Lemony and Refreshing Quinoa Salad; Perfect on a Hot Summer Evening

I made some lemony quinoa salad the other day, the same one I posted a few years stuffed in tomatoes.  This time I went easy and just mixed in chunks of ripe homegrown tomatoes and it was very tasty as a side dish to a meal.  Kept well in my fridge for the 2 more days it took me to finish it. So easy to make too.  You could even make it the day before; just add the tomatoes before serving. So I am posting it here so you can try it; one caveat; only use local tomatoes.  Do NOT make this with those pale imitation supermarket tomatoes. It is not possible to create something tasty if you start with poor quality ingredients and those plastic flavored “tomatoes” just will not work in this salad.

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Lemony Quinoa Salad

Makes four servings.

Ingredients:

½ cup regular quinoa, (not red or black)

1 cup water

½ a veggie bullion cube

2/3-3/4 cup small dice burpless cucumber

½ cup small dice zucchini

1/3 cup small dice red onion

2 tbsp. fresh mint or parsley, diced finely

1 lemon

3 tbsp.  EVOL (extra virgin olive oil)

1 tbsp. red wine vinegar

Sea salt and fresh black pepper to taste.

2 large ripe tomatoes cut in chunks

Directions

Put the quinoa in the water.  If it doesn’t say rinsed, you should put it in a strainer and rinse it for a minute to get off any coating – which can be bitter.  Add the half bouillon cube, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook 15 minutes.  Let cool to room temperature before continuing.

Place the cooled quinoa in a mixing bowl.  Add in the finely chopped veggies and stir.  Sprinkle the fresh herbs on top; even fresh chives chopped pretty fine or julienned basil will work great.   Use a zester or a very fine grater and get as much zest off the lemon (wash the lemon first); you can zest right into the quinoa mixing bowl.  In a small mixing bowl put the juice of that same lemon, the EVOL and red wine vinegar.  If you have more than 3 tbsp of lemon juice add a bit more EVOL and whisk to combine; add in up to ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp freshly grated black pepper.  Pour ¾ of it over the quinoa and veggies and stir to combine.  Taste and adjust seasoning and add the rest of the dressing if it is needed.  Chill at least 30 minutes. Add the chunked tomato and serve.

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This is a great side dish or, if you have a vegetarian visiting, it is a substantial main dish choice as quinoa has a lot of complete protein in it.

So simple but the combination of fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, red wine vinegar and EVOL makes a great salad dressing.  Do not cook the zucchini – if it is fresh and tender it is fantastic raw in a salad.  If you can’t get one of those European cucumbers use a small regular one and peel the skin off it before dicing. If the seeds are large do not use the center with the seeds.  Your salad will not be as pretty if there are sloppy cucumber seeds in it.

Quinoa salad will keep a few days in the fridge, if it lasts that long! Try it with different fresh herbs: it just won’t taste the same without the fresh summer veggies.  I try to eat seasonally and this is definitely a summer treat!

Refreshing Gazpacho Soup: Ole Tomatoes!

Hot Hot summer days mean I need a cool soup recipe. One with minimal cooking: that is easy and tasty.  Plus I want to use some of my garden produce.  This classic Spanish soup called gazpacho is perfect for all of that and my family loves it. It absolutely must be made with ripe summer tomatoes, never ever attempt it with any less than the best vine ripened fruit.  You can get great tomatoes at farm stands, farmer’s markets and even the grocery store; look for the grown local label for the best flavored tomatoes. Please do not use greenhouse tomatoes grown far away and shipped while not really ripe. Your soup will not be full of tomato flavor and it will taste disappointing.  These ripe locally grown tomatoes are vital to the flavor of gazpacho.

I make my gazpacho in the blender but I believe a food processor works okay too.  No heat,  minimal fuss.

My version allows you to add chopped raw veggies in the amount you prefer just before you slurp it down. I prefer its fresh pure flavors to those soulless restaurant versions that are gelatinous and crammed full of a wide assortment of chunked veggies…uggh.

I once had a version of gazpacho similar to mine in a Philadelphia restaurant made with golden yellow tomatoes which was beautiful looking and quite tasty too.

Warning: you do need to peel the tomatoes but that goes pretty fast.  I heat about a wide sauce pan filled 3 inches deep with water to a boil and pop the ripe tomatoes in for 2 to 3 minutes. I put in 4 at a time; done in a couple batches.  Let them cool a bit and then peel off the skin and cut out the blossom end (top) and they are ready to use.

One more important instruction: gazpacho HAS to chill really good; make it early in the morning to serve as a late lunch or better yet; for supper. The colder the better, I actually put my soup bowls in the freezer for 15 or 20 minutes and yank them out just before filling and serving this cold summer delight.

It is a flexible recipe; depends on the size of your tomatoes. This should make close to 60 ounces or just shy of 2 quarts; cut in half if you don’t want too much. But you will wish you had made more…I promise!  It will keep 3-5 days in the refrigerator.

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tomato juice for thinning the soup

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skinned tomatoes ready for soup making

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I am about to press the puree button!

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Still in blender, just pureed soup.

Summer Chill Gazpacho

Soup ingredients:

8 to 10 ripe fat tomatoes (large ones)

About ¼ cup EVOL; best you can afford

2 slices white bread (GF if you have celiac)

1 lemon

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1 to 1 ½ tsp. sea salt

Toppings:

2 large tomatoes diced, heirloom if possible

1 cup diced burpless cucumber

2 scallions, sliced thin, green and white parts

Directions: peel the tomatoes as described above.  When I peel them I do it over a bowl to capture the juices and seeds. I save them, strain off the seeds and I add back the juice as needed to thin the finished soup.    Put 4-5 tomatoes in the blender; add a slice of bread broken up, 2 tbsp. olive oil, the juice of half a lemon and one garlic clove.  Put the lid on and blend well.  Note: do not fill the blender more then ¾ full. Taste; add salt; ½ to ¾ tsp.

Repeat entire process with the rest of the ingredients and thin with reserved tomato juice – it should be thick but not porridge thick.  Mix the two batches together in a big glass bowl; never metal because of the acidity of tomatoes and cover tightly with plastic wrap.  Then chill it at least 3 to 4 hours.

Serve with bowls of toppings to sprinkle on top of the thick soup; diced ripe tomatoes, scallion slices and cucumber ( preferably burpless) cut in small dice.  If you want to guild the lily, top with croutons (gf ones if you have celiac), I don’t bother.

 

Note: gluten free bread often gives a slightly different texture to the soup; somewhat less smooth in the look of it and the taste.  It’s okay as it doesn’t affect the flavor: it still is delicious and a bowl of it is so very refreshing on a hot day.  Serve with a sandwich and you have a perfect summer lunch.

I used some chunks of gf sourdough as my croutons in this bowl. Used zucchini not cucumber in topping.

Delicious GF Tiramisu

There is this lovely Italian dessert that I haven’t had in a decade, it was my favorite back when I didn’t have to worry about gluten. Sure do miss it…. Well, while we were on vacation in Delaware we discovered Schar gf ladyfingers in a grocery store. Immediately my brain thought tiramisu! So, we snagged that package and brought it back to my kitchen.

I understand there are various ways to make tiramisu; this is the way I did mine; with fresh real whipped cream, some folks use beaten egg whites. Maybe next time. Just know that my tiramisu was just so creamy and rich…. It was addictive in all ways possible.  You could make your own ladyfingers but it was easier to use store made. ones.

Notes: I used a single use coffee bag and about 2/3 cup boiling water; let it stand 10 minutes and it was ½ cup which is what I needed. Easy! Or make some expresso and go full Italian! And one last important tip: do not warmup the mascarpone cheese at all before using; it will turn to butter in the blink of an eye! Trust me!

Kinda drab looking in the pan but it is a delightful treat for dessert!

GF Tiramisu; makes 9 medium sized servings

Ingredients

1 package gf ladyfingers

2 egg yolks

3 Tbsp. sugar

2 Tbsp marsala for the egg mixture

1 cup mascarpone cheese

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¾ cup COLD heavy whipping cream

½ tsp. vanilla

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½ cup strong coffee cooled to room temp- could use up to 2/3 of a cup should be cold

1 Tbsp. marsala for the coffee mixture

1 Tbsp cocoa powder

Instructions:  Make the coffee and let it cool. Put the sugar and egg yolks in the top of a double boiler. Do not let the water in the bottom half reach the top pan. Stir constantly with a whisk until the sugar is totally dissolved in the egg yolk 4-5 minutes on low heat. It should be a pale yellow, silky smooth when done Add the marsala and whisk. Remove from heat, cool to room temperature.

When the egg mixture and the coffee are both cooled you can put it together. I used a 7 inch square pan; I think an 8 inch will work too; will be thinner. Spray the pan lightly with cooking spray. Put the mascarpone cheese in a large bowl, beat briefly to make it smooth. Add the whipping cream and beat until stiff peaks form; 3-4 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix in briefly. Fold in the egg/sugar mixture until smooth; do not beat any more than necessary

Put the coffee in a low wide bowl; mix in the marsala. Doing one ladyfinger at a time dunk in the coffee briefly and lay in the pan to cover the bottom. Pour half the pudding mixture on top of the ladyfingers and smooth the top. Repeat the ladyfinger layer and top with the rest of the pudding. Put in fridge for 6-10 hours before serving. Sift cocoa on top with a sieve before cutting and serving. Enjoy!

A less than stellar photo but we were eager to taste this treat!

Zucchini and Tomato Quiche in a Potato Crust

Sometimes you just don’t feel like making a traditional crust. This was one of those times. I had a homegrown zucchini, some cherry tomatoes, cheese, eggs, and 2 potatoes. Quiche for supper! This is a different filling recipe than my usual one; it is more eggs, half and half instead of milk and no cottage cheese; cubed mozzarella cheese. It was a delicious change of pace especially with the julienned fresh basil leaves sprinkled all over the top. You could use other veggies; I went with what I had. The garden’s bounty and it didn’t fail me.

Just baked, still pretty hot.

Angie’s Zucchini and Tomato Quiche

Ingredients

2 large russet potatoes, washed well and sliced very thin: about 1/8 inch thick.

cooking spray

5 large eggs

1/3 cup half and half

about 4-5 ounces cubed mozzarellla cheese

about 1/3 cup sliced onion; I used one small onion

2 Tsp EVOL

approximately 1 to 1-1/2 cups sliced zucchini

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 cup or so cherry tomatoes, halved

6-7 large basil leaves Jullianned

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 8.5-9 inch metal pie pan with olive oil cooking spray. Line it with potato slues on the bottom and half way up the sides. Spray again all over with the olive oil cooking spray. Bake 20 min; don’t let it get really brown. Turn oven down to 350 after removing pie shell.

Mix eggs and half and half in blender; 10 seconds or so.

Sautee the onion rings in some EVOL; maybe 2 tsp of it. Add squash after 2-3 minutes. Cook until softening; maybe 5 minutes. Sprinkle with garlic powder. Pour into warm potato crust. Sprinkle with tomato halves and cheese cubes. Pour egg mixture gently over it Sprinkle with basil leaves.

Bake in 350 degree oven 30-35 minutes; if it looks like it is browning too much turn heat back to 335 degrees.

Cool to lukewarm before cutting. Enjoy!

Blueberry Rhubarb Custard Pie

Surprisingly blueberries and rhubarb really do go together so well. Blueberries are uncooked: with milk or cream or baked in a cobbler or a fruity crisp. Rhubarb is called the pie plant for good reason; it makes a lovely pie from a humble plant stem. But this, this is my current obsession, the two together in a custard pie. Not just any old custard but one made with Greek yogurt and eggs. Easy to throw together, creamy, never runny textured and a lusciously fruity flavor that may make you have to eat a second slice! The blueberries do tend to take over the rhubarb flavor of this pie. Of course, there are more than twice as many blueberries by volume and they are just a stronger flavor than rhubarb which gives a bit of a tart under taste to this pie. You could play with the proportions of the two fruits; this is the amounts which I used. This pie will be tasty to even the biggest rhubarb dissenter. Really!

WARNING: This pie goes soft in 2 humid days so plan to gobble it down within that time frame or face the soggy crust syndrome. Inevitable with gf crust and a custard filling in hot/humid weather.

I don’t recommend frozen or canned fruit for this pie, simply not good enough and you must use plain, unsweetened Greek yogurt in the filling, plain yogurt is too runny. And no, it can’t be made without the eggs it just wouldn’t work as a custard if there are no eggs. The version with peaches uses 3 yolks in there. I tried it with two whole eggs beaten up: success! And one last warning; applicable to 100 percent of my recipes: Please don’t try it with Measure for Measure gf flour; this is calibrated for using King Arthur’s Basic GF Blend.

I hope you give it a try; super easy and super delicious. Best pie of the summer hands down! Make one Saturday morning…we couldn’t wait for a slice still faintly warm……. I thought I took a picture of a slice; no luck there and it is all gone. Next time! It does look pretty much like the blueberry peach custard pie I posted last summer.

Naked pie! About to go in and bake for 25 minutes and then the crumbs go on top.
Just out of the oven….cooling…a molten mass of fruit and custard and sugary crumbs!

Angie’s Blueberry and Rhubarb Custard Crumb Pie

CRUST:

1 c plus 2 tbsp brown rice flour mix (at bottom of recipe)

2 tbsp sweet rice flour

1 Tbps granulated sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

6 Tbps cold butter cut into 6 chunks

1 large egg

2 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice

Spray 9 or 10 inch metal pie pan with cooking spray, dust with white rice flour.

Mix dry ingredients in bowl of stand electric mixer.  Add butter and mix until crumbly and resembling coarse meal.  Add egg and juice.  Mix until it comes together into big chunks.  Shape into a ball with your hands. Put it on a crust sized piece of wax paper (14 x 14 inches more or less), flatten the crust ball some; put on top of it another piece of wax paper and chill it all in your fridge 15-20 minutes while you prepare the filling.

Filling:

2-3 cups sliced fresh rhubarb cut in half inch slices (2 cups if 9 inch pie, 3 cups for 10 inch pie)

4 cups blueberries; rinsed

2/3 cup sugar, sweeter if you like it that way or if peaches are not fully ripe

2 Tbsp. tapioca starch

Mix in a medium bowl the following ingredients:

1 cup plain Greek yogurt, I prefer whole milk, and let it warm up a bit

2 whole large eggs or 3 egg yolks, close to room temp.

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 tbsp. brown rice mixture flour (King Arthur Basic GF blend)

Crumb topping

¾ c brown rice flour mix (King Arthur Basic GF Blend)

½ c sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/3 c cold butter cut into six chunks

Put all five ingredients in the same mixing bowl you made the bottom crust in and mix well with mixer paddle until crumbs form.

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Directions: Turn oven on to 400 degrees. Put the oven rack on the closest to the bottom shelf position. Once the crust is chilled some but not hard, Roll it out and fit into the pie shell. Trim off excess crust. I like to chill those crumbs of crust and roll out to make a jam filled hand pie. Anyway, put the sliced rhubarb and blueberries in a bowl and add the sugar and tapioca. Let stand 5 minutes. Then pour into the pie shell in a fairly even layer, as the filling and crumbs will hide it there is no need for a pretty design. Then pour the filling that you just mixed up over it , tap the pie on the counter sharply 2-3 times to settle in the filling and bake for 25-30 minutes. I turned down my oven to 375 after 15 to 20 minutes. While it bakes those 25-30 minutes make the crumbs. When your timer goes off, carefully remove the pie from the oven and sprinkle the top of the pie with crumb mix;  I used about 3/4 of it but you could use a bit less if you don’t want a thick crumb layer or all of it for a really heavy crumb. Bake an additional 15-20 minutes until crumbs are lightly browned. Let stand at least 1 to 11/2 hours before slicing and serving. Enjoy!