cucumber salad with sesame and rice vinegar
1 week ago
Sunday, May 2, 2010
One Hot Day
Today was a SCORCHER. May is underway, and I am loving it already.
Things I am looking forward to this month:
The end of final exams. Friday is too far away.
The start of my internship at Philadelphia Magazine.
The celebration of my 21 years of age. Finally.
I guess I am too young to know what a “cold one” tastes like…but I’m sure I could use one right now.
Besides these exciting personal events, which have nothing to do with you, my small handful of possibly devoted readers, May does bestow many great things.
The best produce to buy in May:
Pretty much anything green. This includes brussel sprouts, spinach, peas, lettuce, asparagus, green beans, broccoli, and herbs.
Additionally, spring onions, radishes, strawberries, rhubarb, cauliflower, and watercress are currently in season.
Notice I didn’t mention watermelon. Thank gosh for domestic imports and Produce Junction’s flexible Sunday hours, because I was absolutely craving a cold watermelon-cucumber-feta salad. I am so sorry, I am going completely against everything this blog is supposed to represent (seasonal produce). But I just had to!!!
Last summer my sister found a recipe for a watermelon salad with feta cheese. Before I even laid eyes on the salad my mouth started watering. It was hot that day. And that salad…mmm it was good stuff.
In a hot sweat, frantic to relieve my craving, I searched through my kitchen to find the recipe. I was unable to locate the recipe so I instead concocted something from memory, throwing some extra ingredients into the mix. I was desperate.
The salad was crisp, cold, and juicy. Sweet, salty, and spicy flavors exploded in my mouth.
Ahhhh. So refreshing.
Watermelon-Cucumber-Feta Salad
Ingredients:
2 cups watermelon, diced
¾ cup cucumber, diced
¼ cup sweet onions, diced
3 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
3 tbsp olive oil
fresh mint, finely chopped
salt
pepper
¼ cup feta cheese
Directions:
Combine watermelon, cucumber, and sweet onions in a medium bowl. In a separate small bowl mix lemon juice, olive oil, mint, salt and pepper together. Pour dressing over top of the salad, adding feta cheese on top.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Lemon and Caper Mashed Potatoes
Sometimes you need to step outside of the box. Try something new.
I stepped out of my box. My box of plain mashed potatoes.
I tried something new. Lemon and caper mashed potatoes. Definitely new for me.
Mashed potatoes are simple. Maybe a little mundane at times. They do blend perfectly on the Thanksgiving table, especially with a side of gravy and homemade cranberry sauce.
But hello, it’s spring. I will have none of that on my table.
So it looks like I’m on a lemon kick. I don’t think it will last terribly long—my ever-changing food addictions never really do—but I hope you can enjoy it.
The recipe I found incorporates an interesting combination of flavors. The capers, an ingredient in one of my favorite pasta dishes, intrigued me. These little guys rarely make it into my food repertoire so I thought I’d give them a chance to shine in a new recipe. As I sorted out my ingredients and prepared to begin cooking I grew curious: what exactly are capers and where do they come from?
I will share my findings with you.
According to an article on home cooking, capers are the unripened flower buds of Capparis spinosa, a prickly plant native to the Mediterranean as well as Asia. The first mention of these green buds dates all the way back to 3000 B.C. when they were actually mentioned as a culinary ingredient in Gilgamesh. After harvesting, capers are dried in the sun and cured in vinegar, brine, wine, or salt.
And capers pack quite the punch…these are rich source of antioxidants.
The capers lent a piquant, sour, and salty flavor to the potatoes while the trace of lemon was perfectly subtle. I found this recipe to be a breath of fresh air. And just like plain old mashed potatoes, this recipe is pretty easy.
Some suggestions if you are going to try this recipe out for yourself:
Use a hand-held masher and if you are anything like me, leave the potato skins on…I think it adds character.
If you prefer potatoes un-mashed, try dicing them and throwing them on the grill, smoothing the lemon and caper mixture over top afterwards.
Buon Appetito!
Lemon and Caper Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients:
2 lbs Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
6 tbsp unsalted butter
¾ cup milk
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
3 tbsp capers, drained and coarsely chopped
¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley (fresh is best)
Freshly ground pepper
Dash of salt
Directions:
Place potatoes in a large saucepan with enough water to cover them by 1 inch. Over high heat, bring to a boil. Add salt and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Drain and mash potatoes with a hand-held masher.
While waiting for the potatoes to cook, combine butter, milk, lemon juice, zest, and capers in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Heat until the butter is melted and the mixture is warm.
Stir the milk mixture and parsley into the mashed potatoes and season with salt and pepper.
Serves 4.
(This recipe was adapted from marthastewart.com)
I stepped out of my box. My box of plain mashed potatoes.
I tried something new. Lemon and caper mashed potatoes. Definitely new for me.
Mashed potatoes are simple. Maybe a little mundane at times. They do blend perfectly on the Thanksgiving table, especially with a side of gravy and homemade cranberry sauce.
But hello, it’s spring. I will have none of that on my table.
So it looks like I’m on a lemon kick. I don’t think it will last terribly long—my ever-changing food addictions never really do—but I hope you can enjoy it.
The recipe I found incorporates an interesting combination of flavors. The capers, an ingredient in one of my favorite pasta dishes, intrigued me. These little guys rarely make it into my food repertoire so I thought I’d give them a chance to shine in a new recipe. As I sorted out my ingredients and prepared to begin cooking I grew curious: what exactly are capers and where do they come from?
I will share my findings with you.
According to an article on home cooking, capers are the unripened flower buds of Capparis spinosa, a prickly plant native to the Mediterranean as well as Asia. The first mention of these green buds dates all the way back to 3000 B.C. when they were actually mentioned as a culinary ingredient in Gilgamesh. After harvesting, capers are dried in the sun and cured in vinegar, brine, wine, or salt.
And capers pack quite the punch…these are rich source of antioxidants.
The capers lent a piquant, sour, and salty flavor to the potatoes while the trace of lemon was perfectly subtle. I found this recipe to be a breath of fresh air. And just like plain old mashed potatoes, this recipe is pretty easy.
Some suggestions if you are going to try this recipe out for yourself:
Use a hand-held masher and if you are anything like me, leave the potato skins on…I think it adds character.
If you prefer potatoes un-mashed, try dicing them and throwing them on the grill, smoothing the lemon and caper mixture over top afterwards.
Buon Appetito!
Lemon and Caper Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients:
2 lbs Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
6 tbsp unsalted butter
¾ cup milk
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
3 tbsp capers, drained and coarsely chopped
¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley (fresh is best)
Freshly ground pepper
Dash of salt
Directions:
Place potatoes in a large saucepan with enough water to cover them by 1 inch. Over high heat, bring to a boil. Add salt and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Drain and mash potatoes with a hand-held masher.
While waiting for the potatoes to cook, combine butter, milk, lemon juice, zest, and capers in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Heat until the butter is melted and the mixture is warm.
Stir the milk mixture and parsley into the mashed potatoes and season with salt and pepper.
Serves 4.
(This recipe was adapted from marthastewart.com)
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