Late Summer Linguine

Either I was really hungry or this was the best pasta dish I have ever put together. I am embarrassed to say I scarfed it down and went back for seconds. With eggplant, early girl tomatoes, freshly made breadcrumbs, and sardines packed in oil, I can’t really determine what the secret ingredient was that sent this dish over the edge. They all just worked together.

I had been looking for a great way to highlight summer vegetables in a pasta dish and when I ran across Mark Bittman’s recipe on his blog, Bitten, I knew I had found it. If you aren’t familiar with Mark Bittman it might be a good idea to add a couple of his cookbooks to your shelf. His recipes are always simple, straightforward, and delicious. (more…)

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fig, watercress, & blue cheese salad

Figs have been popping up all over the stalls at the farmer’s market, which is a small reminder that summer is coming to a close. While the produce will still be bountiful for the next couple of months, the days will be getting a bit shorter, yellow school buses will be zipping through town, and I’ll dedicate a little chunk of my weekend to catching a football game. The prospects of this autumn have me even more excited as I’ll be making the big move from Berkeley back to Burlington, VT.

With under a month left in the Bay Area I have been eating out quite a bit, trying to make it to can’t-miss restaurants, revisiting old favorites, and catching up with friends. Last week I enjoyed another great dinner at the Wood Tavern (Oakland, CA) and this is my version of their beautiful, elegant, and simple fig salad. (more…)

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Panzanella

It’s mid-August and I have reached the height of my annual tomato addiction, bringing home bags upon bags of multicolored heirloom varietals after every trip to the farmer’s market. I’d be happy consuming B.L.T.’s until the frost hits but I am a bit worried about an expanding waistline or my family staging some form of intervention, so I have been trying to shake things up. Enter panzanella, or Tuscan bread and tomato salad.

I am a big fan of summer salads that are light, bright and crisp - but this isn’t one of those. Panzanella is the perfect salad when you need a something a bit more hearty (a mid-day snack for those weekend workdays out in the yard or a picnic after a long hike or bike ride). It’s a quick, no-cook salad recipe that is loaded with flavor and leaves you feeling full and satisfied. (more…)

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watermelon agua fresca

Growing up in the northeast my summer refresher options were normally iced tea, lemonade or soda - not too much variety and not too many fresh ingredients. After living in California and eating in many tacquerias, I have come to know the agua fresca and I am a better person for it.

Okay, maybe not a better person, but certainly a more refreshed individual. The great thing about agua fresca is that the fruit is pureed (instead of juiced), so you get all of the benefits of the whole food and a more prolonged energy boost (versus a sugar rush). This recipe can be used with any soft fruit (cantelope, strawberry, mango, papaya) but watermelon is by far my favorite. (more…)

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tomato time

August is tomato time. Once you’ve tasted an heirloom tomato in the height of its season, you’ll never go back to chomping on those winter imports. An August heirloom offers bright flavors, gentle acidity, and a juicy deliciousness that is out of this world. This is the time of year to break out your fresh tomato recipes. Maybe a Caprese Salad with sliced tomatoes, fresh sliced mozzerella (packed in water), a bit of fresh basil, a splash of balsamic vinegar, and a drizzle of your best extra-virgin olive oil. It’s perfecto!

Or, you could go with my favorite late-summer snack: the B.L.T. And if you are feeling even more daring, check out Eggs on Sunday and try Amy’s B.L.A.T., which adds a bit of avocado for extra creaminess. With football season approaching, this is going to be my Saturday (college gameday) lunch for the next couple of weeks.

Whatever you do, don’t cook your August heirloom tomatoes (unless you’re canning for the cooler months). They are really at their finest when they are fresh, warmed by the sun, and not refrigerated. If you need some more fresh summer recipes, check out these food blog gems:

Simply Recipes: Homemade Tomato Juice (or the ultimate Bloody Mary)

Lobstersquad: Gazpacho

Bitten: Fresh Tomato Sauce

Kalyn’s Kitchen: Summer Tomato Salad

101 Cookbooks: Heirloom Tomato Tart (o.k. it’s cooked - against my rule, but doesn’t it look good?)

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Green Bean & Tuna Salad

After the Quest for the Best Canned Tuna challenge, I had quite a bit of tuna left over and knew that if I served tuna sandwiches for the next week there would be a revolt in the house - time to get creative! My first thought was a tuna noodle casserole, but a hot, gooey mess didn’t scream refreshing summer recipe, so I am going to put that on hold until the cooler weather arrives. I did have a bunch of green beans in the fridge, however, so I decided that green beans and tuna would be a killer combo.

This salad is basically a riff on the potato salad I posted a while back. The great thing about summer salad recipes is that once you get the dressings down, you can substitute other seasonal vegetables and end up with a happy outcome. (more…)

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Quest for the Best Canned Tuna

Growing up, canned tuna was always present in my mom’s pantry and it most often showed up in the form of a sandwich in my brown-bag school lunch. Nowadays, I generally avoid canned products, preferring fresh and local foods, but I have recently found myself scouring grocery shelves for canned tuna. What gives? Well, this summer I’ve been focusing on Mediterranean inspired salads and light dinners and I have been surprised to find many of my favorite cookbook authors calling for canned tuna. Hence my return to the canned tuna aisle in the grocery store.

Of course, these recipes weren’t just calling for any canned tuna. They were pointing to premium canned tuna, imported from the Mediterranean and packed in olive oil that preserves the tuna and seals in the flavor. With prices ranging from a couple of bucks to fourteen dollars, I knew that I needed to do a bit more research to figure out which brand offered the best canned tuna - and the quest for the best was born. (more…)

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