Category: Sides

Mixed Berry Salad with Vanilla Syrup

The weather is gorgeous – 70+ and sunny. Love it! It’s the perfect weather to renew good habits. I’ve been taking regular walks outside both to enjoy the weather and to start training for the Susan G Komen 3-Day for the Cure, which I’ll walk later this year. I’m also loving all the fruit that’s starting to appear in the stores and farm stands. I’ve been getting tired of apples and bananas and have been waiting for berries and nectarines.

This is one of my favorite fruit salads – mixed berries topped with just a touch of homemade vanilla syrup. The syrup adds a brightness and uniqueness to the berries and is a great way to dress up a simple fruit salad for a more formal event, such as a wedding or baby.

Mixed Berry Salad with Vanilla Syrup

Adapted from Fine Cooking, June/July 2004

Ingredients:

  • 6-8 c. fresh mixed berries (any type that are in season. I like a combination of strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries)
  • 1/2 vanilla bean
  • 1/4 c. granulated sugar
  • 1/4. c. water

Instructions:

  1. Clean and slice berries and toss in a large bowl. Cover and place in the fridge to keep cold.
  2. Fill a small saucepan with 1/4 c. water and 1/4 c. sugar.
  3. Split vanilla bean lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds from one half of the vanilla bean and place in the saucepan with water and sugar. (Save the vanilla bean pod for a garnish, or place in your jar of vanilla sugar or vanilla extract.)
  4. Over medium heat, bring water and sugar to just boiling. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Lower heat and simmer for 7 minutes, allowing the vanilla to infuse the syrup.
  5. Allow syrup to cool before moving to a refrigerator to chill completely.

Serve: Pour 1-2 Tbs. syrup over fruit & enjoy!

Roasted Tomatoes with Pesto

Have I ever mentioned that my hubby is a picky eater? While he’s gotten much more adventurous since we moved in together 3 years ago, there’s still a number of items I can’t make for him. No tomatoes or bell peppers, unless they’re hidden so he can’t see them. No light vinaigrette in salads (Ranch and honey mustard are his favorites). Squash… not so much. Maybe on the rare occasion when we’re grilling. Polish stuffed cabbage? Hell no.

So what do I do when I want to make dishes using tomatoes (like this Greek Pananella) or another one of the banned items? I try to save them for potlucks with friends, but when that doesn’t pan out, or I get impatient, I call a good friend. K has offered to move in, just so I have someone a little less picky to cook for. Thanks K, but I’ll just invite you over for dinner weekly. 🙂

With an invitation to a friend’s secured and all of the ingredients in the house, I gave these roasted tomatoes a whirl. I loved the way roasting the tomatoes made them slightly sweet and super soft. The basil pesto was a burst of flavor. I imagined eating one of these atop a slice of crunchy French bread or making these as a side to a roasted or grilled fish for an extra punch of flavor. The best part? This recipe can easily be adjusted to serve 1 or 12.

Roasted Tomatoes with Pesto

Adapted from Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That? (p. 179)
also on Food Network

Serves 6

Ingredients:

  • 2 – 2 1/2 lbs. large red tomatoes
  • 3 Tbs. olive oil
  • 2 tsp. dried oregano
  • kosher salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 c. pesto
  • 1/2 c. freshly grated or shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425.

With the tomato stem facing up, slice tomatoes into 1/2-in. thick slices. Place slices in a single layer on a baking sheet. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with oregano, kosher salt (~1 tsp.), and pepper. Bake for 10 minutes, until tomatoes are beginning to soften, but still hold their shape.

Remove baking sheet from oven. Top each tomato slice with a bit of pesto (~1/4 – 1/2 tsp. on each) and then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Return to the oven for another 7-10 minutes, until Parmesan begins to brown and the tomatoes look softened.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with a little more salt (if desired). Serve hot or at room temperature.

Ina’s Old-Fashioned Potato Salad

Old-Fashioned Potato Salad

As summer approaches (some might argue that it’s already here, with our 90+ degree weather), so do cookouts, BBQs, and summer picnics. Almost weekly, my friends and I get together for some sort of pot-luck — lunch or dinner accompanied by soccer and kayaking in the park, an impromptu Sunday BBQ, or a summer holiday festivity. We all bring something and end up going home with containers of leftovers. It really is an awesome time.

I do have my stockpile of recipes set aside for these occasions – tortellini salad or a summer orzo salad for a side; skirt steak marinated simply with a little kosher salt and pepper; or easy cookies for dessert. This past Memorial Day, I decided to try something new, Ina’s Old-Fashioned Potato Salad. I was a little skeptical about the dish. I tasted the dressing when I first made it, and it was super tangy. But, it was too late to run to the grocery store and make something else, so I threw it in the fridge for an hour and hoped for the best. I’m so glad I stuck with it! After sitting for a few hours, the dressing had mellowed out and my girlfriends and I were gathered around the bowl, forks in hand, eating right out of the serving dish. (Plates were ignored and the guys were at the grill). This salad was a winner, and incredibly addictive. Less than a week later and I am already getting requests for it.

Ina’s Old-Fashioned Potato Salad

Adapted from Barefoot Contessa At Home (p. 86)

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

  • 3 lbs. small red potatoes or other thick-skinned potatoes (potatoes with thinner skins tend to be a little messier, with the skin peeling off)
  • kosher salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 c. mayonnaise
  • 1/4 c. milk
  • 2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
  • 2 Tbs. whole-grain mustard
  • 1/2 c. fresh dill
  • 1/2 c. diced celery
  • 1/2 c. diced red onion

Fill a very large stockpot with water and 1-2 Tbs. kosher salt. Bring to a boil. Add whole potatoes and cook, 10-15 minutes, until potatoes are “barely tender” when pierced with a knife.

Drain water, returning potatoes to pot. Cover with a clean dish towel, allowing the steam to continue to cook the potatoes until tender but still firm, another 15-20 minutes. Once cooked through, uncover and allow to cool.

Meanwhile, combine mayo, milk, mustards, dill, 1 tsp. salt, and 1 tsp. pepper in a bowl. Set aside.

When potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut into 1 1/2-in. pieces. Toss with 3/4 of the dressing, adding more if needed. Toss onions and celery, along with 1 tsp. each salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

Acorn Squash with Rosemary and Brown Sugar

This year was the first time I’ve participated in a CSA (community supported agriculture). I love that I’m supporting local farmers and providing them with a reliable source of income. However, I do have mixed feelings on the program. I love the CSA I belong to – I love the variety of fruits and veggies I get, and the quality. However, I don’t like not knowing what I’m going to get each Tuesday. It makes it hard for me to plan, since I do so much planning and cooking on the weekends.

That being said, getting some unexpected surprises has helped me broaden my horizons and test out new recipes. For instance, I’ve mostly only had butternut squash, although I’ve had acorn squash a few times. Every time, I prepare it in the same way – halved, scoop out the middle, and roast it with butter and brown sugar in the middle. This recipe is close, but the rosemary and white wine add a lighter flavor (as opposed to pure butter and sugar). An added bonus? My squash-adverse hubby actually liked this recipe. One more point for Fine Cooking.

Enjoy!

Acorn Squash with Rosemary & Brown Sugar

Adapted from Fine Cooking No. 107 (p. 24)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 1-2 lb. acorn squash (unpeeled), halved lengthwise, seeded, and cut into 8 wedges
  • 1 Tbs. unsalted butter
  • 1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 c. dry white wine
  • 3 Tbs. packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 Tbs. chopped fresh rosemary (be sure to use fresh – dried rosemary isn’t nearly as good!)
  • 1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Wash the squash and cut it in half. Scoop out the seeds and then slice the squash along each ridge, so that the squash is in wedges.

Heat a 11-12 in. sauté pan over medium heat. Add butter and oil. When melted, add squash, arranging in a single layer. Cook until all sides are golden-brown, flipping as needed, about 10 minutes total.

Add wine to pan, scraping bottom to get up any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle brown sugar, rosemary, lemon juice, salt, and pepper over squash.

Cover and lower heat. Summer until squash is almost tender, about 10 minutes.

Raise heat and cook for another 5 minutes. Sauce will thicken and squash will be tender. Season with more salt and pepper to taste, and serve hot.

Roasted Potato Salad

This Roasted Potato Salad is another favorite of mine for summer cookouts. Not only does it stand up well to the heat, but it showcases summer vegetables very well. I also love that it is an easy recipe to adjust to taste. As you can tell from the photo, I skipped the tomatoes this time around, but added in extra bell peppers and corn. The one thing I don’t normally change about this recipe is the basil (I love basil!), but feel free to use the herb of your choice.

If you experiment and come up with new combinations that you love, please share!

Roasted Potato Salad with Bell Peppers, Corn & Tomatoes

Adapted from Fine Cooking No. 80 (p. 50)

Serves 6

Ingredients:

  • 2 lb. small red-skinned potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 3/4-inch chunks
  • 1/4 cup + 3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
  • kosher salt & black pepper
  • 2 c. cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 ear of corn in husk, or 1 can of corn (drained)
  • 1 1/2 bell peppers, any color or color combination, cut into 1/4-inch dice
  • 1/2 small red onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
  • 1/2 c. chopped fresh basil
  • 3 Tbs. red-wine vinegar

Roast the Potatoes: Preheat oven to 450F. Place potatoes in a single layer on a heavy-rimmed baking sheet. Toss with 3 Tbs. olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper. Make sure potatoes are coated. Roast for 20-30 minutes, until potatoes are slightly browned and tender when pierced by a fork. Set aside to cool.

Put Together Salad: Toss roasted potatoes, peppers, onion, tomato,basil,  and corn (is using an ear of corn, remove husk, rub with 1 tsp olive oil, and roast for 20 minutes, rotating once, until kernels are lightly browned)  in a large bowl.

Just prior to serving, whisk remaining 1/4 c. olive oil and red-wine vinegar. Then you have one of two options:

  1. Drizzle on salad. Season with salt, pepper, and if desired, more basil. Serve immediately.
  2. Or, set olive oil mixture on the side and allow people to drizzle their serving separately. This is best for BBQs or dinners where the salad might sit out for a while.