Caprese Parfaits

For years, like many members of  the last few factory-farmed, shrink-wrapped, additived-and-preservatived generations, I thought I detested fresh tomatoes. Mealy and bland, almost always refrigerated, only acceptable in thoroughly stewed or sauced form. My mom used to nostalgically describe picking tomatoes as a child, out of my grandma’s garden in upstate New York, and eating them like apples. I could hardly imagine anything more revolting at the time.

Now, of course, we’ve all become much more sophisticated, in our current local, sustainable, seasonal collective consciousness. We know that what we really loathed were the out-of season supermarket imposters, mass-produced and shipped thousands of miles to your January attempt at a  salad (probably involving iceberg lettuce, which, I notice, is making an odd sort of comeback; perhaps it’s ironic, the produce equivalent of a hipster’s PBR). A truly fresh tomato, procured in its natural habitat and life cycle, that is a completely different experience.

I can think of no better expression of Tomato, its essence, the thing-in-itself, than the caprese salad. The first time I tried one, well into my twenties, was a revelation. Not as singularly defining as Julia Child’s sole meuniere moment, but akin to it, one of a series of palate-paradigm shifting moments. My first taste of pesto was another, as was cilantro.

But that first caprese, simple and brilliant – never had I experienced such perfect tomatoes, at their pinnacle in ripe flavor, firm but not tough, supple, not the slightest suggestion of mealiness. And the pairings, oh the harmonious flavor pairings, the basil and fresh mozzarella, with extra-virgin olive oil (used as it is meant to be used, not as an all-purpose cooking fat) and just the most delicate drizzles of balsamic vinegar (another revelation all on its own).  In short, it rocked my world.

This is so simple it hardly warrants a Formal Recipe; heck, I’m not sure it warrants an entire blog post, but I thought they came out so nicely I figured, why not share? Tomatoes are finally starting to ripen, at least around here; it’s been a late season, according to more adept gardeners than I. So I offer up not anything groundbreaking, but just an alternate way to present it as we all savor these tomato days, fleeting as they are and are meant to be.

CAPRESE PARFAITS

A pint or so of cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
A cup or so of basil, chiffonaded
16 ounces or so of fresh mozzarella, sliced and then cut into wedges
1/2 cup or so prepared pesto (optional; also fine with olive oil alone)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

If you’re using the pesto, add a few tablespoons of olive oil to make it more pourable. Aside from that, my only advice is to layer in the order of tomatoes – mozzarella – basil and then drizzle a bit of pesto, if using. If not, this is where a touch of olive oil comes in for each layer. Repeat until glasses are full. Top with the prettiest tendrils of your chiffonade.

You might note the absence of balsamic in this; I do love it, but decided to keep the visual Viva Italia color scheme intact. Feel free to choose your own adventure here.

Salute!

– posted by Anne

P.S. I now completely understand the urge to eat a perfect, fresh tomato like an apple. My grandfather’s predilection for slicing  red onions and eating them in thick, buttered slabs, that’s a different matter.

This is my most fun food creation ever – I combined shrimp tacos with shrimp cocktail and got Shrimp Cocktail Taco Bites!

These zucchini bites are luxurious AND healthy to boot: Lemony Grilled Zucchini Rollups

How about a flavorful veggie pate to spread on some crackers or  toasted bagutette slices? Tricolor Vegetable Pate

Try another fun fusion dish: a collision of fajitas and nachos in our Vegetarian Fajita Black Bean Puree Nachos

What’s Better than Guacamole? A Roasted Garlic Guacamole Bar!

Shrimp in a Crunchy Spicy Coating: Cajun Popcorn Shrimp Bites

And, while we’re talkin’ Cajun – Can’t go wrong with our Cajun Chili Cups.

Isn’t everything better with sun-dried tomatoes? Sun Dried Tomato Dip will make you a believer!

Crispy coating some veggies in the oven: Oven Fried Zucchini Crisps.

Try our updated takes on some 50′s classics: Enlightened Onion Dip and Spinach Dip.

– posted by Donna

Sushotto

Many people know that a classic appetizer, arancini (cheesy Italian rice balls,  often stuffed), can be made from leftover risotto. (And many of you out there will automatically be thinking “Leftover risotto? What on earth is that?” I understand. I have the same response to recipes using ‘leftover’ avocados or wine.)  At any rate, whether you have the restraint to keep leftover risotto overnight or, like me, you purposely made a batch the night before and refrigerated it expressly for this purpose, behold my fun and easy appetizer equation: Risotto + sushi = sushotto.

I had the idea for this  appetizer a while back, replacing seasoned sushi rice with risotto, using the structure of a maki roll but with Italian flavors. The analogous fillings and toppings were simple enough, but I got stuck on one important element. What would stand in for the nori, the deep green sheets of seaweed that act as the ‘wrapper’? I tried spinach flavored tortillas – WAY too starchy combined with the rice, and far too thick. I tried using rice paper, the kind used for fresh spring rolls, dyed with green food coloring. That was just sticky and gross, beside the fact that I generally try to avoid artificial colors, period. So sushotto got shelved for a while.

As I started cooking with hearty greens like kale, collards and chard more frequently, it finally dawned on me – some of these greens were sturdy and wide enough to provide the perfect structure, AND th eflavors would likely be quite complementary! Eureka.

What follows is less a strict recipe and more of a template – feel free to use different combinations! For example, I used roasted peppers as the filling and collards as the wrapper, but I think sundried tomatoes would make a great filling and I know kale or chard would work nicely for the wrapper, too. Add some nice sharp pecorino instead of the parmesan, or perhaps chop up some good black olives. Anything goes!

Ready to roll

SUSHOTTO

Leftover risotto – I worked with about 3 cups total, and had made a very basic, straightforward recipe*
Several leaves collard greens
roasted red and yellow peppers
A few tablespoons toasted pine nuts
About 1/4 cup grated parmesan

I blanched the greens in boiling water and then shocked them, rinsing them gently in cold water.  Those using kale or chard may only want a minute or two; those using collards might want to cook them for about 5 minutes before shocking. Pat the leaves carefully dry. While they finish cooling down, cut the peppers into strips. Heat up the leftover rice.

And that’s really it for prep – time to assemble! Spread about half a cup (or more, depending on the size of the leaves) of the leftover risotto out, then add the strips of peppers down the center, a few pine nuts and a dusting of parmesan. Roll ‘er up as tight as you can manage, just like a sushi roll.

Slice the roll into segments about an inch to an inch and a half thick, and garnish with pine nuts, cheese, fresh basil, or whatever your heart desires!  I think they would hold up well to melting some cheese over the tops of the segments under a broiler, if you so desired.

Abbondanza and arigato!

– posted by Anne

* Arborio, onion, olive oil and butter, vegetable stock, white wine, finish with cream and a touch of parmesan)

We must interrupt our regularly scheduled Meatless Monday offering to share with you our weekend collaboration: The second birthday of Lily! Lily (Anne’s daughter and Donna’s granddaughter) has become an ardent fan of Elmo, also known in this household as The Red Menace, and we decided to thrill her with a Sesame-themed party – our favorite part being, of course, the food! We worked with quite a few food blog recipes to make the theme food, and have to share the love here. 

First, The Count’s number crackers – SESAME crackers, of course – from Elena’s Pantry. Simple and super easy and SO delicious. They worked perfectly as cut-out cookies (thank goodness).

Then we served up some unbelievably nutritious cookies from the Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen. Cookie Monster himself gave them a huge thumbs-up. Gluten-free, vegan, flourless, no refined sugar, packed with almond protein – these are rockin’. And you can feel good about giving them to your kids. How about that? (Yes, these are the ones I blogged babblingly about a few weeks ago. Since discovering them I use ANY POSSIBLE EXCUSE to make them, they’re that good.)

Bert served us up some spicy “pigeon” wings, courtesy of White On Rice Couple. I loved the flavor – we added a little hoisin sauce and they were delicious. I definitely vote for cilantro at the end, by the way.

Big Bird offered up some lovely candy egg nests! Bake at 350 had a nice version. It doesn’t get much easier than these! Huge hit with the littles.

Oscar’s offering was our own standard crowd-pleaser: yep, The Chili again, only this time we served it in “garbage cans” complete with roasted broccoli Oscar heads. I used Israeli couscous for the eyes, planning on using peppercorns for irises, but they were much too big. In last-minute-assembly desperation, I stabbed each eyeball with a caraway seed, and it basically worked.

Abby Cadabby helped me whip together a tasty pasta salad with whole grain alphabet noodles standing in for the farfalle in this recipe from the Party Line guys via Serious Eats. The combination of lemon, basil, and tomato was lovely, even if a bit early in season. I used quartered grape tomatoes here, I think it was a bit better than your average grocery store tomato this time of year.

Super Grover lightened things up with some sundried tomato hummus and crudite. This is barely even a recipe – I make hummus so often that I just improvise as I go.

Lemme see if I can summarize: 2 cans chickpeas (or the bulk equivalent), about 1/3 cup tahini, the juice of 1 lemon, 3-4 cloves garlic, 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, a touch of salt and pepper, and for this variation, half a jar of sundried tomatoes (using their oil). Blitz all in food processor.  Start tasting: first try some more acid if it needs something – I actually like to use rice vinegar. Then perhaps a touch more oil. The maybe a bit of salt, and round and round until it’s juuuuust right. Mmm.

Okay, so, the chips and salsa didn’t come from anywhere but a store, but we really do like Muir Glen’s salsa when it’s not summertime and fresh from the garden.

And finally, the piece de resistance, the Elmo Cupcake. This was accomplished via gluten-free vegan cupcakes from Gluten-Free-Goddess, with vanilla buttercream frosting, marzipan eyes and noses, and Elmo fur coaching from My Food Affair. I tried piping the fur into individual strands for a few, but had some serious snafus with the freezer bags, and ended up just spreading the frosting on to them and then sort of distressing the surface with a butter knife, which worked in a pinch. (PLEASE DON’T SEND THESE TO CAKE WRECKS. I AM NOT A PRO!)

As you can see here, that red food coloring is some scary stuff, check out my red right hand.

A fabulous, and at least somewhat frugal, time was had by all.

– brought to you by the letter L and the number 2

I have really enjoyed grilling this summer, especially veggies. This recipe was created by accident – I originally thought of just roasting the zucchini and then chopping it and mixing it with a little cheese. But, the grilled zucchini planks just looked so pretty off the grill, I decided to leave them whole and roll them up with a little soft cheese inside.

Goat cheese would be tasty in this, but cream cheese with a little lemon zest achieves the same tart-ness and is much more frugal.

Remember to blot the oil off the zucchini planks after they cook or they will be too oily to pick up as a finger food.

LEMONY GRILLED ZUCCHINI ROLLUPS

4 medium zucchini
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon lemon zest
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut ends off zucchini and then slice in long planks that are 1/4 inch wide. Toss planks in oil. Grill on a very hot grill for 1 or 2 minutes on each side, until zucchini is softened and have nice browned grill marks. Let zucchini planks cool and then bot with paper towels to remove oil.

Mix together cream cheese, lemon zest and salt and pepper. Spread about 1 teaspoon of cream cheese mixture on one side of each zucchini plank. Roll up plank with cream cheese in center. Secure with toothpicks and serve as appetizers.

Makes 16 appetizers.

– posted by Donna

Creamy Southwest Gazpacho

Anne’s gazpacho looked so yummy I decided to try making it with a southwest twist. Anne called her gazpacho “liquid salad,” and  likewise mine could be labeled “liquid salsa.”

I decided to throw in an avocado to try for a creamy texture. It worked great and tasted smooth and delicious, but the color was very muddy. I added a small can of tomato paste for color. Result: creaminess with a deep red color! Perfecto!

CREAMY SOUTHWEST GAZPACHO

4 large ripe tomatoes, core removed
2 large cucumbers, peeled
1 jalapeno pepper, or more to taste
3 green onions, sliced
Juice and zest of one lime
2 tablespoons diced cilantro
1 large ripe Haas avocado, peeled
1 can (4 ounces) tomato paste
A few dashes Tabasco sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut tomatoes in half and squeeze out seeds and gel. Cut cucumbers in half lengthwise and remove seeds with a spoon  by scraping down the center. Cut jalapeno in half lengthwise. If you want more heat, leave seeds and pulp in, but for flavor without heat remove seeds and pulp by scraping with a spoon down the center.

Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Garnish with chunks of avocado, cilantro or sliced green onions.

– posted by Donna

I know. I KNOW.  This seems like a very low-brow thing to have on a blog that is trying to be ‘upscale frugal.’ But trust me, this is a great frugal thing to do.

First, an explanation. I love proscuitto. I could eat it by the handful while closing my eyes and daydreaming that I am frolicking in the hills of Tuscany. I would eat it every single day if it weren’t so very, very expensive. One of the things I love to do with proscuitto is wrap it around a crispy bread stick that has been spread with a little flavored cream cheese.  Yum!

Then, like there was a little light bulb that began blinking above my head, I remembered that salty, peppery shaved meat that we used to eat as kids – you know the kind in the white square plastic package that is so paper-thin you can almost see through it? I tried both the “corned beef” and the “ham” as replacements for proscuitto and was amazed to find that THIS WORKS! Not only does it work, it is truly delicious! It is a fraction of the cost of proscuitto, it is not chewy and tough like proscuitto, and just as yummy on breadsticks. Trust me and try this tip!

– posted by Donna