Summer Food
It's really hard to say how much of raayat and my eating habits are shaped by being so long in Europe and how much is just us really liking good, fresh food. Either way, one thing that is fabulous about summer is the ability to eat food very nearly fresh. Just the slightest bit of cooking to meld flavours together, but otherwise, crispy crunchy veggies.
One of our favourite summer dishes was inspired by this recipe. I say inspired by, because when we made it the first time somebody (and not me for once) forgot to follow the directions; but, we liked the outcome so much that we keep on with it. It looks a little something like this:
The best part of our new and improved version is that you cook the veggies right before you eat them, so they taste just as good at lunch time as they do the first night.
So yes, roll on summer. And then there's that sun-burn I'm going to be nursing for the next week or so. . .
One of our favourite summer dishes was inspired by this recipe. I say inspired by, because when we made it the first time somebody (and not me for once) forgot to follow the directions; but, we liked the outcome so much that we keep on with it. It looks a little something like this:
- We don't even pretend to fuss with the crutons
- start your favourite rice boiling
- chop up leeks, carrots, and green beans (or anything else that's crunchy and tasty) until they're all about the same size (think long sticks, but small enough to fit easily on a fork) - add to large glass bowl
- open tin of mixed beans (in water) and rinse thoroughly - add to large glass bowl
- brown pine nuts on stove top with just a touch of oil until browned and fragrant - drain on paper towls then add to large glass bowl
- Toss around all ingrediants in bowl until well mixed.
- Then prep dressing, whisking well (green onions work just as well as red) and then liberally douse salad, mixing well
- By this point the rice should be done (or nearly so), spoon into bowls and cover with veggies. Microwave individual bowls for 2 minutes each. Veggies just should be ever so slightly cooked. Just enough for flavours to meld
- in the meantime, poach an egg for each person
- top each bowl with one poached egg, and eat.
- Tasty wine pairings: a dry rose (don't even think of that "white zin" stuff) - our fave is Head over Heels - or a very lively white, such as Casa de Tango Chardonnay
The best part of our new and improved version is that you cook the veggies right before you eat them, so they taste just as good at lunch time as they do the first night.
So yes, roll on summer. And then there's that sun-burn I'm going to be nursing for the next week or so. . .