Avocado and Watermelon Salad

This one is so fresh and easy that you'll want to make it all season! The watermelons are juicy and flavorful; the perfect compliment to citrus and avocados. All the ingredients can be sourced locally right now, so enjoy this season's bounty!

Serve this with grilled beef or ribs. It's just fresh enough to give your palate a rest and it's great fun. I know a few people who don't care for tomatoes so I decided to substitute those with watermelon. It's unexpected and I think you'll like it.

Feel free to make this ahead, just keep it cold until about an hour before serving. I keep the diced avocados in the lime juice and pour that over the top as a dressing.

Enjoy!



Level: Easy
Time: 15-20 minutes prep
Yield: Serves 4  

Fresh Figs and Chèvre in Puff Pastry

I've been waiting all year to make these! The figs are finally here and I've got some of my new local find - goat cheese (chèvre) from Fraga Farms.

This recipe is both savory and sweet. The tangy goat cheese and a dash of black pepper go well with the sweet honey and aromatic lavender. The lavender is very subtle. If you want more of that taste you can grind the lavender buds and use them as you would a spice. In fact, I might try that next time.

I made puff pastry for this recipe and it was good (the recipe link is below) but I think it would be fine with frozen pastry dough. This is really all about the filling. Make it as easy as you'd like.
The thing about this pastry is that it's so pretty. It's really nice for a brunch or a leisurely weekend breakfast. They will last a few days - just remember to refrigerate them in the hot weather.

 


Time: 1 1/2 hours (less if you use frozen pastry)
Level: Average
Yield: 24 pastries

Baked Jalapeño Poppers Three Ways

I love Summertime! Like that old song says,  the livin' is easy. Entertaining is casual and serving small bites, made with the freshest ingredients, is exactly what I love to do. These are such versatile appetizers that you can make one batch and that appeals to three different palates. Okay, three different - spicy loving - palates.

I decided to experiment with a few different fillings this time. The first is a light version with cream cheese and Greek yogurt dipped in egg and panko crumbs. The second, a more traditional version, is filled with cream cheese, and topped with grated cheddar. The last, I call them Heavy J's,  are filled with cream cheese and cheddar then wrapped in bacon.

When I made these, I wanted a variety so I divided the ingredients and prepared them all at once. If you have a preference the recipe is easily multiplied (or divided) to meet your tastes and needs.

A few tips: Gloves. Use them. Jalapeño oil is a slow burn that will last under your fingernails for days. If you forget, use dish detergent (like Dawn soap) and COLD water to dissolve and remove the oils. Another tip, let them rest when they come out of the oven. They really are molten. Give them at least 5 minutes to cool and to let the cheese set. 
Enjoy!


Time: 30 minutes
Level: Easy
Yield: 16 poppers

Sausage Kabobs with Basil Dipping Sauce

A complete meal and a house that stays cool. Isn't that what we all want in this heat?
I had some Italian-style chicken sausage and some beautiful new circle kabobs that I'd never used and wanted to try. Blogging wasn't in the plan for this simple dinner but I decided to share some discoveries I made. SPOILER ALERT: The food was tasty, the circle kabobs were downright dangerous!
 
The chicken sausage was good - not the same as traditional pork, but very flavorful and much lighter fare, perfect for hot weather. I served it with a basil dipping sauce that, after countless experimental batches, turned out blog-worthy. I posted it separately, the link is in the recipe.

Now, take another look at those circle kabobs because they're the reason I'm writing today. What a presentation, huh? Worthy of the "Oohs!" and "Ahhs!" when you serve the meal. Well that, dear readers, is where the romance ends! They're sharp, slippery and unwieldy. I broke out a pair of brand new rubber gloves in a failed attempt to get a grip. Nothing short of pre-drilling holes in the food would have made that process easier (or safer). Eventually, the ingredients were impaled on the evil circles and ready for the grill. Which brings me to the next challenge - managing them over a fire. Trying to fit all four on the grill is quite a puzzle and the only way we could do it was to allow the ends to stack on top of each other. In theory that shouldn't be a problem but, in practice, they become entangled and, before you know it, you've got all four linked together over a fire. Turns out that's nowhere near as fun as it sounds! I was thinking about tossing them in the trash but now I think I'll re-purpose them into a wind chime or something I hang from my lilacs to keep the deer away!

Back to the food. Sausage, peppers and onion. In our family these ingredients are the basis for traditional sausage and peppers in tomato sauce (a recipe for a cooler day). The sausage is usually pork, the peppers, green and the onion, yellow. For this Summer-time version I found organic mini peppers and I chose a sweet onion. Since the peppers and onions cook quickly on the grill, you'll want to pre-cook the sausage or use Andouille or another smoked sausage. I cooked the sausage the night before, when it was cooler.

The biggest difference is the tomato sauce -- there is none. Instead, this no-cook basil dipping sauce was a nice compliment to the chicken.  I hope you get some basic bamboo skewers and enjoy it!

Time: 1 hour
Level: Easy
Yield: Serves 4

Crunchy Baked Portobello Fries

I love French fries. There, I said it. Now, what do I do about it? It doesn't  matter if I make them at home or eat them out, they're made of carbohydrates, salt and fat.  I left them behind (well, almost) in favor if the "side salad" years ago. Don't get me wrong, I like salads, but I miss fries.  The flavor and crispiness;  the way you can eat them with your hands. They're social food. "Want some of my fries?" 

Over the years I've tried baked "fries" but was still left with too many carbs and salt so I stopped doing that. Then I saw someone on television raving about portobello fries. After some research I came across a recipe for baked portobello "fries" that were coated in bread crumbs. I decided to try an old low-carb trick and replace most of the bread crumbs with dried onions. Before you say it, I know; onions are also carb-rich. But they're good carbs!

If you read this blog often, you know that I love to experiment with seasonings. For this recipe I added a bit of curry and black pepper, then I served them with a yogurt dipping sauce. You'll be surprised at how quickly they go together -- and how quickly the disappear - truly fast food!

Time: 20 minutes

Yield: Serves 2

Level: Easy