zucchini and green apple salad

Without a doubt my favorite new recipe so far this summer! This is beyond “a keeper” into the territory of “one of my favorite salads of all-time”! Happy to share this recipe from Didem Şenol‘s Aegean Flavours, which I read on a wonderful Turkish food blog called Pantry Fun. I’ll include both the original, and the version I made with what I had.

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MY VERSION:

1 large zucchini
1 large sour green apple like Granny Smith
a few spikes of garlic chives and a handful of mint leaves from my garden
half of a small container of goat cheese, crumbled
just a tiny bit of vinegar and olive oil
half a lemon, juiced
a sprinkle of nigella seeds, salt, and pepper

I sliced the zucchini and apple on a mandoline, tore the herbs by hand, and then added the other ingredients and mixed everything together.

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THE ORIGINAL:

2 green courgettes/kabak

1 green apple/yeşil elma

½ bunch of dill/dereotu

1 spring onion/taze soğan

a handful fresh mint leaves/nane

150g lor peyniri OR goat’s cheese/keçi peyniri

20g nigella seeds/çörekotu

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

juice of half a lemon

100ml vinegar/sirke

extra virgin olive oil/sızma zeytinyağı

Slice the courgettes and apple as finely as possible. I used a mandolin slicer. Place the apple slices in water with lemon to prevent them from discolouring. Finely chop the dill, spring onion, and mint and mix with the courgette, apple and cheese. Add the nigella seeds. Add the vinegar and salt, and then finally the olive oil and mix together. The recipe states that if you add the olive oil first, the salad won’t absorb the vinegar. I would say, go carefully with the vinegar and taste the salad as you add it. You don’t want it to be overpoweringly vinegary.

write-up by Claudia at Pantry Fun – original recipe by Didem Şenol

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Absolutely wonderful, fresh, delicious, and healthy. August is the perfect time of year for a no-cook recipe! The goat cheese and lemon are tangy, and the garlic chives and nigella seeds add just enough interesting flavor while still allowing the apple and zucchini taste to shine through. I didn’t have any dill in the house, but I can only imagine that the addition of fresh dill would make this salad almost too delicious to eat. I plan to eat this again and again!

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Looking for more healthy plant-based summer recipes? If you like fresh raw salads, fresh fennel and cucumber salad in yogurt sauce is a favorite of mine. Cucumber salads are so budget-friendly and infinitely adaptable, and of course cooling, refreshing, and hydrating in increasingly hotter summers. I love a charred onion and cucumber salad (vegan!) and a Sichuan style cucumber salad and, if you love the mint and lemon in the zucchini and green apple salad, you’ll love this five-minute healthy cucumber, lime, and mint salad.

cornflour pancakes with apple compote

Did you ever crave something you’ve never eaten before?

I couldn’t stop thinking about healthy, fluffy buckwheat pancakes with apple compote… combined with a corn griddle cake/pancake hybrid, thanks to photos of a cheesy cornbread waffle.

Here’s what I did.

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CORN FLOUR PANCAKES version one (makes three large pancakes)

1 c all-purpose flour (or gluten-free all-purpose flour blend)
1/2 c corn flour
1/2 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

2 eggs
1.5 c. plain kefir, yogurt, buttermilk, or milk

recipe adapted from some buckwheat pancake recipe

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CORN FLOUR PANCAKES version two
1/2 c corn flour
1/2 c all purpose flour
1.5T. sugar
0.5 T. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1 egg
1/2 c. (about a cup) plain kefir, yogurt, buttermilk, or milk
1/8 c. veg oil

recipe by cook fast eat well

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APPLE COMPOTE

Sliced a few apples, and added a few tablespoons of water, a sweetener like honey, a sprinkle of salt, and a few whole spices.

Of course, you can substitute anything sweet for the honey, like sugar, maple syrup, date syrup, sweetened molasses, or anything similar.

I chose star anise, cloves, and Chinese licorice. For the sweetener, I used a few chopsticks’ worth of ginger honey (it’s crystallized and the mouth of the jar is too narrow for a spoon!)

Heat it on medium until hot, and then simmer on low heat, stirring often if you used a lot of sweetener, or stirring occasionally if you went with a low-sugar compote.

from epicurious

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PANCAKES #1, August 2020: These corn flour pancakes are not as “corny” as I was picturing. Not sure I would have known these used masa by the flavor or appearance alone. They looked like your average, everyday pancakes. I adapted a healthy buckwheat pancake recipe, and the extra egg did make these pancakes a little more dense than fluffy. It tasted mostly of egg. I think next time I will use a recipe that’s a little more similar to cornbread, with a little oil, and less egg.

If you’re looking for a greasy cornbread, this won’t cut it for you.

If you just want a simple pancake recipe to switch up your Sunday mornings – here it is!

PANCAKES #2, September 2020: Cook Fast Eat Well made a mistake with this. The original recipe calls for a cup of cornmeal, a cup of all-purpose flour, and a cup of milk. Obviously, in retrospect, this isn’t nearly enough liquid for pancake batter. I added in more kefir slowly, and stopped when the consistency looked about right. Probably doubled the original amount. These pancakes are super fluffy. The oil really helps the consistency, and they look more delicious, too, with that amazing crispy crust around the edge. However, again, these are not heavy, greasy cornbread. If you want a breakfast pancake, this is a great choice. My kefir is extremely bitter, so if you have old, sour kefir, make sure to add something with a strong flavor, like cinnamon, or more sugar. These are definitely the better of the two pancakes.

COMPOTE: The compote, of course, was pretty good. The spices added a really interesting flavor. Definitely a recommended way to get your seasonal produce!

hot and sweet plum chutney

Nigel Slater’s plum chutney is just what plum season needs. If plum and mustard sounds like a weird combination, think of it kind of like a peach salsa – sour, sweet, hot, and flavorful.

1 1/2 pounds plums
12 ounces onions
a generous 3/4 cup raisins
1 cup light muscovado sugar (I cut this quite a bit)
1/2 teaspoon crushed dried chile (or more if you like it hot!)
1 teaspoon salt (I cut this by at least half and it was fine)
2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
2/3 cup cider vinegar
2/3 cup malt vinegar
1 cinnamon stick

1. Halve the plums and discard the pits. Peel and coarsely chop the onions. Put the fruit and onions into a large stainless steel or enameled pan with the raisins, sugar, chile, salt, mustard seeds, vinegars, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, and leave to simmer for an hour, giving the occasional stir to reduce the risk of the chutney sticking.

2. Spoon into sterilized jars and seal.

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from Nigel Slater via seriouseats

Thought it was just okay… until the next day. After sitting in the fridge for 24 hours, the flavors melded together and I ended up eating it on everything from eggs to chicken. Adds that perfect kick of flavor to almost anything. Next time, I’ll add more chili and turn it into more of a hot sauce! I’d also like to try it blended, although I’m not sure you can still call it chutney without the chunky-but-mushy texture. Y’all know I still prefer a fermented condiment, like cortido, or a Chinese-style hot chili oil, but this is among my favorite vinegar-based condiments. If you like chutney, check out my favorite peanut mint chutney, or this traditional tomato chutney.

Substitutions? I chose some very acidic plums, but it still didn’t need the whole cup of sugar. If you’re using a sweeter fruit, you might not need more than a pinch of sugar. I couldn’t find malt vinegar, so I used about a cup of apple cider vinegar with a splash of unseasoned rice vinegar. & there’s no way this small batch of chutney needs an entire teaspoon of salt. Otherwise, followed it surprisingly closely, and – yes – I recommend it!

banana cream pie (all-natural, no pudding box!)

First time making a custard, first time making a pie crust in easily a year, first time making a banana cream pie – what could go wrong?

This turned out – well, okay, not even close to perfect, but delicious anyway.

Recipe by Taste of Home and adapted by friedsig

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1 cup sugar 3/4 c sugar maybe 1/2 c sugar?
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups 2% milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons butter
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 pie crust (9 inches), baked
2 large firm bananas 3 large, firm bananas
1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped (optional: whipped cream, to top)

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1. In a large saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, salt and milk until smooth. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat. Stir a small amount of hot filling into eggs; return all to pan. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir 2 minutes longer.

2. Remove from heat. Gently stir in butter and vanilla. Press plastic wrap onto surface of custard; refrigerate, covered, 30 minutes.

3. Spread half of the custard into crust. Slice bananas; arrange over filling. Pour remaining custard over bananas. Spread with whipped cream. Refrigerate 6 hours

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Even though I completely messed up the pie crust, this tastes absolutely incredible. A few notes for next time….

1. I was scared to let the milk get too hot because I know for some desserts you can’t let milk boil. I was also scared the sugar would burn. So I let it simmer just below boiling on a super-low heat… and it took maybe four hours. WAY too long! So, next time, I’ll start the milk on medium heat, and lower it to a simmer afterwards. Bet that’ll shave half the time off the custard.

2. The custard was amazing, but could use something to make the flavor a little more interesting. Next time, I will add a few drops of almond extract, or some hickory syrup to add a smokiness.

3. The recipe called for a cup of sugar, but commenters said it came out too sweet, so I cut it to 3/4 c of sugar. Still too much! Next time I’ll try a half-cup of sugar and maybe a little honey or something.

4. Okay, I know it has to have the whipped cream on top or else it’s not really a banana cream pie. But after 3 cups of milk, it honestly didn’t taste like it was in need of the whipped cream. This pie is common in the Midwest, and it’s always made with instant banana-flavored pudding. Usually, I need some whipped cream to cancel out that strange metallic artificial banana pudding flavor. This might be a contentious opinion, but between the homemade custard and the raw banana flavor, I don’t think this needs whipped cream at all.

5. I added a layer of bananas at the base, to protect the crust from the custard and also just to get a little more fruit in this dessert. Highly recommended.

6. Made this on Sunday (1/6), and ate almost the entire thing by Tuesday night. Maybe this is best made for a crowd, or for someone who has some self-control.

edit 2020: Absolutely phenomenal with a little peanut butter swirl vanilla ice cream on top!

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Recipe by Taste of Home and adapted by friedsig

peachy yum-yum (easy peach cobbler)

6 peaches
2 T lemon juice
2 T corn starch
1/2 c sugar

boil 1 minute & pour into 2-qt. casserole dish

preheat oven to 400

separately, cut 3 T butter into 1 T sugar, 1 1/2 t baking powder, 1/2 t salt (opt) and 1 cup flour.
stir in 1/2 c cold milk and 1/4-1/2 t pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon.
drop by spoonfuls into peach mixture.
sprinkle brown sugar over the top and bake at 400 for 25-30 min.

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i forgot to write down the name of this (“peach cobbler”). i rushed over to a friend’s with it. when they asked me what it was called, i said “peachy yum-yum” without thinking about it.

the cobbler is like biscuit dough. the peach syrup that forms from cooking the peaches for just one minute is thick, red, rich, and habit-forming.

this is a great and easy method for softening underripe peaches. highly recommended, even if you skip the biscuit dough on top and just snack on some peaches and sugar.

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from pick your own: peach recipes

mango salsa

put part of a jalapeno, part of an onion (scallions, green onions, wild leeks, red onions – can’t go wrong here,) and some roasted garlic (raw if you prefer) into the food processor (to taste)

add lime juice and a lot of cilantro

add two mangoes and a sweet red or orange bell pepper

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serve with absolutely everything on earth

especially

fish
chicken
tofu
pork
veggies
salads
chips
and literally everything else

today’s teriyaki chicken wings go well with it. so does tomorrow’s fish cake. even burgers can be made magical by this sweet and sour hot sauce.

blend it completely as a marinade, or leave it chunky as a salsa for dipping.

cranberry sauce with red wine and figs

water as needed
1 splash – 1 cup of red wine
half a packet of dried figs (about 10-12)
a half-cup to a cup of fresh, frozen, or dried cranberries, cherries, and whatever else you have
just a bit of fresh orange zest, orange juice, or candied orange
one quick squeeze of a fresh lemon
a pinch powdered allspice or cinnamon
a t apple cider or red wine vinegar
if you need a sweetener, use whatever you like – honey, sugar, etc.

bring to a boil and simmer until sweet and tender. continue adding water, as the figs will soak up a lot of liquid.

if you prefer it thicker, add a pinch of potato starch or corn starch.

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modified from david lebowitz‘s version

spicy minted melon and berry salad

found a bunch of recipes from when i first started cooking!

1/3 c sugar
1/4 c whole mint leaves
1 jalapeno, seeded, cut in half
1/2 honeydew melon, seeded (other melons are great, too) and cut into bite-sized pieces or balled (or both)
1 c blueberries or purple grapes, seeded
1 T lime juice
1 T chopped mint leaves

boil 1/2 c water with sugar, whole mint leaves, and pepper. simmer 5 mins. cool.

combine everything.

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from jewish food digest by yaoraha, 1998

grilled mangos

One of my new favorite foods. You must try it to believe how wonderful mangos can be when they caramelize a bit on top.

Cut mangos into a few long pieces and grill on a high flame for not very long at all.

Amazing! I can’t recommend this enough.

Applications are endless – grilled mango and tomato salsa, grilled mangos to top grilled burgers, grilled mangos topped with cold vanilla ice cream – but good luck not eating it straight off the grill.

raw banana cream pie

225 g raw macadamia nuts or cashews, divided [approx 1 1/2 c, heaped]
1/2 c coconut oil, melted
100 g dry figs, fresh dates or a combination [approx 6 figs or 7 dates]
scant 1/4 c lemon juice
1 ripe banana
1/2 c coconut milk
1/2 c rice or nut milk
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/2 tsp sea salt

soak some nuts overnight, rinse, drain.

Grind soaked and un-soaked nuts to a rough paste. Add coconut oil, blend to a smooth paste. Add figs/dates, blend until very smooth. Add lemon juice and one banana, blend smooth. Add milks, vanilla and salt, blend until well combined.

eat with bananas, or layer with sliced bananas in a pie crust or chopped nuts in a pie tin for banana cream pie. the person who blogged this also has a raw pie crust recipe.

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from 84th and 3rd