54 new of 74 responses total.
Depends on where you shop. We shop at Hiller's, Whole Foods, People's Food Co-op and Merchant of Vino all of which buy local when available.
So what is available there now that is locally grown? Today we froze a lot of snap peas that I got from someone who had sold all her other vegetables and wanted to go home so marked the price down and thanked me for buying all 9 pints of them. Three minutes microwave for a large covered glass bowl, dunk in cold water for a few minutes, ziplock back, suck air out with a straw, seal and freeze. Last week it was mustard greens.
resp:16 Whatabout the olive oil? It's a must!
I suppose you could substitute olive oil for the chicken stock. Or just add it to taste.
Yeah.. because.. isn't gazpacho good ol' sopa fria espanola? The Spaniards love olive oil.. my mother has a Spanish recipe book that called for American fruit salad to be drenched in it.
Hm. I'd thought Gazpacho was more Latin American than Spanish. Then again, the recipe I've got uses olive oil too. I don't suppose it matters much where it's from, as long as it tastes good.
Last night I made something sort of like enchiladas. Microwaved onions (refrigerated since this winter, sprouting), garlic (the good parts, local), a few inches of a large parsnip (pulled this spring), a can of tomato sauce (from Evelyn's Boutique, very local), some frozen tortillas from Kroger's (not terribly local but they were in the freezer), dried tofu and dried shiitake mushrooms (from a store north of the river, semilocal). Cook the first three ingredients, then add the rest, and fresh local snap peas at the end. Substitute for just about anything but the sauce maybe. Good cold too.
I love things that are good cold this time of year!
Root beer, watermelon, ice cream, berry pies, lemonade..
Yup, I love all of those things :) But, a lot of things one wouldnt think of as being good cold actually are very good cold. *shrug* Things like baked chicken, cooked veggies, rice, etc.
Japanese and Korean cold summer noodles.
Yep, baked chicken, cooked veggies (like broccoli with an Italian-style dressing like Cheese Fantastico!), and rice; but also pizza, pork n beans, baked beans... I forgot potato salad, jello, green salad, sweet dinner rolls, pasta salad, etc. resp:31 Not sure if I've ever had, but it sounds delicious..
Raw vegetables are good cold. Most cooked vegetables are icky when cold.
heh, well, cold cooked broccoli with that Italian-style dressing (*like* Cheese Fantastico!) is great. Not especially fond of it otherwise.
Haha. I am weird that way. I dont really like raw broccoli (although I dont hate it so I'll eat it) but I like cooked broccoli that has gone cold. I like it better than hot cooked broccoli.
To revive an old item (to anyone that's reading): We tried out a watermelon gazpacho recipe in last Friday's Life-- it was fab! I'll post it if anyone's interested.
I'd like that recipe! Thanks. Last night I grilled lemon and thyme marinated chicken thighs and served it with, again, grilled corn on the cob. I wanted to put some broccoli with it but steaming it felt, well, boring. So I sprinkled it with a couple of tablespoons of water, drizzled on a teaspoon or two of toasted sesame oil, and seasoned with salt and pepper. The broccoli was then sealed in a foil packet and tossed on the hot grill for maybe 4 minutes on each side. Man, did it work.
I'll be right over. Sounds awesome. :)
Yeah, that sounds really great. I've been trying to come up with some more creative ways of serving veggies.
Here it is, Mary: Tyler Florence's Watermelon Gazpacho Preparation time: 20 minutes Serves: 6 Ingredients: 6 large tomatoes, chopped 8 ounces fresh watermelon, seeded and cubed 1 serrano chili 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons red onion, minced 1 cucumber, seeded and minced 2 tablespoons fresh dill minced, plus more for garnish salt and freshly ground black pepper 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese Puree tomatoes, watermelon, and chili in a blender. Add vinegar and olive oil; pulse. Fold in onion, cucumber and dill. Sprinkle on salt and pepper to taste. Pour into shot glasses (or small bowls) and garnish with extra dill and feta. Serve at room temperature.
Thanks!
Being Memorial Day weekend, we're at the unofficial start of summer... I'm looking forward to the fresh fruits and vegetables that are forthcoming. I'm looking for some ideas, though, for some of the traditional summer grilled foods that can be cooked/prepared for inside since I don't have access to a grill... Like recently, I saw a good recipe for grilled corn [it has other stuff with the corn, wrapped and cooked in aluminum foil]. Though I've cooked corn in boiling water and in the microwave, I'd like to learn how to do something similar to the recipe I saw, but in the oven instead. Grilled burgers, chicken, steaks, etc are great this time of the year. But other than doing a little bit of chicken or a burger on my forman grill [which doesn't make enough at one time for planned leftovers], I need to come up with more good ideas. And how to cook a good steak indoors, too [something I've rarely done and haven't had similar results to doing it outdoors]. As for drinks, I drink cold tea year round and have cut way back on pop [though I still have some from time to time]. So now I'm thinking more about lemonade, juice and such. And though I don't drink a lot of alcohol, I do enjoy it more in the summer months. Like some of the tropical drinks that are easily made [like something basic like a 'fuzzy navel' which is just orange juice and peach schnapps], to margaritas, daiquiries [sp?], white wine [I/m allregic to red], and certain kinds of beer. For summertime desserts, I tend to think of stuff like strawberry shortcake, ice cream [lots of memories of the Good Humour truck], frozen yogurt, watermelon, and other summertime fruit [peaches, plums, etc]. I'm heading off to the grocery store in a little bit. Though I should probably eat something before I go so I won't buy out all of this summer related stuff!
Ovens are not practical in hot weather. Microwave ovens produce far less heat. What is wrong with microwaved corn? If you do want to do a lot of cooking do it in the early morning or late evening with windows open.
I'm with Sindi - I use my oven far more sparingly in the summer. If I have to bake, it gets done in the early morning. But, Denise has a point - grilled corn is really tasty.
A very simple "tropical" drink is Malibu Rum in pineapple juice.
If you have a balcony, you can run an electric cord out the window and cook on a hotplate, electric frying pan, or electric toaster oven (or electric wok or pressure cooker or deep fryer or griddle or sunlamp). I run one out the kitchen window to the back yard to a hotplate on a table.
I tend to use the oven less often in the summertime, too. But for some specific dishes/food/situations, then I'd use it. I mentioned the oven and the corn because of adding other things [seasonings and I forget what all else, I'd need to check the recipe again] and letting it cook in the foil for awhile. Using saran wrap in the microwave instead of the foil in the oven might work... Though I don't know if, by doing the oven method, would allow the extra ingredients to be asborbed into the corn better. If I were to use an of the above mentioned electric appliances, I'd just use them to cook indoors on the counter [unless, maybe, if it was something messy like frying something] since these things don't heat up the kitchen like the oven does. Besides the fact that right now, I don't have a table or anything to put whatever appliances on on the deck. Using said appliances on the wooden deck itself wouldn't be nearly as easy as the counter in the kitchen. Another reason I wish I had an outdoor grill to use! :-)
There are lots of used small tables around, or you could use a milk crate, or a board across some concrete blocks, or a chair. Any sort of cooking will heat up your kitchen more than you would guess - it is like running a space heater, or several of them.
[I've posted in the 'free' section on either the AA freecycle or the free section on the aa craigslist and haven't gotten any feedback. I don't have a chair that's flat enough for setting a grill on, only those canvas-like camping/sports/whatever chairs. No cinder blocks here, either... So until I can get any of said items and a grill, I'll have to settle using something indoors, be it the oven or some electric device, regardless how much heat it may cause. This isn't a major issue for me [heating up the kitchen a bit more] right now, though some day, I'd like to have the means to be able to grill outdoors]. In the meantime, I'm open to summer meal/side dishes/ drinks/desserts/etc suggestions, whether fixed by whatever method indoors or out.]
Another thing I tend to eat more of in the spring and summer is fruit. Fruit salads are great [with or without some kind of dressing/yogurt type thing], as are fruit cabobs [kabobs?]. And smoothies. When I was cruising the isles of the grocery store, while in the pasta section, I was reminded that I used to enjoy cold pasta salads but haven't had any in ages and ages. I used to add various raw vegetables and sometimes pieces of cheese and/or meat, tossed with a bit of dressing [usually italian].
Speaking of fruit kabobs...I went to a part recently where they had a centerpiece made out of fruit kabobs so that it looked like a flower arrangement. It was pretty neat (and tasty too!)
Sounds pretty cool; creative, too! I wish I was more creative in the food department...
I've seen them - they are very pretty and it's always nice when you can get something useful out of it too. Pasta salad is great because you can basically make one that's a meal. I like pasta with cherry tomatoes, garbanzo beans, sunflower seeds and balsamic vinaigrette. There's something about sunflower seeds in salads that just makes me happy....
I've been lazy about it, but mom always used pepperoni in the pasta salad (more taste-per-fat than 'most any other fat/salt/protein-type ingredient) and let it age in the fridge a day (maybe stir up once) before serving. Garbanzo or kidney beans can work well, too. Today's dinner would have fit really-hot weather better - dinky open- face sandwiches made with baguette/olive oil/cold cuts/cheese/bits of onion/spicy mustard, box of wine in the fridge, and cold water. I probably should have made a raw carrot/broccoli/tofu/tomato salad to go with.
I like sunflower seeds in my salad, too. I've been to salad bars that have had interesting stuff to add--which include raisins as well as nuts [I've had walnuts and also chopped something or another, peanuts, I think...] Yesterday I made up a pizza using various seasonings [garlic powder, italian seasoning, a bit of pepper and sesame seeds on the crust] and added diced tomatoe in with the sauce and chopped green pepper on top of the cheese. My leftovers will make a couple more meals that can be heated up in the microwave.
I use salad bars to buy small amounts of ingredients. If I only need 1/4 C of something expensive, I'll put some in the salad bar box, and take it home. I saw a nice summer idea while shopping at Kroger the other day. The produce section had a prepackaged assortment of beans and carrots. Whole green beans, whole wax beans, and carrots that had been cut into similar lengths, and sliced into strips about the same size as the beans. Beautiful yellow, orange, and green stripes.
Salad bars are something that you just can't find in Phoenix (well, at Whole Foods, but I live pretty far from Whole Foods). And it bums me out, for just that reason - it's a great place to get chopped up foods in smaller amounts.
Last night, I got some email from the kraftfoods website... So I was browsing through some of their recipes and starting saving some of the cool summer ones to my recipe box that I have set up there. There's a lot of easy stuff to make; when I get caught up with some other stuff first, I'll come back and post some of these ideas.
Cucumber Gazpacho A light, delicious summer salad. Serving: 4 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 25 minutes Total Time: 70 minutes 5 peeled and seeded cucumber 1 tsp cumin to taste salt and pepper 2 diced red bell pepper 1 diced red onion 2 fresh chopped fine chili pepper 1/4 chopped cup fresh cilantro 1/2 lb plain yogurt 2 juiced lemon 1 chopped bunch scallions 1 tsp coriander 1. Pur e cucumbers in a food processor. 2. Continuing to pur e, add the yogurt and lemon juice. 3. Transfer to a large bowl and add the bell peppers, onion, chili peppers, cilantro, scallions, coriander and cumin. Add salt and pepper to taste. 4. Add a few sprigs of cilantro or a small dollop of yogurt as a garnish, if desired. Serves 4. Based on individual serving. Calories: 120 Total Fat: 1 g Carbohydrates: 22 g Protein: 7 g
[ok, I'll chill with posting interesting articles for a little while
after this one, ok? At least no more this evening, at least... :-) ]
Eat and Keep Cool
Baby, it's hot outside! You can stay fresh as a daisy this summer by
choosing foods that cool your body from the inside out.
By Lisa Kingsley
When the temperatures soar, there's more you can do to stay cool and
comfortable than sit in the air-conditioning and sip lemonade.
According to the principles of ayurveda a holistic system of
preventative medicine developed in India more than 5,000 years ago and
supported by modern science, all food falls into one of six taste
categories: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, or astringent. Foods
that are sweet, bitter, or astringent have a cooling effect on the body;
foods that are sour, salty, and pungent have a heating effect on the
body.
So, when the weather's hot, keep cool by choosing sweet, bitter, or
astringent (somewhat sharp or dry taste, like that of cilantro or
pomegranate) foods, says author Jennifer Workman, a registered
dietician and a continuing education provider for The American Dietetic
Association who teaches ayurvedic nutrition to Western clinical
dieticians and nutritionists.
"The craving for cold, sweet things in the summer is correct. If it's
hot, it makes logical sense that the body is going to try to reach
homeostasis -- that's it's goal," Workman says. "It wants balance.
That's why, when it's 100 degrees outside, nature provides sweet fruits
like watermelon and grapes and strawberries. It's why we crave iced tea,
and salad, and shrimp cocktail."
Eating foods that help you stay cool isn't necessarily about the food's
temperature , Workman says. For instance, ginger has a warming effect
on the body -- so drinking a cold ginger ale isn't going to have the
desired effect.
Even switching up a few ingredients in a meal can make the difference
between a warming or cooling effect, she says. For instance, most beans
and legumes have a cooling effect. Ditto for avocado and salad greens
(especially the bitter ones). Tomatoes, on the other hand, are warming,
as are hot chilies.
"So if you have something Mexican with black beans and lettuce and
guacamole, it'll be cooling," she says. "If you have the same thing but
have it with a lot of tomatoes, salsa with chilies, it'll be warming."
Warm vegetable soups made with cooling, digestive spices such as cumin,
coriander, turmeric and fennel ultimately cool you down, too, she says.
To that end, here's a short list of cooling foods you might want to
incorporate into your diet during these hotter-than-blazes days.
Cooling Fruits
Apples
Avocado
Coconut
Grapes
Mangoes
Raisins
Strawberries
Watermelon
Cooling Vegetables
Squash
Asparagus
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cauliflower
Bok choy
Cucumber (of course!)
Corn
Dandelion greens
Fennel
Sweet potatoes
White potatoes
Snow peas
Grains
Oats
Basmati Rice
Wheat
Proteins
White meat turkey and chicken
White-flesh fish
Shrimp
Tofu
Almonds
Herbs/Spices
Dill
Fennel
Mint
Cumin
Coriander
Fennel
Turmeric
Cardamom
Rosewater
Drink and Keep Cool
Just as certain foods will cool your body from the inside out, so too
will choice beverages. Like the foods we eat, what we drink has a
cooling or warming effect on our bodies that doesn't necessarily have
to do with the temperature of the drink itself, says ayurvedic
nutritionist Jennifer Workman.
The most cooling drinks are those that have some astringency (a sharp,
dry taste). That's why teas of all kinds -- whether sipped cold, hot,
or room temperature -- are terrific body coolers.
"Teas are very helpful to people because they're astringent and
cooling," Workman says. Some of her favorites are green tea, raspberry
tea, jasmine tea, lemongrass tea, or lemon verbena tea.
One of her favorite recommendations for summer sipping is lightly
sweetened chai (hot or cold) with milk (dairy is cooling) and a little
bit of cardamom (also cooling).
She also loves sweet and/or astringent fruit juices, such as
pomegranate, mango, or cranberry.
"One of my favorite treats in the summer," she says, "is cranberry juice
with sparkling water and a squeeze of lime." Aaaah.
Do you live somewhere with really strict rules about not grilling on the balcony? I've used a grill on the balcony of every apartment I lived in that had one.
Many apartments no longer allow that. Mine instituted the "no fires" rule about 5 years ago.
Rules are made to be broken. Does anyone else in your complex grill on their balcony? If nothing else, you could try an electric grill. I have one made by Rival -- it's basically a naked heating element in a thick ceramic holder with a chrome grate about three inches above the element. I think it's called a Crock Grill. It gets VERY HOT...I open all the kitchen windows when I use it. I've made some great grilled asparagus and Boca Brats on it.
I have one of those as well - I just used it for the first time last week. The ribs didn't have that outdoor-grille-charcoal taste, but it worked very nicely.
Being summertime to restart this item. So what are y'all fixing for summer meals?
Hummus and raw veggies has become a summer staple.
I forgot to get lettuce last time I was at the grocery store, so I've had a BLT minus the lettuce yesterday and the day before. I still have a couple tomatoes left, so maybe I'll have another one for dinner this evening. Hummus and veggies sound good...
The spicy peanut noodles with broccoli recipe that I posted a while back is another good one. The peanut sauce can be put together and the broccoli chopped in less time than it takes the noodles to cook and using just one burner for a half hour doesn't heat up the whole place. I like to use other fresh veggies along with or instead of the broccoli, too.
I don't do broccoli but there are other veggies that could be used instead [I'm very selective in the vegetables I eat]. It's been a long time since I've had the peanut noodles. IIRC, there's a peanut recipe here in this conference that Glenda posted.
It's still my "go-to" noodle salad recipe.
And dinner here quite often. Re: #67: The only time I have lettuce on a BLT is when I order one at a restaurant. I really don't like lettuce on sandwiches other than subs.
Our neighbor called me over to offer me a large basil plant (we cut branches off to put in water instead), then explained how to freeze instead of dry the leaves, then gave me her recipe for pesto, then called me back for two ziplock bags of the pesto she just made. It was excellent on noodles, as advised. Most summers it is too hot to cook much. We eat bread and fruit.
The spicy peanut noodles work well with just about any fresh or frozen veg that will cook in a few minutes in the pasta water. I've used peas and pearl onions, fresh green beans, fresh spinach, canned rinsed chick peas, et cetera.
I love pesto. So very very much. And you can do so much with it....
You have several choices: