Dinners Week of 07/19

Robert away, but MZ and I ate well...

Sunday: Potato-Sorrel Soup and Heirloom Tomato Salad

A Greens recipe, completely violated by a bit of pancetta and low-sodium chicken broth. Potatoes from the farm box and sorrel from the garden!

Monday: Moki's with friends

Tuesday: Mission Beach Cafe for Barbecue Night! (MZ at g'parents)

Wednesday: Slow Cooker Chile con Carne with Salsa Cruda, red cabbage coleslaw and corn muffins

The basic chile recipe from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook made with lean ground beef, cooked all day. Salsa from the tomatoes, cilantro and red onions from the CSA box. Mana made the cornbread, but next time I'll prep the wet and dry ingredients in the morning, the muffins bake in just 18 minutes.

Thursday: Teriyaki pork tenderloin, microwave-baked yams, stir-fried zucchini and Korean cucumber salad

Friday: Hula's in Monterey (definitely worth a return visit)

Saturday: Roasted cherry tomato and shredded chicken pasta

Leftover roast chicken, a dozen or so cherry tomatoes, sauteed scallions and garlic and some chicken broth worked well together. I topped mine with goat cheese, MZ opted for Parmigiano.

Summer Vegetables: Cucumber and Zucchini

We've been getting tons of cucumber, zucchini and red onions in our farm box lately. I love cucumber, but am less fond of zucchini. Both these recipes worked well enough to make again, MZ loved the zucchini. I prepped them the night before and served with microwave "baked" yams and pan-grilled teriyaki pork tenderloin.

Stir-fried Zucchini with Red Onion and Black Soy

3 large-ish zucchini cut in 1/4" half-moons

1/2 red onion, feather cut

1/4 t salt

1 clover garlic, thinly sliced

1/2 t minced ginger

1 T soy sauce

1 T chicken broth

1 t black soy

1/2 t sesame oil

Heat a wok to hot hot. Swirl in a scant 2 t canola oil, add onion, sprinkle with salt and stir and fry until the onion softens a bit. Add garlic and ginger, stir and fry 30 seconds and move mixture to upper edges of wok. Add zucchini, spread out across bottom of wok and allow to char around the edges. Stir and allow the other side to char. Add soy sauces and broth, stir and cook to desired doneness. Drizzle with sesame oil and serve.

"Korean" Cucumber Salad

This recipe is riffed from a salad from Growing Up in a Korean Kitchen by Hi Soo Shin Hepinstall. We need to work MZ up to the spice level she recommends... I used a combination of Persian, lemon and standard cucumbers because that's what I had on hand. I seeded the lemon and standard cucumbers with spoon before slicing. No seeding required for the Persian cucumber. Serves 4-6 as a side dish

3 lbs. cucumbers, peeled, halved and thinly sliced

1.5 T sea or kosher salt

1 pinch red pepper flakes

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1 T vermouth

2 T sugar

2 T fresh lemon juice

1 clove garlic, pressed

1/2 t freshly ground black pepper

1/2 red onion, feather cut

1 T sesame oil

1 T toasted sesame seeds

1 T slivered almonds

Place the sliced cucumbers in a strainer and sprinkle with the salt. Toss to cover. Let sit for 15 minutes. Meanwhile. combine ingredients through black pepper, whisking till sugar dissolves. Add red onion and toss to combine.

Wrap cucumbers in a dish towel and squeeze out liquid. Place in a bowl with dressing ingredients, stir to combine, drizzle with sesame oil and refrigerate one hour or overnight. Toss with sesame seeds and almond slivers and serve.

Watermelon and Cucumber Salad

This is based on a recipe from Eating Well, I added cumin and cayenne to make it work with our turkey fajita taco dinner, but if I wanted to serve it with Southeast Asian food, I'd add mint instead of cumin. It was easy and delicious! A tiny dice for the cukes and watermelon would make it a great salsa for grilled shrimp.

2.5 t sugar dissolved in 2T rice vinegar

Add 1/4 t ea ground cumin and salt

A wee pinch of cayenne

Add 1.5 cup ea. diced watermelon and cuke

1/4 c chopped cilantro

Thinly sliced white part of two scallions

Delicious immediately.