Lots of simple ideas and quick dishes this week. It’s going to be hot again so having a few of these room temperature or chilled sides/dips like the baba ganoush (I’ve included a version for summer squash which is delicious as well!) and the beets with mint and yogurt might be useful. The kale bruschetta is worth a try as is the Roasted eggplant–beautiful and addictive. Enjoy!
Corn Ideas
Tomato Bread Gratin
Simple Fresh Tomato Sauce
Roasted Eggplant with Simple Tomato Sauce and Basil
Kale Notes
Eggplant or Summer Squash “Baba Ganoush”
Beets with Mint and Yogurt
Corn Ideas
• Corn is an unorthodox pizza topping but it’s delicious. Try sautéing lots of onions sliced into 1/4 –inch half rounds, add the kernels from a few ears of corn and a bit of diced bacon (optional) and top a very thinly rolled out pizza dough with it over a good slick of olive oil. Top with lots of sliced fresh basil when it comes out of the oven. You could add a bit of grated cheese towards the end of the cooking time if you’d like. And lots of freshly ground pepper and sea salt.
• Sauté a bunch of diced onion, diced zucchini and corn to make a scramble or a frittata—again basil would be a delicious addition.
Tomato Bread Gratin
–Adapted from Ina Garten
You can poach or fry an egg to serve on top of this or just have it with a salad for dinner. We had it for dinner this week with beautiful, steamed artichokes and that was dinner. Leftovers are as good or better than the first round—if you can keep from eating it all.
Serves 4
3-4 cups bread from a good crusty loaf with a fairly open crumb (if you’re in Portland Grand Central Como or Levain is perfect or other French/Italian style bread—not sandwich bread), cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 – 2 1/2 pounds tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice
or if supplementing with cherry tomatoes just cut those in half
3 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup thinly slivered basil leaves, lightly packed
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan or other hard cheese
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high. Add the bread cubes and stir so that they are evenly coated with oil. Cook cubes, tossing frequently, until toasty on all sides, about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine tomatoes, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper in a large bowl. When the bread cubes are toasted, add the tomato mixture and cook them together, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in the basil. Pour into a shallow (6 to 8 cup) baking dish and top with Parmesan cheese. Bake 35 to 40 minutes until the top is browned and the tomatoes are bubbly. Serve hot or warm with a big green salad, a bean salad and/or a poached egg.
Simple Tomato Sauce
This time of year is really too good to be true. I don’t have enough stomach space and meals in the day to make and eat everything I want to right now. This sauce is so versatile and makes good use of the bounty of tomatoes right now. It also freezes well so make lots if you want. It’s perfect on pizzas, with pasta of course, or layered with rounds of eggplant and baked (see below) or a dozen other ways.
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 tablespoons olive oil (or 1 tbs oil and 1 tbs butter)
6 cups (more or less) coarsely chopped tomatoes (mix of new girls and heirlooms or just one or the other is fine. The heirlooms will be juicier and will take longer to cook down.)
Salt
2 tablespoons butter (optional but highly recommended)
In a large skillet heat the oil or oil and butter over medium high heat. Add the onions and sauté, stirring frequently for about 8-10 minutes until softened but not brown. Turn down if they begin to brown. Add the tomatoes and bring to a rapid boil and then turn down to medium. Add a few generous pinches of salt and cook for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally until the sauce thickens and any watery juices have cooked off. Taste and adjust seasoning. Add the optional butter at the very end. It really rounds things out but is by no means essential.
Roasted Eggplant with Simple Tomato Sauce and Basil
–adapted from teaandcookiesblog.com
This is so simple and so delicious. It takes a bit of time to bake but if you have some sauce already made it just takes a few minutes to assemble. Make a big green salad to accompany it and fry or poach eggs to go on top of the stacks if you’d like and you’ve got dinner.
1 large eggplant
¾ cup grated Parmesan or other hard cheese
2 – 2 ½ cups tomato sauce (recipe above)
2-3 tablespoons chopped basil
Preheat oven to 350.
Slice the eggplant across the width into slices roughly 1/3 of an inch (don’t go bigger than 1/2 inch or it will take too long to bake) and sprinkle with salt on both sides. Let sit in a bowl for 30 minutes to an hour and discard any liquid in the bottom of the bowl. Pat the slices dry and set aside. You can skip this step if you’re in a hurry. It speeds up the cooking process a bit but your eggplants are so fresh there will be no bitterness that you need to remove with this process.
Grease the bottom of a glass or metal baking dish with vegetable or canola oil. Place the largest slices on the bottom and spoon 1/4 cup of sauce over and sprinkle with a little bit of grated cheese. Top with next largest slices and repeat with the sauce and cheese. Continue until you have three layers of eggplant. Make sure to top with a good amount of sauce and just a little cheese.
If you have any awkward ends to the eggplant, score them and top with extra sauce and bake in the pan with the stacks. They make a good snack.
Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until the eggplant is soft all the way through. If your sauce is beginning to brown on top, use some foil to tent over the eggplant.
Kale Notes
• Simply sauté the kale with a bunch of sliced onions and a clove or two of minced garlic in a generous glug of olive oil. Let cook slowly for about 20-30 minutes for the most luscious side dish. You could add ½ or more cup of diced tomatoes to the mix towards the beginning and they will create a luscious tomatoe-y coating. Don’t forget to season well with sea salt.
• I love bruschetta piled high with slowly cooked kale. Toast or grill good crusty slices of bread. Rub them with a clove of garlic and then pile on the kale that you’ve cooked for about 20-25 minutes in a bit of olive oil with nothing but salt. Drizzle the whole thing with the best olive oil you have and another sprinkling of good sea salt. Fry and egg and put that on top and call it dinner.
Eggplant or Summer Squash “Baba Ganoush”
–adapted from davidlebovitz.com
Baba ganoush is the smoky eggplant puree that I find terribly addictive. You can also use the same technique and seasonings with zucchini or other summer squash. This week you could use either eggplant or summer squash or a combo. If you by chance of smoked salt in your pantry (I do not but have been meaning to get some) use it in this dish.
You can add a pinch of ground cumin if you’d like. It’s a nice addition as long as it’s very subtle.
2 medium-sized eggplants or 3 medium to large summer squash
¼ cup tahini (sesame paste)
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1/8 teaspoon chile powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup of mint leaves or cilantro, chopped (optional)
Preheat the oven to 400F
Prick each eggplant a few times, then char the outside of the eggplants by placing them directly on the flame of a gas burner and as the skin chars, turn them until the eggplants are uniformly-charred on the outside. (If you don’t have a gas stove, you can char them under the broiler. If not, skip to the next step.) If you are using squash you can skip this step too.
Place the eggplants and/or summer squash on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for about 30 minutes, until they’re completely soft; you should be able to easily poke a paring knife into them and meet no resistance. Remove from oven and let cool a bit.
Split the eggplant and scrape out the pulp. No need to do this for squash if that’s what you’re using. Puree the pulp in a blender or food processor with the other ingredients until smooth.
Taste, and season with additional salt and lemon juice, if necessary. Serve drizzle with olive oil, perhaps some herbs and with crackers, sliced baguette, or toasted pita chips for dipping.
Baba Ganoush can be made and refrigerated for up to five days prior to serving.
Beets with Mint and Yogurt
–adapted from Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian
This is a bit like an Indian tzatziki, the Greek dish of cucumbers, yogurt, dill and garlic. It’s a crazy color—much like the beet pesto you might have a made a few weeks ago. Don’t be put off by the color—it’s very good. Serve it with good bread, with hardboiled eggs or boiled potatoes, rice, etc.
And you might as well roast or boil all your beets at once and then use some for this dish, some diced in a salad or tossed with some goat or blue cheese and toasted nuts and a simple vinaigrette.
2 medium boiled or roasted beets, peeled and cooled
2 cups whole milk plain or Greek yogurt
½ teaspoon or more sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne (more or less to taste) (optional)
2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 small garlic cloves, sliced (not terribly thin)
Grate the beets on the large holes of a box grater. Put the yogurt in a bowl and whisk it briefly to until it is smooth and creamy. Add the salt, pepper and cayenne, if using. Mix well. Add the beets and mint and mix gently.
Put the oil and garlic slices in a small skillet and set over medium-high heat. The garlic will begin to sizzle and then press down on it with a spatula and let it sizzle some more, turning the pieces once or twice, until they turn just golden brown. Now our the flavored oil and the garlic into the bowl with the yogurt and mix.