Lots of quick ideas this week. This bounty doesn’t need much fuss to make it sing. Happy cooking!
BLTs
Quick-Pickled Cucumber Salad
Grilled Onions
Vegetable Skewers
Eggplant (or Squash), Tomato and Onion Gratin
Zwiebelkuchen
Soba Noodles with Bok Choy and Tahini Sauce
Caramelized Corn with Fresh Mint
BLTs
You don’t really need a recipe but maybe just a reminder–if you like BLTs–that it’s time. We have these for dinner once or twice every summer.
Bread of choice (I like good crusty bread like Grand Central Bakery’s Peasant Levain (pictured)
Mayonnaise or aioli
Tomatoes, thickly sliced into rounds, on the equator
Sea salt
Lettuce
Bacon, fried, not too crisp
Sweet onion, thinly sliced (unconventional but very good)
Assemble and be sure to salt the tomatoes. Enjoy!
Quick-Pickled Cucumber Salad
–adapted from Pure Beef by Lynne Curry
This salad is perfect alongside a good hamburger or some thinly sliced flank steak or meatloaf (as Lynne does) etc.
Serves 4
2 medium cucumbers, washed but not peeled
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar (or a little more, to taste)
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon soy sauce (or tamari)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Pinch or two of red pepper flakes
Slice the cucumbers in half lengthwise and use a teaspoon to scrape out the seeds and discard. Slice the cucumbers very thin on the diagonal and put them into a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, salt and pepper flakes until the sugar dissolves. Pour the dressing over the cucumbers, stir, and let the flavors develop at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes.
Grilled Onions
The sweet, crisp, giant Ailsa Craig onions are superb for grilling or broiling. Cut them into thick rounds and brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and grill until charring around the edges. Eat as is, dip in aioli, layer on burgers or sandwiches or pizzas. . ..
Vegetable Skewers
Tomatoes, summer squash, eggplant and sweet onions are all delicious skewered and grilled. Chop the vegetables into large, bite-sized pieces (they shrink a bit as they cook). I make a vinaigrette with minced garlic, lemon juice or vinegar, a bit of Dijon-style mustard, olive oil and salt and pepper and maybe some fresh thyme. Toss the vegetable pieces in the vinaigrette and then thread them on to skewers. Grill or roast in a very hot oven, turning occasionally until tender and beginning to color around the edges.
You can certainly add fish or meat or tofu to the skewers.
Serve with more vinaigrette on rice or quinoa or any other grain with a cucumber salad. Summer dinner!
Eggplant, Tomato and Onion Gratin
–adapted from Chez Panisse Vegetables by Alice Waters
Simple and delicious. You can add oregano or basil and top with a little cheese if you’d like though the simplicity of the dish as is, is just lovely.
Serves 4
1 giant onion
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons butter
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
3 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
1 ½ large globe eggplants (or 2-3 summer squash, see headnote)
3 medium to large tomatoes (or more smaller ones)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Peel and chop both the onions and garlic and sauté them in half the butter and half the oil for about five minutes with the thyme leaves, bay leaf and salt and pepper.
Slice the eggplants into ¼-inch-thick slices. Slice the tomatoes slightly thicker.
Butter a shallow baking dish. Remove the bay leaf from the onions and spread them over the bottom of the dish. Cover with overlapping rows of alternate tomato and eggplant slices. Each slice should cover two thirds of the preceding one. Season generously with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil, cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes or until the eggplant is very soft.
Uncover for the last 15 minutes or earlier if the tomatoes are giving up too much liquid. Brush or spoon the juices over the top occasionally to prevent the top layer form drying out.
This is a perfect accompaniment to grilled or roasted lamb or as is more common in my household with a simple piece of fish, frittata or green salad and a piece of bread.
Zwiebelkuchen
This Southern German style tart/quiche/pizza is a mainstay in my family. This can easily be made vegetarian by omitting the bacon. You can also add herbs (parsley and/or chives are particularly good) and change the cheese to suite your taste or what you have on hand.
Serves many!
Crust:
Scant 2 cups all-purpose flour (I’ve also used half whole-wheat pastry flour and half all-purpose and feel free to play around with other flour combinations)
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ tsp sea salt
3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons water
½ cup sour cream or plain, whole-milk yogurt
1 egg
Topping:
2 lbs, or slightly more onions, sliced into ¼-inch half rounds
Olive oil
3 ounces bacon, diced (or ½ cup of chopped parsley –added to the custard mix right before baking, see headnote)
4 ounces grated sharp cheddar, Emmental, etc.
2 eggs
½ cup sour cream or plain, whole-milk yogurt
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
For the crust, in the medium bowl beat the egg with the oil, water and sour cream (or yogurt) until just mixed. In another bowl mix the flour, salt and baking powder and stir into the wet ingredients with a fork or wooden spoon. Mix well – you may want to use your hands at this point—until it’s smooth. Place the dough in a 13 x 18 rimmed baking sheet (sheet pan) and roll it out to fit the pan. You may have to stretch it a bit with your hands to get it into the corners. It does not need to come up the sides at all. It takes time and a bit of practice to do this quickly and may take a while at first. It will fit the pan even if it seems unlikely.
For the filling, slice the onions in half and then into ¼ thin half rounds. Thinly coat a large sauté pan or pot with olive oil and heat it over med-high heat. Add the bacon, if using, and cook for a few minutes until the fat is partially rendered. Add the onions and a few generous pinches of salt. Cover and stir occasionally (and adjust heat if onions stick and brown) until the onions are quite soft and some of the liquid they’ve released has cooked off. This will take between 15 to 25 minutes depending on your onions. Ideally they don’t brown but no harm done if they do.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the sour cream (or yogurt), a few grinds of pepper. Add the grated cheese and the onion bacon mixture. Spread on the crust and bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the top is golden and the edges are starting to brown.
Eat warm or at room temperature. This is even better reheated the next day in a hot cast iron pan in a little bit of olive oil.
Soba Noodles with Bok Choy and Tahini Sauce
You could add scallions, grated carrots, cucumber, cilantro or mint or basil or most anything else you have on hand.
Serves 4-6
8 ounces soba noodles
3-4 cups bok choy, washed and chopped, stems and all
Dressing:
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
Cook the soba noodles in boiling water for 6-8 minutes (or according to package instructions). 10 seconds before you’re going to drain the noodles toss in the bok choy. Drain the noodles and greens and rinse with cold water. Drain well and put in a bowl or on a platter.
In a small bowl stir together the dressing ingredients. Tahini can really thicken up a dressing. Add a bit of warm water to loosen it up if needed. Toss the dressing with the noodles and greens and add any other vegetables (grated carrots, diced cucumber, etc), if using. Taste and adjust seasoning. You may want to add a little salt and a bit more vinegar or lemon juice.
Caramelized Corn with Fresh Mint
-inspired by Julia Moskin
This theoretically serves 2 but of course scale up as you like. I eat this whole dish by myself with ease.
Kernels from four ears or corn (or more—this is so good you’ll eat as much as you make I guarantee)
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons minced fresh mint
Salt
Melt the butter in a large skillet over high heat. Add the corn and cook, stirring often, until golden and browned. This will take about 10 minutes. Stir in the mint and sprinkle with salt. Serve immediately.
If you have any leftover you can toss it into a cold bean salad or green salad or make it into a taco filling or add it to pico de gallo salsa.