Corn and Tomato Salad with Honey-Lime Vinaigrette

Another great week at the farmer's market. Corn was in abundance and there was an array of tomato varieties to choose from. I came home with a bunch of beautiful orange tomatoes and a few Cherokee Purple ones. This year I am growing Cherokee Purples in my garden but they aren't ready yet. So, I decided to a buy a few to learn what I have to look forward too next week when mine have ripened.

This is a quick corn and tomato salad that highlights the best of summer. The picture is a little dark but is was almost dusk before I got around to making the salad. The tomatoes had this beautiful purplish hue (Eddie says the tomatoes actually look like raw tuna in the pictures) and were divine. I can't wait until mine ripen.

The leftovers were great the next day for lunch!


Corn and Tomato Salad
Serves 3

3 ears of corn
1 tomato, diced (preferably an heirloom variety)
2 tbs. chopped chives

1 1/2 teas. honey
1 tbs. olive oil
2 tbs. fresh lime juice

Salt and pepper to taste.

1. Bring a pot of water to boil.
2. Cook corn cobs in boiling water for 2 minutes. Remove and let cool.
3. Cut kernels of the cob.
4. Combine corn kernels, diced tomato and chives
5. Whisk together honey, olive oil, and lime juice. Pour over corn and tomato mixture.
6. Season with salt and pepper.

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Balsamic-Marinated Red Onions

Hello from Hilton Head! I am on vacation this week with my husband's family and in true "Erin style" I packed our car full of kitchen stuff to bring down here. That is the great thing about driving to a vacation destination... you can fill the car with all kinds of stuff that for some reason you need, but if you were flying you somehow wouldn't need it.

So, this week I loaded that car up with cake pans, my Kitchenaid mixer, bamboo steamer, spices, cookbooks and other random kitchen items that I deemed necessary. The night before we left Eddie said "sure, take whatever you want." Then, when he decided at 3:00 in morning on Saturday that he couldn't sleep anymore and we should go ahead and leave for the beach that I was crazy for bringing all this stuff. That's right... my husband got me up at 3:00 a.m. to drive to Hilton Head. Since I run a little slower at 3:00 a.m. he had to pack the car and then all of a sudden I was "packing everything but the kitchen sink." So, now my goal is to use every item I brought just to prove that they were necessary.

But I digress...

My first new recipe of the week is Balsamic-Marinated Red Onions. This came out of The Summer House Cookbook by Debra Ponzek and Geralyn Delaney Graham. We gilled up some steaks and fish for dinner last night and this was the perfect accompaniment. The balsamic viniger and orange juice marinade cuts the bite of the onions and the orange juice really shines through. Total prep time was about 5 minutes, I let them marinate for about 5 hours, then tossed them on the grill with the meat. Delish!

View recipe after the jump.



Balsamic-Marinated Red Onions
Adapted from The Summer House Cookbook by
Debra Ponzek and Geralyn Delaney Graham
Serves 4

2 red onions, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbs. sugar
Grated zest of 1 orange
Juice of 1 orange
Salt and Pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. (I used a flat pan so that the slices could lay flat.)

2. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

3. On a medium-hot grill, cook onions for 5 minutes on each side, or until they are tender but still hold their shape.

4. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

*** These could also be a great appitizer: Cut them up and serve on toasted bread with a little bit of goat cheese.

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Farmer's Market Succotash

It is a great time of year for local produce. At the farmer’s market this morning there was plenty of corn, fava beans, green beans, blueberries, cherries, cucumbers, radishes, carrots, and I started to see the first of summer eggplant, peppers and more tomatoes than last week. (Have I mentioned that I am a die-hard farmer’s market shopper?)

This is a veggie side dish that I love to make this time of year. It is so fresh and incorporates the best that summer has to offer. I usually serve it with grilled fish, but would be equally delicious with any grilled meat. In this recipe I use fresh fava beans, but later in the summer fresh lima or butter beans would make a great substitute.

Here are a few tips if you have never worked with fava beans and get them still in the pod. You must remove the fava’s from the pod like any other bean. However, the bean is also surrounded by a thick shell that should be removed before cooking. I just make a small slit in the shell with a paring knife and then pull it back. Inside will be the bean. Fava’s should be cooked first in boiling water for 3-4 minutes before being added to any dish.

Hope this makes an appearance at your dinner table!

Recipe after the jump.



Farmer’s Market Succotash

1 ½ tbs. olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
4 ears corns, kernel cut off. (Save the cob to make broth)
1 ½ cups fava beans, parboiled
½ cup diced red pepper
Salt and Pepper
¼ c. chopped basil

1. Heat oil in large skillet on medium heat.
2. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute.
3. Add corn kernals, fava beans and red pepper. Cook 5-6 minutes until corn is cooked.
4. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Toss in basil and serve.

Serves 4

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Spinach and Cauliflower Gratin

My husband doesn’t eat meat. Seafood, but no meat. Since most one pot meals are then off the table, I am always looking for new ways of getting veggies to the table. A friend at work came into my office recently and told me about a fabulous gratin she had the night before at a dinner party. As far as I’m concerned, anything with cream on top gets an extra 5 points in my book. So, did some investigating and found this Spinach and Cauliflower Gratin in Julia Childs The Way to Cook. The steps in the recipe spanned at least three pages, so I was thinking this would take forever to prepare. But really, there are four simple steps and by tweaking the recipe you can have it put together and into the oven in less than 20 minutes. That’s my type of cooking. When the gratin came out of the oven bubbling with creamy goodness, I knew this was a winner. It was absolutly delicious. Even my husband said he would like to see this come across the dinner table again. It was so good that I ate it for breakfast and lunch the next day.

The recipe feeds 4-6. Can definitely be made ahead of time, even the day before, just adjust the cooking time if the gratin goes into the oven straight from the fridge.

Spinach and Cauliflower Gratin
1 head cauliflower

2 tbs. olive oil
5 cups chopped spinach.
½ c. chopped shallots (or white onion)
Salt/pepper
Ground nutmeg

2 ½ tbs. unsalted butter
3 ½ tbs. flour
2 cups hot milk
Salt and pepper
¾ cup grated swiss or gruyere cheese

1. Cut cauliflower head into smallish florets. Steam in a bamboo basket or steamer for 3-5 minutes. Do not overcook! Remember the cauliflower will continue to cook in the oven. Set aside
2. Melt olive oil in medium skillet. Sauté onion till translucent (7-9 minutes). Toss in spinach and cook till spinach has wilted. Remove from heat. Season with salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg. Set Aside.
3. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour. Cook for 2-3 minutes while continuously stirring. Pour in ½ c. hot milk. Whisk vigorously to make get rid of any lumps. Pour in remaining milk and bring mixture to a simmer. Let simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat, stir in cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
4. In a 6 x 8 baking pan, combine spinach mixture and 3 tbs. of cheese sauce. Stir together and smooth into an even layer on bottom on pan. Arrange cauliflower on top of spinach. Pour remaining cheese sauce on top.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes in a 425 degree oven. Remove when cheese sauce is bubbly and top has lightly browned.
Enjoy!

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