Some Quick Summer Meal Ideas

Summertime means time to put those big ceramic pots on the shelf, and use the freshest produce in the simplest ways possible! Here are a few recipes I've used to get summer started.

Veggie Kebabs!
Since we are still in the throws of apartment life, we do not own a BBQ. I do, however, own a George Foreman Grill, which has been put to use regularly on these warmer summer days. Pictured above are some quick veggie kebabs - tofu, mushrooms, peppers, onions and tomatoes marinated in garlic, ginger, and soy sauce before being 'grilled'. Easy, light and tasty - especially when served with some sliced avocado with sea salt and basmati rice (my new favorite) with chopped fresh parsley. They are also pretty!


A lovely light breakfast
I found an adorable 'demi baguette' at the Breadfarm stand at the Farmer's Market. It was the perfect size for two and only $1.50! I decided to use it for a breakfast inspired by the breakfasts I had in Paris when I visited. I was 17, and was enchanted by the simplicity and quality of the food. This is actually a little more elaborate than I had at the hotel, but c'est la vie!

Menu
Sliced 'demi' baguette
fresh butter
goat cheese
homemade raspberry jam
cantelope
coffee

This is truly lovely on a morning when temperatures are climbing quickly!


Upside-down Taco Salad!
OK, so really it's nachos. We had taco salad the night before, and I was planning on just serving the same thing, but then I decided to try to use the same ingredients in a new format. So instead of putting tortilla chips on top, I started with them on the bottom. I learned how to make great nachos in college - nachos with the works! So I used some of those tricks in this recipe:

Corn tortilla chips, spread with refried black beans
Pepper Jack cheese
sliced olives and green onions
corn
Put those in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or so (hint: lining the baking sheet with foil makes clean-up super quick)

Then top with...
a squeeze of lime juice
a dash of chili powder
shredded lettuce
salsa
fake sour cream (in my case)

And drink with...
cold beer

Summer food is fun.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Ever

I don't know about you, but to me there is nothing more frustrating than being all excited to make homemade chocolate chip cookies, and then open the oven to find greasy cookies spread all over the baking sheet, puffy cookies that didn't spread out or any other disappointing variation. After countless attempts to find the perfect recipe, I have succeeded. This recipe makes the most perfectly consistent cookie. They are light and slightly cakey, but still a little dense. And the flavor is perfect. I think the key is adding more brown sugar than white sugar. I got the recipe from Food Network's Tyler Florence.

My Big, Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 (8-ounce) block dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

Place the butter, sugar, and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer; cream together on medium speed until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat in the vanilla and eggs. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and continue to mix until a smooth batter forms. Turn off the mixer and fold in the chocolate chunks using the spatula.

To form the cookies, scoop about 1/4 cup of cookie dough into your hands and roll it around into a ball; place them about 3-inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets; you should get about 4 cookies on each pan. Press down the tops of the dough slightly and bake until the cookies are light brown, 12 minutes for chewy cookies, or about 15 minutes for crispy cookies.

Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough/cookie sheets.

My adaptations:

• You can make these the size that is called for above, or smaller. When I make them more like tablespoon size, they take about 9 minutes and 30 seconds in my oven.
• I usually use dark chocolate chips, and sometimes add half a cup of walnuts or pecans.
• Often, I replace the butter with Earth Balance nonhydrogenated margarine.
• I also sometimes replace each egg with 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce mixed with 1 teaspoon baking powder.

These adaptations make the cookies vegan and don't really effect the consistency, although you can taste the real butter if that's what you use.

Key things:

• The butter has to be exactly at room temperature. This can take a couple of hours. Do not microwave it! Also, if you are making a double batch and it is super hot (like it was when I made the cookies in the picture above), put the bowl of dough in the fridge between batches.
• It also helps if eggs or applesauce are room temperature.
• Don't skip mixing the wet and dry ingredients separately. The moisture activates the baking soda.
• Cooling on a wire rack is essential. Also, do not store these until they are completely cool. Ever had a sticky, sweaty cookie? It was covered too soon.
• For best results, use good vanilla.
• Eat the dough.

This may sound fussy, but the results are worth thinking about a few details! Enjoy.