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Did I scare you? I mean, the idea of frozen salad probably isn’t that appealing. LOL But. And this is a pretty big BUT. (no, it’s not mine! ) Gazpacho. Sorbet. Combine the two and you have a bit of frozen heaven. This traditional Spanish soup is always served chilled, and often with ice…why not go just another step and turn it into a savory sorbet, I asked? Top that with the traditional finely chopped vegetables for added crunch, and you have entered into yum world. This one is going to be making regular appearances at our summer table, folks. It’s the perfect way to begin a meal in the sweltering heat of summer, or even as an afternoon snack. It’s packed with vegetables, very low in fat, and delicious. Oh!  And super easy.  So whatcha waitin for?

Ingredients:

2 pounds (1kilo) very ripe tomatoes
1 cucumber, peeled
1 small red onion
2 cloves garlic
1 italian pepper
olive oil to taste (about 3 tablespoons)
red wine vinegar to taste (about 3 tablespoons)
salt to taste
4 cups ice cubes (or more)

Preparation:

Roughly chop all vegetables, reserving a bit of tomato, cucumber, pepper and onion to garnish.
Place all ingredients in blender or food processor and process until smooth.
Add ice and process until smooth.
Serve sorbet garnished with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and topped with finely chopped tomato, cucumber, pepper and onion.

Y en español:

Ingredientes:

1 kilo tomates maduros
1 pepino, pelado
1 cebolla roja pequeña
2 dientes de ajo
1 pimiento italiano (para freir)
aceite de oliva virgen (3 cucharadas, mas o menos)
vinagre de vino rojo (3 cucharadas, mas o menos)
sal al gusto
4 vasos de hielo (o mas)

Elaboración:

Cortar las verduras en trozos (no tiene que ser muy pequeñas), reservando un poquito de tomate, pepino, cebolla y pimiento para adornar.
Poner todo en la batidora o robot y triturar hasta que esté bien molido y homogéneo.
Añadir el hielo y triturar hasta que esté suave.
Servir adornado con aceite de oliva virgen, vinagre de modena y las verduritas reservadas (picadas muy finas).

Minestrone is such a great soup for winter, isn’t it?  It has a little bit of everything in it, and is so versatile.  The ingredients can be changed up to fit anyone’s tastes, whether you like it with bits of ham or bacon, with cheesy tortellini (as I’ve done here), or easily made vegan as well.  This is a great recipe if you have a bunch of odds and ends in the refrigerator that  you’re looking for ways to use, too.  Don’t be frightened by the long list of ingredients, this is one of the easiest things in the world to make, and not only that, it’s hearty, delicious, and warming for those icky cold winter blahs.

Ingredients:

2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1 bell pepper of choice, chopped
1 16 ounce (400 grams) can plum tomatoes, crushed
1/2 head cabbage, roughly chopped
2-3 ribs celery, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced
a generous handful of green beans, trimmed and cut
a generous handful of pinto beans, shucked
2-3 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 small acorn (or other) squash, peeled and diced
2-3 zucchini, washed and chopped
1 large bunch spinach, washed and chopped
1 cup peas
1 cup corn
3 quarts vegetable broth (or more to generously cover vegetables)
oregano, basil and thyme to taste
salt and pepper to taste
1 bay leaf
2 cups tortellini

Preparation:

Using a large stockpot, saute garlic in olive oil until golden, then add onions and stir around a bit.
Add remaining ingredients except tortellini and bring to a boil.
Cover and reduce heat to low.
Cook about an hour then add tortellini.
Bring back to a boil, then cover and remove from heat.
Allow to stand about 30 minutes (to cook tortellini).
Serve with freshly grated parmigiana if desired.

Yesterday was one of those lucky days that I was able to make it to my Asian grocer.  Man I love that place.  They have the freshest produce at the lowest prices.  Huge bunches of baby bok choy, scallions, cilantro, spinach, basil and bean sprouts for a mere 90 cents each (that’s euro cents, but in US dollars it works out to about 1.35 I guess?).  And the Napa Cabbage…Wow…a humongous bunch for a buck.  You can’t beat that.  This week they also had fresh tofu, which will show up hopefully tomorrow (we celebrate Thanksgiving day on Friday here, so the hubs can join us).  With the abundance of fresh produce and some lovely chicken breasts that my local grocer had on sale this week, the obvious choice was a stir-fry.  Don’t be frightened by the lengthy ingredient list here…just change it up according to your tastes, and what you have in the fridge.  It’s all good. :)  The possibilities for this recipe are virtually endless, to make it vegetarian/vegan, change the chicken to tofu and substitute vegetable broth for the meat based, or mix it up a bit with beef, chicken and shrimp or other seafood.

Ingredients:

1 pound (400 grams) chicken breast, cut into strips
2 tablespoons oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 tablespoons minced ginger
6 cups mixed vegetables, I used the following:
carrots
celery
onion
baby bok choy
bamboo shoots
water chestnuts
napa cabbage
baby corn
baby spinach leaves
scallions
bean sprouts
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
corn starch slurry to thicken
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Heat oil over high heat in a larger wok.
Saute garlic and ginger until golden, then add chicken and continue to cook until cooked through.
Add vegetables through baby corn (reserve the spinach, scallions and sprouts for later).
Toss around to mix well, and stir-fry until veggies take on a bright color.
Add broth and soy and toss to combine.
Add cornstarch slurry to thicken sauce.
Toss in spinach, scallions and sprouts and remove from heat.
Give it a good stir and serve over steamed rice.
I tossed on some sriracha, too, which gave it a great bite.

As you’ve probably realized from my posts, Middle Eastern food is one of my favorites. There is such a rich variety of dishes, and many of them are easily converted to a gluten free lifestyle (if they’re not already naturally so). Tabouleh salad is one of those easily converted dishes. By substituting Quinoa for the bulgur wheat, you have a delicious alternative. Quinoa when cooked properly has a very similar texture to bulgur, and tends to absorb the flavor of the dish it’s incorporated in, much like bulgur.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup quinoa
1 1/3 cup water
1 medium onion, minced
2 cups chopped parsley
1 cup chopped mint
3 tomatoes, chopped
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
juice of 2 lemons
salt to taste

Preparation:

In a small saucepan, heat quinoa and water to boiling.
Boil 2-3 minutes, then cover and reduce heat to low.
Allow to cook about 12 minutes, or until most of the water is absorbed, trying to avoid lifting the lid as much as possible.
Remove from heat and allow to rest untouched for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork and allow to cool.

Mmmmm fresh garden produce!  The farmer’s markets around here are
beginning to have all sorts of delicious tidbits at phenomenal prices.  Can’t
beat that!  I’ve been craving stuffed zucchini for a while now, and
today I finally got around to making it.  I had some leftover Chevre
cheese from yesterday’s salad, and thought, what the heck?  Why not toss it
in there too?  Yum.  I can’t even think of another adjective, except,
Yum.  The filling for this would be awesome wrapped in phyllo, or even
just regular pastry dough.  I might even venture to say even better than
the stuffed zucchini or as a quiche, or oooh!  Wait!  An omelette!  Can
you tell I really liked the filling? Haha  Anyway, I give to you my
stuffed zucchini:

Ingredients:

3 smaller zucchinis, steamed, halved and hollowed (scoop the flesh out
with a melon baller)
2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small red onion, minced
1/2 anaheim pepper, minced
1 small carrot, minced
6 mushrooms, cleaned and minced
3 tablespoons chevre cheese, crumbled
Salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Preparation:

Melt butter over moderate heat.
Sautee garlic just until golden, then add onions, peppers and carrots.
Continue to sautee until vegetables are semi-tender, then add shrooms
and continue tossing around.
Add chopped zucchini (the part you scooped out) and stir around.
Season with salt and pepper.
Add crumbled Chevre, and fill zucchini boats.
Now, I cheated here a bit, and popped them in the microwave to heat
through and melt the cheese, but I think broiling would be even better.

Deliciously fresh and light, yet still packed with all kinds of good stuff.  I came up with this salad to accompany our steaks for lunch today…I think this one is going to be making a regular appearance around here…It would be good on its own, even, as a light lunch or dinner.

Ingredients:

lettuce of choice
3 ripe tomatoes, stemmed and thinly sliced
1 spring onion, sliced
1 can white tuna packed in olive oil, shredded
4 ounces (100 grams) chevre, crumbled
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or balsamic
freshly grated pepper and salt

Preparation:

First, lay a bed of lettuce on your plates.
Layer tomatoes, tuna, onions, cheese and pepper/salt on each plate.
Whisk together oil, vinegar and pepper.
Just before serving, dress salad.