Tomato & Grilled Bread Salad & Julie & Julia

I made this for Ben (with another buffalo New York strip steak, to which I will be addicted exactly as long as Whole Foods has them on sale) to celebrate his last official night of vacation. I could not have chosen a better menu—this dish perfectly captures the many flavors of summer. Incidentally, it’s also an ideal use for day-old bread.

We grilled up some sourdough slices, then cubed them and tossed them with tomatoes, basil, cucumber and red wine vinaigrette. The salad is just beautiful to look at, so colorful, and is a great starch/veggie combo to round out the meal. What’s so odd about this dish is that it tastes as though the toasts were rubbed with a garlic clove before being added to the salad... it has a delicious garlic-y tang. Yet, no garlic. It’s almost like bruschetta salad... oooh, Kalamata olives would be excellent in it. Yes, I’ll add those next time. Good idea (she said modestly to herself).

The only reason this is a four-star dish instead of five stars is because it seems almost impossible to not over-grill the bread, which leaves it a little crispy. Otherwise, it couldn’t be simpler or yummier (except, perhaps, with the aforementioned olives).

We had forgotten about this dish somehow, which is sort of sad, since it’s so easy and lovely and scrumptious. Not sure what sparked my memory... perhaps a discussion of gazpachos and other uses of stale bread? Regardless, even though summer is coming to a close, I say better late than never.

p.s. I saw Julie & Julia Saturday afternoon with Alison, then savored the most delicious French feast, al fresco, at À Côté, the bar attached to Z Cuisine Parisian Bistro in Denver. The movie was so inspiring it brought tears to my eyes and made me long for a calling. The food was so gorgeous and delicious that I will be returning there again. Soon. Very soon.

Baby Arugula Salad & Sourdough Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Friday afternoon lunch and just sinfully delicious. We’re nearing the end of our summer vacation (Ben goes back Monday morning), so this was one of the last of our “beer lunches”—tasty homemade lunches good enough to enjoy with a cold Colorado microbrew (this week it’s New Belgium’s Skinny Dip).

First, I made grilled cheese sandwiches that were just delectable. I started with slices of sourdough Parisienne from Whole Foods (which I’ve been buying to have with runny eggs, a new household favorite), buttered it lightly and filled it with Tillamook medium cheddar slices. Grilled to perfection and served with my new best salad (even better than Benji’s salad!) of baby arugula topped with hearts of palm, quartered cherry tomatoes and shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano.

I made a similar arugula salad earlier in the week and experimented with a vinaigrette made from a blend of cider and white wine vinegars. Unfortunately, the vinegars just weren’t flavorful enough to compete with the strong peppery taste of baby arugula. It tasted like argula coated in olive oil... there was no vinegar taste to speak of. Yuck.

In rethinking the salad, I remembered having an incredible microgreen salad at Radda in Boulder that had a lemon vinaigrette. Actually, if I remember correctly, the Radda salad was so good that I finished my first one and immediately ordered a second. So, I cruised over to epicurious and checked out a variety of lemon vinaigrettes. This recipe seemed the simplest and didn’t require anything I didn’t have on hand and was truly a perfect complement to the arugula salad. Yummo!

I really enjoy making big salads for lunch because a) they feel so good for you, b) we can get a few veggie servings in midday and c) there are so many steps of salad making that Sophia can help with. She filled the salad bowl with greens, rinsed the tomatoes, helped to prepare the vinaigrette, shaved the cheese with a vegetable peeler, and, of course, generously offered to sample all of the toppings for me. Such a helpful kid! I finally bought myself a simple, beautiful salad bowl several months ago at Crate & Barrel, and I really do believe that salad presentation significantly improves salad enjoyment, particularly at home.

Aunt Susan was teasing me the other day for serving complicated lunches that, in other homes, would qualify as dinners. That, to me, has been one of the greatest joys of this tail end of our summer vacation. We’ve really been enjoying the opportunity to savor three creative, healthy meals a day together at the table. I’m sad that this part of our routine has to end, at least for a few months... Sophia, Joseph and I will of course continue to sup together, but we’ll be missing our Benji at breakfast and lunch.

Buffalo New York Strip Steak

One buffalo New York strip steak. Salt and pepper. Grilled to medium rare. Served with a two forks, two knives and two glasses of red wine. Savored by husband and wife after the kids are blissfully asleep. Perfection!

Almond-Peach Crisp

Summer vacation is rapidly drawing to a close. This has been the most wonderful summer of my life, including the summer Becky Selzer’s parents went on vacation and let us stay at their house, so that’s really saying something! I’m feeling a little blue about it coming to an end and find myself drawn to homey comfort foods.

However, despite my autumnal cravings, the warm summer-y weather persists, so I’ve been searching high and low for nourishing comfort foods that feature summer produce. Thus the magnificent almond-peach crisp.

I found this recipe in a cookbook my sister-in-law, Jenn, gave me: The Bon Appétit Fast Easy Fresh Cookbook (which, incidentally, came with a one-year Bon Appétit subscription, which I’m also loving despite the radical rebranding since I last subscribed... why does everyone in the photojournalistic, party-at-home pics have a tattoo?). Everything I’ve read about in this book has seemed like a quick and healthy twist on an old favorite. My only complaint, frankly, is that it’s a hefty tome and is almost too much to slog through. Oh, and there’s a dearth of inspiring photography. Regardless, this crisp recipe was everything I was looking for.

In many ways it’s a traditional crisp—fresh fruit topped with a blend of butter, oats, brown sugar and flour. However, this crisp is subtly yet vastly improved with the addition of a hint of almond extract with the fruit and chopped toasted almonds in the topping. Delightful. Another thing I loved about this recipe is that it only calls for one pound of fruit (just two or three peaches), making two servings, but is easily scalable. I tripled the recipe and baked it in an eight-inch square Pyrex dish and it was perfect.

Unfortunately, crisp just doesn't keep very well. It’s best right out of the oven... subsequent servings found the crisp, well, not-so-crispy. Next time I’ll either scale back the number of servings or, better yet, invite more people!

Italian Sausage-Stuffed Globe Zucchinis

One of my favorite finds from the Longmont Farmers’ Market is the globe zucchini. I only learned about these a few years ago, and they’re now a summertime staple. They make a scrumptious, healthy and perfectly self-contained entrée, and they are just beautiful to look at.

My recipe for stuffed zucchini is adapted from a recipe I got years ago from Alison. Her recipe was for stuffed bell peppers, but ever since pregnancy #1 I really can’t digest peppers at all (except for the occasional roasted red pepper). I can’t even recall where I got the idea, but for years now we’ve been stuffing these beautiful summer squash and serving them with tomato sauce.

First, I scoop out the innards of each zucchini with a melon baller (after lopping off the top like a pumpkin) then blanch them in boiling water. Next, I make the stuffing—I sauté onions, garlic and a bit of the zucchini innards (but not too much or it’s too watery), then add Boulder Italian sausage and brown. I combine this sautéed mixture with already-cooked jasmine rice, beaten egg, pine nuts and grated Parmiagiano-Reggiano cheese. Fill each zucchini with the stuffing and cover with Muir Glen tomato sauce, cover with foil and bake.

I wish I’d taken a picture of these when they came out of the oven, or, better yet, Sophia’s empty plate after devouring an entire zucchini by herself!

I made these Friday afternoon before a pool party, and felt such a glow of satisfaction that I had whipped up such a beautiful dinner for my family before our evening adventure. I’ve cooked from scratch several times this week, which is a vast improvement over the past weeks and months. While it’s murder on my arthritic feet, it's wonderful for my soul.

Fried Green Tomato BLTs

These sandwiches are exactly as delicious but not nearly as sinful as they sound, and a favorite dish to originate from the Longmont Farmers’ Market.

I have the most powerful memories of Dad’s fried green tomatoes and fried eggplant on Crooked Road. I discovered this recipe in the most unlikely of places, Cooking Light, a few years ago, and we have gradually perfected it.

As per the recipe, I cook Coleman natural bacon (although I do it in the oven, Alison’s way, rather than on the stove top—too messy!) and dredge the green tomato slices with corn meal and parmesan cheese before frying them in a bit of bacon grease and some olive oil. We use red leaf lettuce and whole wheat bread, which we toast. I wonder if toasted BLTs are a regional thing, or just an us thing?

Most importantly, however, we DO NOT put mayonnaise on our sandwiches. Why? Because, to put it bluntly, mayonnaise is revolting. Disgusting. An abomination. Yes, I know it’s made from eggs and oil, but I just can’t stomach it. Ergo, I always miss out on people’s “world famous” potato salad (why is everyone’s potato salad recipe a point of pride?), and will only gag down a deviled egg under the most crucial of social situations. Actually, the first time my mom saw my sister, Becki, and I both eat a deviled egg was when they were made by my soon-to-be aunt, Eloise. We so wanted her to like us that we both choked down a deviled egg. Now that is love!

Anyway... in lieu of mayonnaise, I make yogurt cheese by straining Brown Cow plain yogurt in cheese cloth for a few hours. The texture is delightfully creamy and the flavor sufficiently tangy. Yum. And mayo free!

These BLTs scream to be devoured with a cold beer and perhaps some grilled corn on the cob. They are remarkably light, fabulously tasty and bring together a satisfying blend of textures. Simply put, they’re the essence of summer. On toast.

Benji & Sophia’s Salad

This has been christened Benji’s Salad, because it was Ben who came up with the combination of toppings. However, Sophia is insisting it be called Benji & Sophia’s salad, because she loves it so much she eats third! It has been given a five-star rating all around, which is fabulous, since I don’t consider salads to be my forte. In my experience, salad is always best if it’s made by someone else... my versions are never as good as those served to me by friends or restaurants. So, I’m tickled pink to have everyone in our house raving.

The salad is really fairly simple: organic baby spinach topped with garbanzo beans, hearts of palm and Kalamata olives. I’ve made this three times, and the third time was the best, improved with the addition of grilled chicken breast, marinated for a few hours in lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

I’ve also created a delicious vinaigrette for this salad inspired in part by recipes on epicurious and in part by wonderful salads I’ve had at Alison’s—one parts vinegar (half balsamic vinegar, half white wine vinegar), three parts olive oil, bit of salt and pepper and a hint of local wildflower honey. Yum!

I bought Ben a new grill about a month ago. Only half of our old grill worked, and the ignitors had been broken for years. We absolutely love our new purchase, and it has made pulling together healthy, speedy dinners a breeze. This was the least expensive grill that got a recommendation on Consumer Reports, and it has been really inspiring.