The first of the season’s tomatoes are here. I doubt you need much inspiration for these. Tossed with the lettuce and a light vinaigrette and some thinly sliced Walla Walla’s, it’s summer on a plate. And if you have a proclivity for hamburgers then those Walla Wallas, tomatoes and lettuce make the perfect burger. And one my favorite summer suppers is the modified Nicoise Salad. It can be adapted all summer long, is beautiful, cool and fortifying. Enjoy!
Recipes
Parsley and Pumpkin Seed Pesto
Cook-With-What-You-Have Nicoise Salad
Grilled/Broiled Summer Squash with Parsley Garlic Sauce (Salsa Verde)
Green Curry Summer Squash Soup
Beans with Lentils, Parsley and Bacon or Prosciutto
Savory Bread Pudding with Chard
Parsley and Pumpkin Seed Pesto
This is a wonderful thing to do with a big beautiful bunch of parsley. You must toast the pumpkin seeds first—it takes just about 5 minutes in a dry heavy skillet on medium-high heat, shaking often to ensure even toasting. The seeds begin popping when they’re just about done. Be careful not to burn and cool before using.
I use a food processor for this but if you don’t have one you can make a slightly less uniform version by grating the cheese finely and minced/chopping everything else as by hand as finely as you can.
I use this pesto spread on crostini or sandwiches. I stir some into the egg yolk mixture for deviled eggs. I add it to scrambled eggs. I stir it into Greek yogurt for a sauce or topping for most anything. I dilute it a little (water, cream, more oil and/or lemon juice) for a dressing for grain or bean salads. …And of course you can serve it with pasta like basil pesto. Be sure to thin it with a bit of hot, starchy pasta cooking water in that case.
1 bunch parsley, thoroughly washed and tough stems cut off and discarded. Please don’t worry about picking the leaves off the stems. All you need to do is cut off the bottom, stem ends of the bunch.
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
1-2 ounces Parmesan (or aged Asiago called Asiago Stella available at Pastaworks/City Market), cut or broken into small-ish chunks
½ cup toasted, cooled pumpkin seeds (see headnote)
1/3 cup good-tasting olive oil (or more)
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Squeeze of lemon juice (to taste)
Process the cheese in the food processor until quite fine. Add minced garlic and toasted pumpkin seeds and process again until the seeds are finely chopped. Add the parsley and process again until its very finely chopped. Add oil, sea salt and pepper. Pulse a few times and taste. Adjust for salt and add just a touch of lemon juice. You don’t want a pronounced lemon flavor, but just a little to brighten everything up.
Cook With What You Have Salade Nicoise
I take the idea of Salade Nicoise and adapt it all summer long, i.e. take fresh and/or cooked vegetables, good Oregon Albacore (usually canned), and barely hardboiled eggs, drizzled with an herby dressing, as a complete, fabulous dinner.
For this week’s share you could use the beans, new potatoes, Walla Walla Sweets and parsley (in the dressing). You could also grill some of the summer squash and add it to the mix and you can grill the onions or slice them very thinly and leave them raw.
Quantities are of course to be adapted to suit your needs and can be varied in all ways. You just want enough dressing for everything to scale that up if you’re using more vegetables.
Serves 4
¾ lb green (Burgundy or yellow) beans, trimmed
¾-1 lb potatoes, scrubbed and cut into thumb-sized chunks
1 large tomato, cut into 3/4-inch wedges
Summer squash, sliced and broiled or grilled (see headnote)
4 eggs, hardboiled (but just barely –see note below)
½ or more of a Wall Walla Sweet, sliced thinly (or more onion, grilled—see headnote)
1-2 cans albacore (5-6 oz) or fresh if you have it, seared
Dressing:
10 sprigs parsley (more or less), finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoon red wine vinegar (more to taste)
1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
5 tablespoons good-tasting olive oil (more to taste)
2 tablespoons mayonnaise (or aioli if you happen to have some made) or Greek yogurt
Salt and pepper
My favorite way to hard-boil eggs is to bring the water to a boil and then immediately turn off the heat and set your timer for 8-9 minutes. Then drain the eggs and run under cold water. This will give you perfectly cooked eggs with firm but slightly creamy yolks—no chalkiness or gray lines in site. Eggs like this are perfect for this kind of a composed salad. Peal eggs and cut into quarters.
Bring a large pot of water to which you’ve added 1-2 tablespoons kosher salt to a rapid boil. Put in the beans and brink back to a boil as quickly as possible. Cooking really brings out the flavor in green beans and after 5-6 minutes you loose the “squeak” that you get if they’re not quite done enough. Drain them after 5-6 minutes and run under cold water. I don’t bother with the ice-bath method but you certainly can.
Cook potatoes until tender.
Arrange the quartered eggs, beans, potatoes and onions and squash (if using) on a large platter. Put the tuna, broken up into pieces in the center. Mix all dressing ingredients together well and drizzle over everything. Serve with good crusty bread.
Grilled/Broiled Summer Squash with Parsley Garlic Sauce (Salsa Verde)
This takes a little time but is delicious and beautiful and lovely on a hot day.
3 medium zucchini or other summer squash, thinly sliced long-ways (if zucchini) about ¼-inch thick
Olive oil for brushing squash
½ bunch parsley, finely chopped
1 medium to large clove garlic, minced
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
¼ – 1/3 cup good olive oil
Salt & freshly ground pepper
You can cook the squash one of three ways. You can brush with olive oil and broil on sheet pan, flipping once browned on one side until slightly browned and tender on both sides. You can grill on the barbeque or you can cook in a large heavy skillet on the stovetop in just a touch of olive oil. All work great. The stovetop is probably the fastest. However you cook them, once cooked spread them out on a platter in a single layer.
Mix all the salsa verde ingredients together, taste and adjust seasoning. Then drizzle/spread sauce over squash. Let rest for 15 minutes if you can before serving. Serve at room temperature.
Green Curry Summer Squash Soup
–adapted from Super Natural Everyday by Heidi Swanson
4-5 medium zucchini or other summer squash, sliced into 1/2 inch slices
1/2 a medium onion, thinly sliced
4-5 small potatoes, scrubbed well but no need to peel and cut into small dice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 – 2 heaping teaspoons green curry paste (Thai and True brand or Mae Ploy or homemade!)
1 can full fat coconut milk
2 cups vegetable broth or stock
1/4 cup Thai basil or regular basil leaves, packed and roughly chopped (saving a bit for garnish)
Salt
Squeeze of lime juice to taste (optional)
Cooked white or brown, long grain rice
Put a large soup pot on medium high heat. Add about 3-4 tablespoons of the solid part of the coconut milk that makes up about the top fourth of the can, to the hot pan. Add the 1-2 teaspoons (depending on how much heat you want) of green curry paste and mash it up with the back of a spoon and blend it into the coconut milk. Fry this mixture for a couple of minutes until it becomes fragrant.
Add the sliced onion and fry for a few minutes until it softens. Add the squash and potatoes, several generous pinches of salt and cook, stirring often for 3-4 minutes. Then add the garlic, the remainder of the coconut milk and the broth. Bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Add most of the basil (reserving some for a garnish) and cook for another minute or two. Adjust seasoning and add a squeeze of lime juice, if using.
Serve hot over rice and garnished with more basil.
Beans with Lentils, Parsley and Possibly Prosciutto
Lentils get overlooked a bit in the summer but I especially love salads with small green lentils in the summer. You can make them ahead of time and then have a robust, room temperature dish for whenever you need it. You want to cook the beans well for this recipe, getting them a bit browned in the pan.
You can add pork in one of two ways—in the form of diced bacon that you sauté with the onion and beans or in the form of thinly sliced prosciutto you have on the side—to this dish or not at all. If you don’t and if you do have some walnut oil, use that for the dressing.
1 cup small French green lentils or other small lentils that keep their shape when cooked
½ – 3/4 lb Burgundy or Yellow Beans, washed, trimmed and cut into 1-2 inch lengths
4 slices bacon, diced or 3 ounces prosciutto thinly sliced
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1-2 tablespoons sherry vinegar (or more red wine vinegar if you don’t have sherry vinegar)
2 small-ish garlic cloves, crushed and then minced
3 (or more) tablespoons good olive oil
½ cup finely diced Walla Walla Sweet (or more to taste)
Sea salt and pepper (to taste)
¼ cup chopped parsley
Cook the lentils until tender, about 20 minutes (this will vary depending on the kind of lentil you have). You want them to be tender but keep their shape so check frequently.
Drain them and immediately toss them with the vinegars, garlic and olive oil. Set aside.
Meanwhile, cook the beans with the diced bacon (if going that route) in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. You want to get the beans tender and a bit caramelized.
Toss the warm beans and bacon with the dressed lentils, season generously with salt and pepper and stir in the parsley. Taste and adjust seasoning. If you are serving this with prosciutto, omit the bacon and serve prosciutto on the side with some good, crusty bread.
Savory Bread Pudding with Chard
I make this dish for dinner though I it seems to be a more typical brunch dish in America. I grew up eating eggs for dinner in a variety of forms and I highly recommend it!
This is another wonderful dish to have in your CSA cooking repertoire since you can add most any vegetable. You could add some of the summer squash from this week’s share too. And I always of bread (or bread ends of good crusty bread) either in the fridge or freezer and some eggs and milk which are the basic ingredients for this dish. You can also add sausage or leftover chicken if you like as well. You can make it drier with more bread or more custardy with more milk and/or eggs. The point is don’t feel you half to follow the below quantities and just use the technique to use up whatever you have or use your favorite veggies/herbs. It also makes excellent leftovers either served at room temperature or reheated.
5 eggs
3 cups milk
5-6 large slices bread, cubed (or various ends for a total of about 5-6 cups of cubed bread)
½ an onion, diced
1 bunch chard, washed, stems diced and leaves cut into ribbons
Couple of sprigs of parsley, chopped (optional)
Grated cheese (cheddar, or parmesan or crumbled feta or goat cheese) (optional)
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 375 (or 400 if you’re in a hurry). Cube the bread. In a large bowl whisk the eggs and milk. Salt and pepper generously and add the chopped herbs. Heat a little olive oil in a sauté pan, add onions and chard stems and sauté for about 7-8 minutes until softened. Add the chard and sauté for another 3-4 minutes. Add sautéed veggies to bread mixture. Pour into a 9 x 13 baking dish, top with grated or crumbled cheese, if using and bake for about 30 minutes, or until set and slightly browned on top. Again if you’re in a hurry turn on the broiler for the last few minutes to get the cheese and top nice and crusty.
Note: You can assemble the bread pudding in the morning and let it rest in the fridge all day before baking. It’s actually even better if the bread has time to really soak up the custard.