Basil protects chromosomes from radiation damage and protects the whole body from unwanted bacteria. We should probably eat it daily in the summer.

Zucchini helps lower cholesterol, and has beneficial fiber that protects against forms of cancer. Walnuts are good for the cardiovascular system. Carrots are great for the eyes.

Yes, this is a healthy salad. But it actually tastes good too. It's a great accompaniment to a sandwich or bean burger. Combined with a green salad it makes a nice light meal when appetites are suffering from the heat. I adapted it from Season to Taste by Jeannette Ferrary and Louise Fiszer. I hope you enjoy it.

Zucchini and Carrot Salad
1 zucchini
1 carrot
2 tbsp basil, packed
2 tbsp walnuts
2 tsp capers
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp dijon
salt and pepper to taste

In a food processor (or on a grater if you prefer) shred the zucchini and carrot. Turn out into a bowl.

Shred the basil. Toast the walnuts lightly in a heavy frypan for 4-5 minutes until they are fragrant. Chop them coarsely. Add the basil and walnuts to the bowl, along with the drained capers.

Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice and dijon. Season to taste. Pour over the salad and toss well.

Serves 2

Cheese and Tomato Sandwich

Our tomato plants are doing great this year.

The other day we celebrated with our first cheese and tomato sandwich of the season.

I defrosted a loaf of Hawaiian bread to commemorate the event.

I'm not sure I would go out of my way to eat coconut and tomato together, but the hazelnuts in the bread were great with the cheese, and the whole sandwich was pretty darned good, especially with the fresh basil - the extra touch that took it over the top.

Veggie Burgers on the Grill

Usually when Larry barbecues a burger, he grills a portobello mushroom for me.

Today will be no exception.

It will be a noisy day in our neighborhood - fireworks, M80s, firecrackers and other loud bangs will start before 10 a.m. and go on until after midnight.

With all that sound stress, we need an easy meal which we can eat while manning the fire hoses. So we'll have our traditional barbecue dinner of burger / mushroom, potato salad, green salad and black beans. (You can read about a previous holiday barbecue and get my excellent black bean recipe here.)

On Memorial Day weekend, however, Larry stretched his grilling prowess and barbecued a homemade veggie burger for me. Usually I fry these on the stove or bake them in the oven because they tend to fall apart.

But it was the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, a relaxing day, and Larry said he was up for the challenge.

(On Memorial Day Monday, we had Tracie over for a Mediterranean-inspired cookout. You can read about it here.)

I sat quietly (and, I like to think, supportively) reading the Sunday papers while Larry grilled the burgers. I did not hear a lot of cussing, which I took as a good sign. But he did have to keep squishing the burger together in order to stop pieces falling off into the fire.

It looked a little messy open-faced on the bun, but it tasted great. I've put the 3 other burgers into the freezer for another day when Larry is up for a barbecue challenge.

Mushroom Carrot Burger
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
3 cups mushrooms
3 large carrots
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups whole wheat bread crumbs
3 oz feta
3 tbsp chopped fresh basil
2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Chop the onion and garlic in the food processor - they need to be very fine. Empty them into a bowl and chop the mushrooms. Put the mushrooms in another bowl and grate the carrots.

Sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil until soft but not brown, 3-5 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook another 5 minutes. Drain off any accumulated liquid, but don't squeeze the mushrooms dry.

Place the grated carrots and breadcrumbs in a large bowl. Crumble in the feta. Add the mushroom mixture, basil and thyme. Stir well and season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the eggs.

Shape the mixture into 4 burgers the size of hamburger buns. They will look huge. It's okay.

Brush the grill rack with olive oil, and cook the burgers over medium-high heat for 10-15 minutes, turning often, until they are golden.

Alternatively, you can bake them in a 350°F oven for 20 minutes, or fry them in a little oil on the stove.

The burgers can be frozen uncooked. Thaw before cooking.

Makes 4 large burgers.