yellow watermelon salad
I’ve been pretty behind in things this summer. I do have a great reason, but I still can’t help feeling summer has slipped by. And now the weather has turned from muggy and sweltering to perfectly pleasant. Bright blue skies and crisp shadows mean that fall is near, and it’s time to frantically enjoy summer before it ends. Canning, freezing, berry picking, fig, blueberry, and tomato eating are among the late summer tasks on my agenda.
And before the apples, greens, cabbage, and squash start rolling in, here’s a colorful summer salad brimming with cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, watermelon, and fresh tarragon–perfect for picnics and outdoor parties. We used a yellow watermelon here, but regular watermelon will do just fine. This salad has lots of white pepper, and I love the subtle kick it lends. Head over to Babble.com’s Family Kitchen for our recipe.
corn cakes
The thing about summer corn is, it can add up. We love to steam and freeze several ears for winter, but beyond that, you can only eat so much corn on the cob or corn salad. That’s why there are corn cakes. These awesome little cakes are pretty humble looking, but they have a wholesome, delicious texture that’s perfect for a long list of proteins. I made mine on the plain side, but they’re practically begging for a little heat. If you’re an adventurous type, try adding a tablespoon of sugar and serve them up with some ice cream. Otherwise, they’re an ideal compliment to meats or fish, beans, sauteed vegetables, roasted fruit, grilling menus–you seriously can’t go wrong. Get our recipe over on Babble.com’s Family Kitchen here.
savory strawberry salad with buttermilk dressing
I’ve always been a bit dubious about savory strawberry preparations. With such subtle flavor, it seems the sweetness could easily be leached out of the delicate berries. But the other day, for whatever reason (chalk it up to a pregnancy craving) I needed some strawberries in my salad. Also, two eggs and buttermilk. Lucky for me, it was really simple to put this satisfying salad together. read more »
mango and avocado salad
To start this post, I’d like to pay tribute to the apple. This humble fruit was made to last–how an apple picked in November could still taste juicy and delicious in May, May!, is one of nature’s great mysteries. But this is the time of year for saying goodbye to apples. They’ve been good to us, but now there are blueberries, strawberries, and cherries on the horizon. And the occasional tropical fruit from the grocery store. These sweet and fleeting fruits lack the apple’s constancy, but it is their very impermanence that makes them so wonderful. Really, summer fruit is the main reason I put up with hot weather at all.
This vivid avocado and mango salad was created against a backdrop of impending over-ripeness–tropical fruits being among the most fleeting. You get some mangoes and avocados and they’re hard as rocks for three days, ripe for ten minutes, and then they’re soon on their way to the trash. Lucky for us, this salad used the needed fruit, and was really, really good. read more »
glazed ham with apricots and pineapple
Making a glazed ham almost feels like cheating when it comes to the cooking. Most of the flavor comes from the curing process, so it feels like you’re not cooking a ham, so much as heating it up. That means there are two really important things to do when you make a glazed ham. First, buy a good ham. Our butcher shop cures their own ham and do a really nice job–it’s salty, sweet, and smoky. Second, make a good glaze. It’s your only contribution to the dish, so you’ve got to make it count.
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asparagus and ramp quiche
Last week, thanks to Twitter, I saw that my favorite local butcher had ramps. Ramps! And while they’re not yet readily available at farmers markets here in NYC, they’re trickling in. People here go crazy for ramps. They have a distinct, pungent, earthy flavor, but are, after all just onions. So what’s with all the hype? read more »
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