Archives for May 2014

Shaved Spring Vegetables with Garden Herbs

May 29, 2014 by 14 Comments

shaved spring vegetables Paper thin slices of shaved raw vegetables makes up this light, bright salad that has tons of color and crunch, it’s the perfect springtime and summer side! Imagine a piece of grilled fish served along side this salad, it just screams healthy and good for you!

colorful salad ingredients This recipe is specifically related to spring but it can be easily adapted by using fresh summer, fall or winter vegetables as well.

shaved spring vegetables What is a must for this recipe is the use of a mandolin, that’s the only way you will achieve thin and delicate slices, if you don’t have a mandolin I highly recommend getting one, I’m surprised how many times I use mine and it was very reasonably priced.

garden herbs I actually just recently tasted this salad at one of my favorite restaurants in Chicago, Quartino, where small plates of freshly made Italian food is served and meant to be shared, this was one of the things we ordered and it was delicious and Chef John Coletta was gracious enough to pass on the recipe.

shaved spring vegetables I got carried away in the produce department as I often do and bought three different colored beets and three different colored carrots but you really don’t need to do that, using just one of each would be fine.

Don’t let eating raw beets scare you, they have a natural sweetness to them in their raw state, along with a nice crunch.

shaved spring vegetables Arugula and fresh garden herbs get tossed into this salad which enhances the flavor of all the shaved vegetables.

shaved vegetable salad with lemon olive oil Chef Coletta recommends a nice lemon and olive oil dressing for this salad but I was fortunate to receive some wonderful lemon infused extra virgin olive oil from Sorrento, via a wonderful company olio2go, that represents Italy’s finest olive oils. The intense flavor quite frankly, took this salad over the top!

Shaved Spring Vegetables with Garden Herbs
 
Print
Ingredients
  • Adapted from Chef John Coletta
  • 1 small bunch of radishes, sliced paper thin
  • 2 small fennel bulbs, sliced paper thin
  • 4 stalks of celery, sliced paper thin
  • 1 yellow, red and orange carrot, peeled, sliced paper thin
  • 1 yellow squash, sliced paper thin
  • 2 small zucchini, sliced paper thin
  • beets, 1 striped, 1 yellow and 1 red, peeled, sliced paper thin
  • a generous handful of arugula leaves
  • 4 TBLsp, chives, cut into 1 inch sticks
  • 4 TBLsp, Italian parsley leaves
  • 2TBLsp, fennel tops
  • 4TBLsp celery tops
  • DRESSING
  • 2 TBLsp fresh lemon juice
  • 6 TBLsp, extra virgin olive oil, (or use lemon infused olive oil as I did.)
  • sea salt or kosher and ground black pepper, to taste.
Instructions
  1. Wash the vegetables well, peel beets and carrots with a vegetable peeler. Slice and prep all vegetables before, using a mandoline. Place the vegetables, herbs and arugula into a bowl. Drizzle the lemon juice and olive oil onto the vegetables and herbs, toss and season with salt and pepper. Arrange salad on a platter or bowl. Put the dressing on 15 minutes before serving to infuse and soften the vegetables slightly.

 

Signature
14 Comments Filed Under: Chicago, Salads, Side Dishes, Vegetables Tagged: , , , ,

Vegetable Pasta Salad with Broken Lasagna Noodles

May 22, 2014 by 12 Comments

vegetable pasta salad with broken lasagna noodles Here’s a pasta salad that’s great for entertaining, you can bring it to your next party or serve it all summer long, it pairs perfectly with just about anything you put on your grill. It’s colorful, fresh and looks pretty on a platter!

ingredients for pasta salad You can prep everything ahead of time, placing it all on your platter and then just before your going to serve it, drizzle on the dressing.

vegetable pasta salad with broken lasagna noodles I saw this salad in a BHG magazine and what attracted me to it was the broken lasagna noodles, a little different twist on your typical pasta salad which is usually made with bow ties or rotini pasta, plus I really loved the addition of green beans and tiny mozzarella balls.

vegetable pasta salad with broken lasagna noodles The combination of flavors take this salad over the top! This could easily be a meal in itself or the perfect side dish for your next cookout. Time to fire up the grill!

Vegetable Pasta Salad with Broken Lasagna Noodles
 
Print
Ingredients
  • Adapted from BHG magazine
  • 8oz. dried lasagna noodles, broken into 3-inch pieces, or 3 cups of any pasta of your choice
  • 2 cups fresh, cooked thin green beans, (haricots verts)
  • 8 oz. bite size mozzarella balls
  • a handful of kalamata olives
  • 1 small yellow squash, sliced into thin rounds on a mandolin
  • 1 small zucchini squash, sliced into thin rounds on a mandolin
  • 1 cup of halved cherry tomatoes, preferably multi colored
  • 1 cup of arugula or spinach
  • ½ cup of thin sliced red onion
  • 2-3 oz, of salami cut into quarters
Instructions
  1. Cook the pasta, rinse in cold water and pat dry.
  2. Arrange all the ingredients onto a nice big platter.
  3. Drizzle with a Lemon and Olive Oil Dressing or your favorite vinaigrette.
  4. For Lemon and Olive Oil Dressing.
  5. ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
  6. zest of 1 lemon
  7. 2 or so tablespoons of lemon juice
  8. pinch of salt and pepper
  9. 1 garlic clove grated on a microplane
  10. Whisk it all together until incorporated, feel free to double this!

 

Signature
12 Comments Filed Under: Party Foods, Salads, Summer Tagged: ,

Cedar Planked Shrimp with Parsley Pesto Sauce

May 15, 2014 by 13 Comments

cedar planked shrimp I read somewhere that said grilling fish on a cedar plank is the difference between a substandard cookout and a bodacious backyard blowout. Oh how true those words are! There’s something about that smoky, aromatic flavor that gets infused into your fish, it’s out of this world good!

cedar planked shrimp with parsley pesto sauce If you’ve never experienced the taste of anything cooked on a plank I encourage you to give it a try.  In the past I’ve done salmon several times, scallops, cheese,  and one of my most popular recipes, planked portobellos. Today I’m here to tell you to please make this shrimp!

The shrimp gets tossed in a light pesto made of parsley, garlic, lemon zest, olive oil and a pinch of red pepper flakes and then as it’s cooking you brush even more of the pesto on, it’s so good!

cedar planked shrimp Remember to always use un-treated food safe planks. I recently got a good buy at my Costco, 8 boards, different lengths for 6.99. The hardest thing to do is to remember to soak your boards, I like to soak mine for around 2 hours. I usually fill a rimmed baking sheet with water, then submerge the board, and anchor it down with something heavy.

cedar planked shrimp Grill some lemon halves on the side they’ll plump up and get real juicy, you can squeeze the juice on your fish or use it for dressing in a salad to go along with your shrimp, it’s wonderful!

cedar planked shrimp I cooked my planked shrimp on a gas grill set at medium heat until they turned nice and pink, maybe 15 minutes or so but check accordingly to your own grill. Try not lifting the lid too often because the wet cedar creates an amazing smoke which infuses your shrimp. Have a spray water bottle handy in case you get flare-ups.

cedar planked shrimp with parsley pesto sauce Seriously, you have to try this!

Cedar Planked Shrimp with Parsley Pesto Sauce
 
Print
Ingredients
  • 1 food safe, cedar planked board, soaked for 2 hours
  • 1 lb. of 21-25 shrimp, cleaned and deveined and patted dry
  • 1 large bunch of Italian parsley
  • the zest of 2 lemons
  • 1 large garlic clove, finely grated on a microplane
  • a pinch or more of red pepper flakes
  • olive oil to loosen the pesto
Instructions
  1. Mix pesto up by using all the ingredients, set a little bit aside for brushing on the grill.
  2. Toss shrimp in mixture, coating it all over.
  3. Take your board out of the water and pat dry, rubbing the top only with olive oil.
  4. Place your cedar board on a clean and dry baking sheet for ease in carrying it out to the grill.
  5. Arrange shrimp on top, I placed 2 together to form a circle.
  6. Cook on medium high heat until shrimp is cooked and nice and pink brushing with remaining pesto half way through.
  7. Take the 2 lemons that were used for the zest, cut them in half, drizzle with olive oil and place cut side down on the grill, remove when nice grill marks are formed.
  8. Serve your shrimp right from the plank, enjoy!

 

Signature
13 Comments Filed Under: Seafood, Summer Tagged: , ,

Spring Vegetable Ricotta Tart with Phyllo

May 7, 2014 by 22 Comments

spring vegetable ricotta tart What do you do with a bunch of asparagus, some artichoke hearts, a handful of fava beans, a leek and a few cherry tomatoes? You make a tart of course!

I always buy a pound or two of ricotta every week and I like to keep a box of phyllo dough handy at all times, it’s amazing what you can do with it, it’s so easy and forgiving to work with, and besides, I love the crunch factor it gives!

spring vegetable ricotta tart The ricotta cheese is pumped up and flavored with a hint of garlic, fresh basil, grated romano, asiago and fontina cheeses and an egg which makes for a creamy and very flavorful filling  to have on top of the crunchy phyllo.

spring vegetable tart

Press your pre-roasted vegetables right into the ricotta mixture and bake until the phyllo reaches a rich golden brown and the ricotta sets up.

All you’ll need is a salad on the side and your spring meal is complete!

avocado and tomato salad This is the salad I served with my tart, a combination of tomatoes, avocado and olives on a bed of arugula with a lemon and olive oil dressing.

Dig in, you won’t even miss the meat!

Spring Vegetable Ricotta Tart with Phyllo
 
Print
Ingredients
  • I used an 11½" x 7½" rectangle tart pan with removable bottom so the recipe will reflect that size pan, but feel free to adjust the recipe if using a 9 or 10 inch round tart pan instead.
  • 4 cups of ricotta, drained
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
  • handfull of chopped fresh basil
  • ½ cup of grated romano cheese
  • ½ cup of grated fontina
  • ½ cup of grated asiago
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 8 sheets of phyllo dough
  • olive oil, preferably in spray form
  • 1 bunch of asparagus, cut in half diagonally
  • a large leek, cleaned thoroughly and sliced into rounds
  • ½ cup cooked and shelled fava beans or replace with peas
  • 1 heaping cup or so of artichoke hearts
  • 1 cup or so cherry tomatoes, cut in half
Instructions
  1. Pre-roast all veggies except the tomatoes, if using fava beans have them preboiled with skins off, if using peas instead, frozen and defrosted is fine.
  2. In a bowl whip the romano, asiago, fontina along with the basil, garlic and eggs into the ricotta until well incorporated.
  3. Layer each sheet of phyllo one by one into your olive oil greased tart pan fitting it in around the bottom and sides and spraying or brushing each sheet with olive oil as you go, if it rips don't worry it will look fine in the end.
  4. When finished layering each sheet spread the ricotta mixture all over.
  5. Press your veggies all around into the ricotta.
  6. Drizzle the top of the tart and sides of dough with olive oil, sprinkle with romano and bake.
  7. Bake in a 400 F. oven, keep checking after 15 minutes, make sure the crust is deep golden and ricotta is set.
  8. Let it cool down before you cut into it.

 

Signature
22 Comments Filed Under: Salads, Savory Tarts, Vegetables Tagged: , , , ,