Category Archives: General
Gazpacho to the Rescue
The heat this week continues. It’s been hot, in the 90s by day, slightly cooler, though still warm at night. Howard’s fixed up a complicated system of fans that has kept the house reasonably comfortable. In the evenings, we’ve gone out to do errands, driving around in the convertible with the top down. What a life!
I’m still trying to avoid heating up the kitchen, but going out to eat is never quite as satisfying as eating at home.
A bowl of gazpacho is just the right thing for this kind of weather. No cooking required. I’m sure my recipe is far from authentic, but it hits the spot. I’ve making it since I was in high school though I’ve changed it over time.
One of the problems with gazpacho is that, here in New England, local tomatoes aren’t ripe as early as the hot weather sets in. A few years ago, in a recipe from a flyer I picked up at Whole Foods, I found an answer to that problem – canned whole tomatoes. Admittedly, it’s not the same as fresh tomatoes, but it certainly gives an early summer option for consistently good cold soup.
Here’s my game plan: In the morning, before I leave for work, I puree the tomatoes and seasonings in the blender. Then I put the puree in the refrigerator to chill for the day. When I get home, I chop up the vegetables, stir them in to the puree, and, voila, refreshing soup for dinner.
Gazpacho
Serves 4
1 28-oz can whole tomatoes with juice
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
¼ tsp Tabasco
Generous handful of fresh basil leaves
1 cucumber
1 red or green pepper
½ cup chopped red onion
Salt & pepper to taste
Add tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, Worcestershire, Tabasco and herbs in the blender. Puree until smooth. At this point, you can chill the puree before continuing.
Peel the cucumber. Cut it in half lengthwise. With a spoon, scoop out the seeds and discard. Chop the remaining flesh into ¼-inch cubes. Cut the pepper in half and remove the seeds, Chop into ¼-inch cubes.
Combine the chopped vegetables (cucumber, pepper, and onion) into the tomato puree. Season to taste.
For a Mexican-flavored variation, I user lime juice instead of vinegar, ½ diced jalapeno for the Tabasco, cilantro for the basil leaves, and 2-3 sliced scallions for the onions.
What to Cook When It’s Too Hot
So far this week, this weather has been hot and sticky. It reminds me of childhood years in Maryland. However, in Maryland, our house was air-conditiioned. In Boston, air-conditioning in my life is limited to the car and the office. Sure, I know, we could buy an air conditioner. We actually have a window unit, but it’s in the closet. It seems like the weather always breaks before we set it up. We’re managing with the house fan, ceiling fans, and lots of window fans. On a humorous note, the humidity has been so high that my curly hair is an inch or two shorter than usual. I look a little like a Brillo pad.
It’s hard to be motivated to heat up the kitchen when the weather is like this. On Sunday, we picked up a salmon steak for dinner. (We ran into Sabine at the store, who asked if I would write about what we cooked. Hi Sabine! This is what we had for dinner. Hope your salmon was good too!)
Howard grilled the salmon with our favorite seasoning for fish: Trindad Style Lemon-Garlic Marinade from Penzey’s. It’s actually a rub, not a liquid. I just love it on grilled fish, especially salmon.
I didn’t want to make the kitchen any hotter, so I put together a black-bean salad that required no actually cooking, just chopping and mixing. The grilled fish with bean salad and a big green salad made for a refreshing summer dinner.
We even had enough salmon left over for a pseudo-Nicoise salad the next day for lunch. I started with salad greens, chopped tomato (hothouse), and Kirby cucumber that we brought back from the local farmstand in Maine. I added shelled raw peas from our garden. I briefly microwaved the leftover fish and some leftover steamed potatoes. Then, everything was tossed together with some tarragon dressing. Voila! Easy lunch.
Tonight, I did use the stove to make orzo with mustard greens, another successful recipe from NoTakeOut. Other than boiling the water for pasta, everything else was just chopping, and once the pasta was cooked, everything else was combined off the heat.
Black Bean Salad
Serves 4 – 6
3 Tbsp lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed well
Kernels from 2 ears of corn, cooked
1/4 red onion, diced
1 ripe tomato, chopped
A generous handful of cilantro leaves, chopped
To make the dressing, whisk together the lime juice, olive oil and cumin. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss the remaining ingredients together in a large bowl with the dressing. Serve at room temperature or cold.
A Plateful of Happiness 