Noodle Salad with Asian Peanut Dressing

I apologize for being away from the blog for a couple of days - had to help my mother in law find a new apartment in California - but I'm back now, at least until I actually move her. This is an old picture I took of a quick and easy Asian-inspired peanut dressing over noodles. Sorry for such a rushed post, but at least you'll have something to try until I get cooking again this week!
This is one of those cold noodle salads that you can totally improvise with - and other crunchy vegetables, or just noodles, or stick in some shredded chicken or shrimp for some extra protein. And the ingredients I'm suggesting are just estimates - as you put this together taste it and decide if you want more salty flavor (add soy), more acidity (add more vinegar), more kick (add more ginger or chili sauce), or a toned down flavor (add more canola oil).

Noodle Salad with Asian Peanut Dressing

Serves 4

Printable Recipe

1/4 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon chili sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil, toasted or spicy variety
1 tablespoon grated ginger root, or more or less to taste
lime, zested and juiced
1/4 cup canola oil
8 ounces spaghetti, cooked and drained
3 carrots, shredded
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

Combine peanut butter, vinegar, soy sauce, chili sauce, sesame oil, ginger, lime zest and juice, and canola oil in the blender and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust any ingredients according to your tastes. Toss spaghetti (or soba noodles) with the carrots, cilantro and green onions and dress with desired amount of peanut dressing. Salt and pepper as you like, then serve warm, room temperature, or cold.

Shrimp with Romesco Sauce

I love making food from other cuisines by simply tapping into the easy combination of flavors that make them unique. In this recipe, plain old shrimp gets a boost from the beautiful flavors of a traditional Spanish Romesco sauce. It's also a great way to use up tomatoes if you're growing them in a garden this year and to use leftover stale bread.
Romesco sauce is also good on pasta tossed with some roasted vegetables and/or chicken, so save any extra sauce you have (you can freeze it).

Shrimp with Romesco Sauce

Serves 8-10

Printable Recipe

3 tomatoes, halved
10 cloves garlic, peeled
2 slices bread, crusty
1/2 cup almonds, whole, with skin on
1/2 cup hazelnuts (or pine nuts)
1 pimiento (or roasted red pepper)
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds medium shrimp, tails on (25 per pound size)

In a 450° oven, roast the tomatoes, garlic, bread, and nuts on a baking sheet for 15 minutes. Transfer to a food processor pulse to roughly chop. Add the pimentos, vinegar, oil, paprika, and salt and pulse until well combined. Toss the prawns in half the Romesco sauce to coat, and spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 15 minutes, or until shrimp are just barely cooked through. Serve with remaining sauce for dipping.

Creamy Summer Vegetable Pasta

This summer I've made a commitment to use up the prior week's vegetables from my CSA farm before I pick up the new bag each Tuesday. That can be tough, especially when we've eaten out a couple of times during the week (including dinner with my parents where my mom needed the Heimlich - never a dull moment!). So finding myself with quite a few things remaining, I threw together this summer vegetable pasta dish. Now I made this sinful with a generous dose of heavy cream, but you could make the same recipe, omit any cream or half and half, add a little pasta water at the end to create a bit of a pan sauce from the vegetables, and toss in the cheese for a MUCH healthier version. But if you're feeling like you can handle the treat, then by all means give this version a try!
When I was first learning to cook without a recipe, pasta dishes were my test ground. I discovered quite happily that it's hard to go wrong throwing things that sound good together into some pasta with some sort of sauce. In my case, I had a fennel bulb and some squash from my CSA and some Swiss chard, basil, and tomatoes from my own garden, so that's what I used. I first sauteed the squash, fennel and Swiss chard along with some garlic...

...then added the tomatoes, pasta, basil, cream, half and half, and some cheese. Always remove your pasta from the cooking water a minute or so before it's done and finish cooking it in the sauce to fully bring the two together.

This pasta would also work well with a combination of grilled vegetables or with the addition of some cooked chicken or shrimp. Salute!

Creamy Summer Vegetable Pasta

Serves 2-3

Printable Recipe

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 small yellow squash, diced
1 small fennel bulb, sliced thin
1 cup Swiss chard, sliced in ribbons
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup basil leaves, chiffonade
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup half and half
4 ounces penne pasta, cooked and drained
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
salt and pepper, to taste

Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add squash and fennel and cook until slightly softened. Add Swiss chard and garlic continue to cook until the chard begins to wilt. Add Basil, tomatoes, cream, and half and half, and simmer until slightly thickened and tomatoes are warmed through. Add pasta and cook together for 1 minute. Remove from heat and add cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

Quick Zucchini Soup

This picture of the first zucchini from my summer garden doesn't really tell the story. I checked the garden on Monday and this was about a small pickle size. Busy with events of the week, I didn't get around to looking again until Saturday, when I discovered that it was as long as my arm and about 5 inches in diameter. Gotta love zucchini, eager little beavers that they are!
With that much zucchini on hand, I decided to work on several zucchini recipes and I'll post them over the next week or so (including the delicious zucchini chips I made with my school gardeners this morning). The first was a quick zucchini soup which freezes really well. I made up a big pot of it and put three large containers in the freezer for later.

You start with some onion and garlic - if you're planning to puree the soup like I was, then no need to do any fancy slicing and dicing. They went into the pot first to start cooking down.

Next I added the zucchini, and continued to cook it all for awhile, mostly to get a little caramelization and flavor into the soup.

Finally, I added stock - either chicken or vegetable will do just fine - and a big handful of minced fresh thyme from my herb garden. I let the whole thing simmer for awhile, then used my trusty stick blender to puree it before adding some half and half, salt and pepper.

This is a simple, mild soup that would benefit from either some garlic croutons or some grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese over the top. If you're going through the effort, make a big batch and freeze some. You'll be happy you did come mid-winter. For now, enjoy it at room temperature!

Quick Zucchini Soup

Serves 8

Printable Recipe

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
8 cups zucchini, roughly chopped
6 cups stock, chicken or vegetable
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
1 cup half and half, optional
salt and pepper, to taste

Heat olive oil in a large stock pot over medium high heat, then add onion and cook until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and zucchini and cook for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add stock and thyme, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook until vegetables are all softened, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and puree using a stick blender or in batches in a traditional blender. Add half and half, if using, then salt and pepper to taste.

Notes: For an alternative, grate zucchini and onion on a box grater before cooking and do not puree at the end. Can be served with garlic croutons on top or sprinkled with Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

It may sound strange to post a soup recipe now that the 90 degree heat of summer has finally arrived in Colorado, but many of my soup recipes use vegetables from the summer markets, and many of them freeze really well. So I often make my soups in the summer and fall and then enjoy them as leftovers during the winter months.
This roasted red pepper soup can actually be served at room temperature which makes it enjoyable during the summer. It's a great first course for a Mexican inspired meal. If you choose to freeze it, just leave out the avocado and creme fraiche garnish and just freeze the soup itself. Here are some other blog posts that include soups that you might want to whip up and freeze this summer when you're feeling flush with fresh vegetables:Leek and Potato Soup Tomato Pancetta Soup

Butternut Squash and Fennel Soup

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Serves 8
Printable Recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 fennel bulb, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
6 red bell peppers, roasted and peeled
3 cups chicken stock
1 avocado, diced
1/2 cup creme fraiche
1 tablespoon lime zest

Heat a medium saucepan over medium high heat and add the olive oil. Add the onion and fennel and cook over medium until slightly soft, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 2 more minutes. Roughly chop the red peppers and add along with the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and puree using an immersion blender. Alternatively, puree in a traditional blender working in batches after the soup has cooled slightly. Mix lime zest with creme fraiche. To serve, ladle soup into bowls and top with a few pieces of avocado and a dollop of the creme fraiche.