Summer Recipes [Recipes]

2007 Apr 26
Hello everyone.

I was just curious about what yous guys' favorite summer recipes are. From a simple grilled pinapple salad, to a refreshing rhum and crushed ice based drink, I want to hear all about what you foodies do to keep full - and quenched - on a hot, lazy, hazy summer day.


2007 Apr 26
For me, the best "summer" recipes are ones that don't involve me turning on the oven (which would heat up the entire apartment), require minimal stovetop cooking (same problem), are refreshing, and feature fresh fruits and veg- I'm ALL about the mangoes right now:

- Cold Cucumber Soup (soooooo refreshing, no cooking required!)
- Tofu and Mango Fresh Rolls, with Peanut Dipping Sauce
- Grilled Salmon with Mango Salsa
- Breakfast Parfaits with Fresh Fruit and Quinoa
- A big antipasto plate with cheeses, cured meats, cherry tomatoes, olives, and crusty bread YUM!

If anybody wants any recipes just ask :)

2007 Apr 26
Great topic! Let me share my absolute favourite summer recipe of all time. It's from a Moosewood Restaurant cookbook and is therefore vegetarian. When the tomatoes are in season and full of flavour, this recipe becomes insanely delicious!

wiki.ottawafoodies.com

The Moosewood Restaurant is located in Ithaca, about 4.5 hours south of Ottawa in upstate New York. Ithaca is a picturesque little town amongst the Finger Lakes and is home to Cornell University (where my big bro did his post-doc). If you ever go there, plan a trip to the awesome Corning Museum of Glass (en.wikipedia.org) in nearby Corning (ever hear of Corningware?). :-)

2007 Apr 26
Mmmmmmmmm...pasta, cheese tomatoes, basil - what's not to like? Thanks FF!

2007 Apr 27
I love the Moosewood too. My husband and I head down to the Finger Lakes region every summer and always stay in Ithaca (William Henry Miller Inn - awesome breakfasts and cakes and pastries in the evening) and we go to the Moosewood for dinner at least once. I also have one of their cookbooks (Sundays at the Moosewood) and some of my summer favs are in this book. (Mexican Tomato and Greenbean salad)

And Mark is right about the Glass Museum - very impressive and worth the trip!

2007 Apr 27
This salad is one of our favourites to whip up on a warm summer day. We live in a condo so we don't have a BBQ close at hand, instead we make this in our grill pan and eat it on the deck. Its almost the same thing - the only kitchen warming thing is roasting the garlic, but the smell makes up for it.

Grilled Gazpacho Salad with Shrimp
Slightly adapted from Bon Appetit July 2006
Serves 6

2 medium heads of garlic, separated into cloves, peeled (about 24 cloves)
¾ cup of olive oil, divided

1 ½ pounds, uncooked large shrimp, deveined but with shells intact (we used peeled with the tails still on which also seems to work and then you don’t have to peel them later)
8 firm plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
2 bunches green onions; root ends trimmed, onions left whole
1 1lb sweet onion (such as Vidalia), cut into ½ inch-thick slices
1 red bell pepper, quartered, cored
1 yellow bell pepper, quartered, cored
1 ½ large English cucumbers, peeled, halved lengthwise
2 6x3x1-inch slices country-style bread
8 stalks asparagus

2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp hot pepper sauce

½ cup thinly sliced fresh basil
Lime wedges

** This recipe is for BBQ, but we don’t have one, so we use our grill pan on the stovetop. This means more limited space in the pan, so I cook the veggies in stages.

Prepare BBQ (medium-high heat), or preheat oven to 400 degrees. Set aside 2 cloves garlic for bread slices. Place remaining garlic on double layer of heavy-duty foil; drizzle 3 tbsp olive oil over. Fold up and seal packet. Place directly on grill rack and cook until garlic is very tender and golden, about 30 minutes.

Toss shrimp (in shells) and 1 tbsp oil in medium bowl to coat; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Combine plum tomatoes, green onions, sweet onion, both bell peppers, asparagus, cucumber halves and 1 1/2 tbsp oil in a large bowl; toss to coat. Brush bread with oil. Sprinkle all veggies with salt and pepper.

If using a grill pan here is the order I do it –

1. Sweet onion, asparagus, peppers and cukes (if they are thick) 10 – 15 mins to tender-crisp
2. green onion, tomatoes, & cukes (if they are thinner) 3 – 5 minutes
3. shrimp 2 ½ minutes per side
4. bread – grill until just beginning to crisp and grill marks appear (approx 2 ½ minutes per side) rub them with the reserved garlic cloves then discard the garlic cloves.

Peel shrimp; transfer to a large bowl. Cut all vegetables and bread into ½ inch to ¾ inch pieces; add to shrimp along with any accumulated juices. Stir in roasted garlic cloves and grape tomatoes. Whisk vinegar, hot pepper sauce in a small bowl; pour over salad and toss to coat. Stir thinly sliced basil into salad. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with lime wedges. We serve this as a warm-ish salad with a nice Pouilly Fuissé or a Rosé.

Enjoy!

2007 Apr 27
Wowee, that sald looks deeeeee-licious.

Personally, I am in the same boat as hot: simple is best. But still, I do enjoy a fresh grilled pike and tomato salsa, yummy. And, of course, washed down with a tall frosty one, Hoegaarden or another nice bright blonde beer is always fun :)

so please, keep showing your love for summer, fellow foodies!



2007 May 6
Not really a recipe, but at the bakery it gets insanely hot in the summer. The oven is four double decks, about 5 feet across and 7 feet deep. We used to get frozen drinks from the Second Cup, but we can never seem to finish one and whatever they put in them gives me stomachaches. Anyway, we make a simple iced coffee that is much easier to drink in 30+ degree heat.

Frozen milk (we pop a carton in the freezer, partially thaw and break into chunks with a knife, you probably have room in your freezer to make milk ice cubes)
2 shots espresso
simple syrup to taste

that's it. Pile the frozen milk into a glass, pour in the espresso, sweeten to taste with simple syrup and drink. Much less sugar and fat than in those frozen drinks, it won't give you a stomach ache and you can customize it with chocolate syrup or flavoured syrups.