Summer produce is usually so good that it doesn't need much to make it better. But when you are looking to spice things up, we have a few ideas to make your Summer snacks more interesting and elegant. Butter, citrus juice, and salt are a few of the no-brainers, but we've thrown in some oddball ingredients too, like ginger and kelp sprinkle.
Taco night is a rarity in my house. For some reason, I just can't wrap my head around getting all the ingredients prepared and laying everything out for easy assembly. Fortunately, I found a way to get my fill of taco night flavors in a fast and easy (and healthy!) salad form.
My recipes tend to be inspired by beautiful produce, and when I got my hands on some stunning purple radishes, I knew they would be a crisp and refreshing component of this salad. Jalapeño, garlic, and cumin bring a lot of flavor to ground beef, and it takes just minutes to come together.
For this simple recipe, keep reading.
This spaghetti recipe highlights the fava bean, a veggie that requires a somewhat fussy preparation to shell and skin but is revered in the food world for its fresh, slightly nutty flavor. Plan to cook and shell the beans the night before to make this pasta a quick fix for family, friends, or yourself.
The simple ingredient list actually contains a complex range of flavors: saltiness of the pancetta; acidity from the wine, lemon, and tomatoes; and buttery flavor from the fava beans. Take a look at the recipe now.
With a seared exterior and soft, tender interior, scallops have a mild flavor that complement a rich, buttery wine sauce. There are a few insider tricks to ensuring that scallops come out crispy on the outside yet tender on the inside. First, preheat the skillet, so it is nice and hot before adding the scallops. This speeds up the cooking time to create a sear rather than simply steaming the scallops.
Second, be sure to add salt and pepper the scallops only just before throwing them in the pan. Salt draws out the moisture, but the scallops will steam if salted and left out for too long. And last — but not least — as soon as the scallops hit the pan, do not touch them or move them around with tongs. When you're finished cooking the scallops, don't overlook the fond (crispy pieces stuck to the bottom of the pan). That's concentrated flavor right there, so don't throw it all away! Instead, I recommend deglazing the pan with wine to make a speedy sauce. In addition to boosting the flavor of sauces, deglazing a pan also reduces cleaning time. So stop furiously scrubbing your pans at the end of the night, and start deglazing!
This particular scallop recipe goes with just about any starch. Stir in whatever leftover herbs you have, spoon over extra sauce, and let the starch soak up the gloriously buttery, herby flavors. See the scallop recipe.
The heat wave has (sort of) made its way to San Francisco, and for the first time in longer than I can remember, I am craving fresh, raw produce. After making three batches of scones last week, I've surpassed my dairy quota and sought a way to make a creamy, satisfying chilled soup, sans cream or milk.
Summer corn is sweet and tender when eaten raw. To make use of its seasonality, I juiced corn kernels and made a milky soup starter. When blended with avocado, this soup develops a thick creaminess, plus the avocado imparts a mighty green hue. The salsa garnish provides a contrasting crunch, and the lump crab meat is a salty little bonus (however, it's also easy to leave out for vegetarians). All in all, the recipe is quick to prep and serve, keeping you and your kitchen cool when it's boiling outside. See the recipe for the chilled corn and avocado soup now.
For a nice departure from a heavy meat-and-potatoes meal, keep yourself satisfied with a wholesome Asian steak and noodle salad. With plenty of crunch, tang, and color, it's just as easy and comforting as what you'd order from your favorite restaurant, only cheaper.
The key to this recipe is the ginger, soy, and lime marinade, which infuses the meat with umami-rich flavor. Watch our video to learn how this lettuce, rice noodle, and beef creation comes together, then print out the recipe and make it tonight.
Cheddar has nothing on a good blue cheese burger. The funky flavor and saltiness of blue cheese shines but does not overpower the beef, and it's enough to elevate the roadside burger to a bona fide bistro burger. Even if you're blue cheese adverse, it truly is all about the cheese choice. Using a high-quality blue cheese, like the tart, creamy Point Reyes Original Blue Cheese, may make you change your mind. I made these for a friend who claims that she's anti-blue cheese, and she practically inhaled her burger before I plated mine.
I love that a classic Caesar can be whipped up in a pinch, and now that we've hit grilling season, I experimented a little by charring lettuce leaves directly on the grill. By quickly grilling the romaine lettuce, I imparted a charred flavor that's irresistible with a creamy Caesar salad dressing.
Of course, every Caesar salad needs croutons, so I lightly coated slices of bread in olive oil before grilling them alongside romaine lettuce. I wasn't able to source fresh anchovies but picked up salted whole anchovies, which I rinsed and lightly grilled for a boost of fish flavor.
The result? A salad that makes for a great first course for any barbecue party — or, with grilled chicken, a complete Summer meal. Heat up the barbeque and get to grilling this Summer Caesar salad.
In its classic preparation, pasta carbonara is immensely comforting but a hair heavier than I typically crave this time of year. To make this fast and easy dish springtime-friendly, I add fresh flavor in the form of grassy, slightly sweet leeks, a hefty handful of parsley, and a few slivers of candy-sweet sun-dried tomatoes.
Thin wisps of leeks take to browning in a bath of bacon drippings magnificently, without tacking on more than a couple minutes of prep time, keeping this fresh take on an old friend firmly in the weeknight-dinner camp. Carbonara purists will balk at this suggestion (if they haven't already), but I've even been known to wilt down a bunch of kale, in ribbon form, alongside the leeks for a bulked-up, greener iteration — consider this recipe a template for experimentation.
Don't stereotype eggs as a breakfast food — they're too good not to be enjoyed all day and are a go-to for lunch and dinner. This week, serve up a menu that includes recipes like cinnamon-spiced eggs or an egg-topped vegetable pizza. With these five easy-to-prepare dishes, there's no excuse not to start crackin'.
