Breadcrumbs

I love a fresh baguette. My old grocery store, Fairway, had the best ones that were sometimes still warm from the oven. The only problem is, unless I have a couple people to share it with, the bread usually ends up going stale after a couple days. You can toast it the next day and still get some life from it but by day three, it’s as hard as a rock. The solution: breadcrumbs.

Breadcrumbs add great texture to a lot of dishes like pasta or roasted veggies and homemade ones are so much cheaper than buying them at the store. Just add stale bread to a food processor and toast the breadcrumbs with any seasoning you like. I usually use olive oil and thyme.

Tomato and Feta Sandwich

It’s starting to feel like Fall here in New York. We’ve been able to turn off the A/C, open the windows and finally enjoy some fresh air. It’s my favorite time of year for produce and I’m trying to eat all the summer veggies I can before they’re no longer around.

I used to think I didn’t like tomatoes. Until I had an heirloom tomato in the summer and I realized what seasonal eating was all about. Tomatoes taste better in the late summer and early fall because that’s when they’re supposed to be at their ripest. A tomato in the middle of the winter has been grown somewhere far away and loses all it’s flavor in transit.

My favorite way to eat tomatoes is simply; usually with a lot of olive oil, sea salt and black pepper. A bit of feta and basil on top of a baguette doesn’t hurt either.

Granola

The search for an apartment in New York City is draining. As a renter, you can’t really start looking for a new apartment until one month before your lease is up. And even in that case, if you look at an empty apartment on the 5th, the landlord will probably want you to move in on the 15th, at the latest. Time is money.

Junior and I are moving to an apartment in Long Island City. We saw the place on a Sunday night, put down a deposit on Monday morning and signed the lease a few days later. We’re moving in 5 days.

That hasn’t left a lot of time for much else. How to merge our two apartments into one, coordinating movers, painting, phone calls to Time Warner, not to mention packing, have taken up most of my free time.

This granola has sustained me. It’s full of so many good for you ingredients and not as sweet as any store bought stuff I’ve had. It’s my first attempt into granola making and I’m sure I’ll make some tweaks along the way but for now, I think it’s pretty perfect. Moving has left no time for cooking and this is pretty much the only thing I want to eat anyway. By itself, or sprinkled on some greek yogurt.

Summer Salad with Feta and Mint

This is the perfect summer salad. No cooking required and lots of veggies. I got the inspiration from a Smitten Kitchen recipe a while ago and have been making different variations of it since then but usually always keep the feta and the mint. This time I used arugula, cucumbers, radishes, corn, scallions, chickpeas for some extra protein and simply dressed it with lemon juice and olive oil.

Pasta with Eggplant, Zucchini, and Basil

When I set out to make dinner one night, I found some eggplant, zucchini, arugula and basil that all needed to be used up soon, before everything went bad so I boiled up some pasta and tossed everything together with a little pesto. This pasta is a great way to use up a lot of summer produce. I tend to make my pasta very vegetable heavy, so this recipe calls for very little actual pasta.

Carrot, Ginger, Miso Dressing

My boyfriend Junior was making sushi the other night at home and we needed something other than raw fish and rice to eat with the meal. I’ve been wanting to cook with miso more since it really adds that umami richness and something I don’t have as much experience using in cooking. This is a great recipe for someone who is not as familiar with miso since it is fairly foolproof (just add all ingredients to the food processor). I added the dressing to some chopped romaine since it’s substantial enough to hold up to a fairly chunky dressing. I also added some scallions and chopped cashews for a nice contrasting texture and bite.

Confession: There’s definitely an addicting quality to this dressing as I’ve been spreading it on toast, crackers, chips, etc. whenever I get the chance. It’s a perfect cross between sweet/savory/umami sensations that most of us can’t get enough of.

Umami: We’re said to have 5 different taste sensations. Sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. They’re all pretty easy to identify except for umami. There are a bunch of scientific explanations of what umami means which you can find on Wikipedia but I basically describe it as satisfying. For example; anchovies, parmigiano reggiano, seaweed, and soy sauce. Most people don’t eat these foods on their own but they add that final balance to a finished dish.

Mark Bittman has a great article about miso, especially if you’re buying it for the first time.

Olive Oil Cake

My boyfriend started a new job today and I wanted to make him a treat to celebrate. This olive oil cake is a great everyday cake that’s really simple to make. It’s not too sweet and would pair really well with fresh whipped cream or honey. The outside is nice and crunchy with a soft, moist center. It’s also a recipe that lends itself well to lots of tweaking. Nuts or fruit would be a great addition.

Pasta with Pesto, Kale and Cannellini Beans

With all the basil that’s been at the farmers market lately, I’ve been using any excuse to make and eat pesto. I’ve been putting it on the obvious like pasta and sandwiches and also even as a snack on saltines. Pesto freezes really well so it’s best to make it in big batches so you can have it into the winter months when theres no more fresh basil around.

Roasted Asparagus

When I was in Hamptons, on top of the best clams I’ve ever had, we also had some amazing asparagus. There are so many farms out in Long Island with great produce, especially in the summer and we made sure to take advantage of that. We had a great weekend of eating, lots of drinking and beach going. My friends mom made this delicious asparagus which is pretty much the only way I ever want to make asparagus again. We ended up snacking on this before dinner and the whole plate was gone in about two minutes. It’s salty, lemony, and the Parmesan adds a great nuttiness.

Summer Wheat Berry Salad

When it’s hot out, I look for anything I can make that doesn’t require turning on my oven. No matter how high the A/C is turned up, having the oven on increases the temperature in my entire apartment and is not worth it. That said, this recipe is great for a hot summer day and can be served at room temperature. And if you cook the wheat berries ahead of time, the cooking is very minimal. Just toss everything together with some lemon juice and olive oil. If you have any leftover it’s great the next day with some shrimp or chicken for some added protein.