Staying Cool with a Classic

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Sometimes when dinnertime rolls around, I feel like just sticking with the basics, and I seem to be in that kind of mood this week. Here’s another simple recipe for summer, that has a little kick of spice to it, but cools you down at the same time: Classic Curried Chicken Salad. For those who can’t eat curry, I’ve added a non-curry variation to the recipe, too,  substituting tarragon for the curry and pecans for the almonds in the form of a Tarragon Pecan Chicken Salad. Both make a wonderful main dish for a hot summer night. And if there’s just two of you, there will be more for tomorrow. Joy!

seedless red grapes

chopped celery

toasted slivered almonds

roasted chicken breast

Taters 101, 2, 3

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Tiny red potatoes and rosemary

All dressed up and ready for the oven.

Roasted and ready to eat!

Who doesn’t love a good ‘tater? Baked. Boiled. Smashed. Grilled. Fried. Sauteed. Salad-i-fied. Totted. Roasted.

‘Tis the season for new potatoes and fingerlings, and one of my favorite and quickest ways to prepare them is roasted. With a little scrub, a few quick cuts, a little olive oil, salt, pepper and a few fresh herbs you may have on hand, you can eat restaurant-style potatoes any day of the week. And by changing your herbs, changing your cut, adding a little garlic powder, paprika or cayenne, a little onion and bell pepper—or combos of the above—you can have a completely different side dish customized for whatever meal you’re making.

Last night we had these rosemary roasted potatoes as a side to souvlaki and tzatziki. I usually make a frittata with any leftover potatoes, if I have them—adding some veggies, cheese and sometimes a little ham to the mix—because potatoes and eggs are so good together. Here’s a basic technique for roasted potatoes with variations, and an easy way to “bake” potatoes on the grill. Also try roasting or grilling potatoes for your next vinaigrette-based potato salad.

What’s your favorite easy spud preparation? Do tell…

Related Links:  Souvlaki, Tzatziki

Quick Bite: Oakhurst Market

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The remaining half of my pimento cheese sandwich, moments before it disappeared.

Doing errands earlier today. Stopped by to glance around the newly opened Oakhurst Market in the Oakhurst neighborhood of Decatur, GA. Very attractive place. Nice meats and produce, homemade bread, sweets, ice cream, wine, beer, flavored olive oils which are custom poured by the bottle, other useful pantry items, sandwiches and spreads. Snagged a pimento cheese sandwich out of the cold case on the fly. Homemade pimento cheese, served on homemade white bread, thin slices of cucumber in between the pimento cheese which has the tiniest bit of sherry wine vinegar in it. Inspired, and only $3.00! Sweet. Can’t wait to see how they progress. Will go back.

A Rosé By Any Other Name…

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One beautiful sunny summer day 11 years ago, while sitting in a little bistro in a small village overlooking the Mediterranean in the south of France, I tasted my first glass of a Provençal rosé wine. The moment I breathed in the fragrance of it—the grass, the flowers, the fruit, the slight minerality—I started to understand and really appreciate the difference between red and white wines, and what can happen in between. At that moment, I became a devout fan, and rosé is now my favorite warm weather wine. Continue reading →

Chill Out

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A big story here in the South this week is the record high summer temperatures—as is the case with many parts of the country—and finding some way, any way, to beat the heat is a high priority.

Last night, all I wanted for dinner was something cool and salad-ish, and I already had some fresh butterbeans that I’d picked up at the market. My good friend Diane is a great cook, and one fine summer day she served me a brilliant and inspired dish called Butterbean Salad at her house, which has been my favorite way to eat butterbeans ever since. This salad made from cooked fresh butterbeans, sweet jarred roasted red peppers, red onion, fresh basil leaves and feta cheese—all tossed with a simple vinaigrette—is just plain wonderful. Cool and summery, it goes with just about anything from burgers to veggies, or even an all-salad meal. Continue reading →

Savoring Summer’s Tomatoes

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Summer Tomato Caprese Pie

Tomatoes. Let me count some of the ways these wonders of summer can be used. There are BLT’s, roasted tomatoes, pastas, Caprese salad, salsas, a slice on your favorite sandwich or burger, and just plain sliced by themselves with a little salt and pepper—the versatility of the tomato is endless. Continue reading →

Postcard from Florence

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Last weekend for the 4th of July holiday, we journeyed to my hometown of Florence, Alabama to see family and friends, and to visit some of my favorite haunts from childhood. My intention was to share some thoughts about a great little soda and sandwich shop that we always go to when we are there, but something happened as I looked at my hometown with fresh eyes…I saw so much more to share. So this is my postcard to you from Florence…and maybe you’ll just wish you were there, too! Continue reading →

Glorious Greece: Part 1, Tzatziki

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It was 12 years ago this spring that my husband and I went to Greece on our honeymoon, and I’ve had a love affair with Greece and Greek food ever since.

Wildflowers in an olive orchard, Maleme, Crete.

We spent a large part of our trip on the island of Crete, where the wildflowers and wild thyme were in bloom, and where many endemic plant and animal species and subspecies are not to be found anywhere else in the world. It’s a truly magnificent and diverse island in its terrain, culture and in the food. The inhabitants of Crete are especially known for their healthy lifestyles, and for food dishes featuring what’s locally available—and some of the world’s best foragers of wild plants live there. To this day, I will never forget my first taste of Horta, wild greens cooked in garlic, olive oil and lemon, and what a revelation it was to me to realize that I could love greens­. There was also Horiatiki, a refreshing salad of cucumber, tomato, onion, kalamata olives and feta. And oh, those Cretan hot pots—stews of meat, herbs and vegetables, topped with grated hard local cheese and then cooked in small covered clay pots—something I would love to taste again and cannot replicate. Continue reading →

Rain Delays and Raindogs

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Friday night plan:
Stay home. Grill out turkey burgers. Make potato salad. Dinner on the deck. Check.
Prepping sun dried tomatoes, shallots and basil for the burgers, mix well with the meat.
Roasting potatoes in the oven. Make the vinaigrette. Toss with the warm potatoes. Check.
Enter sudden darkness and KABOOM! It’s pouring, down and horizontally, rain.

Plan B:
Create a cocktail with the spouse to pass the time until, or if, grilling is possible, since after all, necessity is the mother of invention. Continue reading →

Squashed.

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So, if you read my CSA post from last week, you’ll remember I had squash in the box (sounds like a band name), and last night I squashed it into a casserole.

Squashed squash with onions and peppers.

When I was little I was like a lot of kids…I wouldn’t eat squash. It smelled bad, it looked funny and yuck! It was a VEGETABLE! My mom kept working on me though, and eventually came up with a recipe for a squash casserole featuring lots of cheese, and I started thinking: “hey, this squash stuff isn’t too bad.”

Nowadays it’s one of my favorite vegetables, and I so look forward to the fresh squashes that come with summer because they can and do provide some mighty fine eating. In addition to the ubiquitous yellow squashes and zucchini, some of the great heirloom varieties of summer squashes like Pattypan are now readily available, too. Continue reading →