Grilled Japanese Eggplant with Tahini Sauce

Fellow gardeners, do you ever plant something because you like the look of it, but grow more than you know what to do with? That’s been my relationship to the Japanese eggplants in my garden.

I love to grow them. They hide out trellised against a fence behind my garden bed. They’re a beautiful deep shade of purple, long and elegant.

But unlike tomatoes, you can’t just chop them up and toss them in a salad. Eggplants need to be cooked. Japanese or Asian eggplants are more delicate than their Italian globe brethren. They cook faster, the peels are thinner, and the cooked flesh is creamier.

An easy way to cook this type of eggplant is to grill it, either on a grill or in a grill pan, with high, searing heat. Don’t be afraid of those char marks. They’re delicious. The best part. These grilled eggplant we are serving with a creamy sesame tahini sauce, which works beautifully with the eggplant (and would go great with other veggies as well.)

I have only a few recipes for my garden Japanese eggplants and am always looking for more. So if you have any ideas, please let me know about them in the comments!

Grilled Japanese Eggplant with Tahini Sauce Recipe

• Prep time: 25 minutes
• Cook time: 10 minutes
• Yield: Serves 3-4 as a side dish.

If you don’t have a grill, you can use a grill pan or a cast iron pan on the stove top. Just spread some oil over the bottom of the pan so the eggplants don’t stick, heat on high heat, follow the recipe for preparing the eggplants, and “grill” the eggplants on the hot pan.

Ingredients

• 4 Japanese eggplants (about 1 1/4 pound total)
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 3 Tbsp of olive oil

Tahini sauce

• 1/4 cup roasted sesame tahini
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp chopped parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

• Thai basil for garnish

Method

 

1 Slice the Japanese eggplants in half, lengthwise. Using a sharp paring knife, score the inside surface of the eggplants in a cross hatch pattern, 1/2 inch deep. Lay in a tray and sprinkle the exposed, scored side with salt. Let sit at least 20 minutes (or up to an hour or more) while the grill is coming to temperature and while you make the tahini sauce. The salt will help draw out excess moisture from the eggplants.

2 Prepare your grill for high, direct heat. While the grill is heating, prepare the tahini sauce.

3 If you have a mini chopper, place all of the tahini sauce ingredients in it and pulse until smooth. If you don’t have a mini chopper, mince the garlic and parsley very very fine, and then use a fork or a small whisk to whisk all of the ingredients together. (You can also use a mortar and pestle to grind the garlic with the salt and sugar until it is a smooth paste, then whisk together all of the ingredients.)

4 When your grill is ready and hot, pat the eggplants dry with a paper towel, and brush the insides with olive oil. Place the eggplant halves cut-side down on the hot grill. Press them down a little so they make good contact with the grill. Grill on the cut side until well browned, about 3 to 5 minutes. When they are well seared on one side, flip them over and cook on the other side until the eggplants are cooked all the way through, another couple minutes or so. Brush again with a little olive oil.

5 Remove from grill, place on a plate and serve with tahini sauce. Garnish with Thai basil.

Read More: Grilled Japanese Eggplant with Tahini Sauce

Mom’s Macaroni Salad

When you have a week straight of over 100° temps, you start looking for cooler things to make. My mother whipped up this macaroni salad earlier this week and I think I ate half of the whole bowl.

Think macaroni and deviled egg make love child and you’ll be in the vicinity. There is a hard boiled egg, some roasted red bell pepper, chopped spring onions, a generous amount of mayo, and seasoning with sweet paprika. Perfect for a summer BBQ or picnic salad.

From the recipe archive, first posted 2009.

Mom’s Macaroni Salad Recipe

• Cook time: 25 minutes
• Yield: Serves 4

This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.

Ingredients

• 2 cups (about 1/2 lb) dry macaroni pasta (use rice or gluten-free pasta for gluten-free version)
• Salt
• 1 hard boiled egg, chopped
• 1 roasted red bell pepper*, chopped
• 1 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped spring onion or green onion
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar
• A generous amount of mayonnaise (1/3 to 1/2 cup)
• Several pinches of paprika
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste

* Trader Joes carries a good product, jarred roasted red bell peppers packed in oil and vinegar. We usually use these in recipes calling for roasted bell peppers. Alternatively, you can roast a fresh bell pepper by blackening it over an open flame on a gas range or broiling until the skin blisters on all sides. Remove from heat source, place in paper bag, after a few minutes remove from bag and scrape off the blackened bits. Discard seeds and stem.

Method

1 Cook macaroni, as directed on its package, in at least 2 quarts of salted water (1 teaspoon of salt per quart of water). When cooked through, but still slightly firm (al dente) remove from heat, drain and rinse with cool water until room temperature.

2 While macaroni is cooking, put chopped onions into a small bowl and sprinkle the lemon juice or vinegar over them. This will serve to take the edge off the onions.

2 Combine cooked macaroni, onions, and all other ingredients in a large serving bowl. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Read More: Mom’s Macaroni Salad

Chocolate Bundt Cake

This chocolate bundt cake is not your run-of-the-mill chocolate cake. In it you’ll find close to 2 cups of strong coffee and a quarter cup of bourbon. Yes you can sub the bourbon for another whisky or for just more coffee. But I do recommend using the bourbon if you have some on hand.

Bourbon has a wonderfully smoky flavor, and the cooking process cooks out almost all of the alcohol. So the use of it is more akin to using vanilla, just a different flavor note. The cake will not taste like coffee—the coffee intensifies the chocolate flavor.

This recipe has a bit of a history. It comes from my friend Kathi Riley who used to chef at the historic Union Hotel in Benicia, California in the early 1980s. This cake recipe was on the menu there as a “Mississippi Mud Cake,” served with whipped cream. The cake has an even, fine crumb, has a complex chocolate flavor, and is relatively light. Perfect for pairing with vanilla ice cream. I hope you like it as much as we do!

Chocolate Bundt Cake Recipe

• Prep time: 25 minutes
• Cook time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
• Yield: Serves 12 to 16

The baking temperature is lower than one would usually use for baking a cake—275°F.

Ingredients

• 7 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 4 ounces (1 stick) butter (plus more for greasing the pan)
• 1 3/4 cups of strong coffee
• 1/4 cup bourbon whisky (if skipping the whisky, just use more coffee)
• 3/4 teaspoon of salt (if using salted butter, reduce to 1/8 teaspoon of salt)
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 Tbsp cocoa for dusting the bundt pan
• 1 Tbsp powdered sugar for dusting the cake (optional)

• One 2 1/2-quart capacity bundt pan (or two 4x8x2 loaf pans)

 

Method

1 Preheat oven to 275°F. Grease inside of a 2-quart bunt pan with a thin layer of butter. Sprinkle cocoa over the butter. Set aside.

2 Place a metal bowl over a saucepan filled with an inch or two of water, make sure that the water is not touching the bottom of the metal bowl. Place the chocolate, butter, coffee, bourbon, and salt in the metal bowl. Heat the saucepan to a low simmer. (Basically you are creating a double boiler to gently melt the chocolate mixture.) Stir occasionally as the chocolate melts. Once the mixture is melted and smooth, remove the bowl from heat and let sit to cool for 15 minutes (you can chill in the refrigerator if you want to speed up this process.)

3 In a medium bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour and baking soda.

4 In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla together until light and foamy (you can use a hand mixer for this, or a stand up mixer).

5 Once the chocolate mixture has cooled sufficiently, slowly whisk it into the egg sugar mixture. Then, stir in the flour mixture, a third at a time. Whisk until smooth. (The batter will be rather liquid-y. Don’t worry about it.)

6 Pour into the prepared bundt pan. Place on the middle rack of the preheated oven. Bake at 275°F for 1 hour 15 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

7 Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then gently remove from the pan and cool on a rack until completely cooled to room temperature.

8 Transfer cake to a serving platter. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if using. Slice with a serrated bread knife to serve. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

 

Read More: Chocolate Bundt Cake

Stewed Okra and Tomatoes Creole Style

There’s a reason why the Southern dish of stewed okra and tomatoes is timeless. It’s just plain good. First you start with browning some bacon, then you add the holy trinity—onions, bell pepper, and celery, then the tomatoes, okra and spices. Everything is cooked together until tender and almost falling apart.

Okra is a summer vegetable so we are seeing it in the farmer’s market right now. But you can get frozen okra all year round which is perfectly fine stewed like this. If you don’t have access to okra at all, you can prepare green beans in a similar manner (see recipe).

Do you have a favorite summer okra dish? Please let us know about it in the comments. I love okra and am always looking for ways to cook with it.

Stewed Okra and Tomatoes Creole Style Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 45 minutes
• Yield: Serves 4

You can use either whole or thickly sliced okra for this recipe.

Obviously we believe this dish is best with bacon, but if you don’t eat bacon or want to make a vegetarian dish, leave it out and use a tablespoon or two of olive oil instead.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces bacon, sliced crosswise into 1/4-inch wide slices (lardons)
• 1 cup diced onion (about 1 medium onion)
• 1 cup diced bell pepper (about 1 bell pepper)
• 1/2 cup diced celery (about one rib)
• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic (about 1 clove)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 15-ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes and their juices
• 1 pound (16-ounces) of frozen or fresh okra, whole or thickly sliced, trimmed of tough tops if whole, defrosted if frozen
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
• 1 pinch of cayenne
• 1 pinch cinnamon
• 1 scant pinch of ground cloves (watch it on the ground cloves, a little goes a long way, and you can easily overdo it!)
• 1/2 cup water

Method

1 Place the bacon lardons in a thick-bottomed pot (3 or 4 quart). Heat on medium and cook until the bacon is lightly browned and much of the fat has rendered out.

2 Once bacon has browned, add the onions, celery, and bell pepper. The bacon should have rendered enough fat to cook the vegetables, but if not, add a tablespoon of olive oil to the pot. Cook over medium high heat until onions, celery, and bell peppers are lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a minute more.

3 Add the tomatoes, okra, and salt to the pot. Add the black pepper, cayenne, thyme, cinnamon, and cloves. Stir to combine. Add 1/2 cup of water. Cover and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes.

Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Read More: Stewed Okra and Tomatoes Creole Style

Squash Blossom Quesadillas

Have you ever eaten squash blossoms? The thought of preparing them always seemed a little daunting to me, until a friend made some for me for a traditional Mexican quesadilla (Quesadilla de Flor de Calabazas).

They’re so easy! You just roughly chop them and sauté them with onions and garlic. The flavor is lovely, like zucchini but more delicate, and perfect in a quesadilla with cheese and corn tortillas.

Finding squash blossoms for sale is another thing. They are used in Mexican and Italian cuisine, so if you have farmers markets that cater to those populations, you’ll have more luck finding them.

Here they are very inexpensive. I bought about 30 blossoms for about $3 at our local farmers market. They are only available in the summer, when zucchini and summer squash are in season.

If you are a gardener who grows zucchini or other summer squash, you’ll have no problem sourcing them. Just pick the male flowers (the pollinators), not the female flowers that bear the squash. (Leave a few male flowers to do their pollinating work.)

You can pretty easily tell the difference between them—the male blossoms grow closer to the base of the stem and if you peek inside they have a long stamen with pollen. The female flowers are a bit more swollen at the base, which will grow into a squash if pollinated.

Do you have a favorite way of preparing squash blossoms? If so, please let us know about it in the comments. I’m always looking for new ideas.

Squash Blossom Quesadillas Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 15 minutes
• Yield: Serves 4-6

Traditionally a small sprig of epazote (a Mexican herb) is placed in each quesadilla with the squash blossoms. You can also lay a strip or two of roasted poblano chile in the quesadilla.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 30 summer squash blossoms
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 12 white corn tortillas
• 8 ounces Oaxaca cheese (a Mexican string cheese) or Monterey jack cheese, sliced
• Chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

Method

1 Prepare the squash blossoms. Check the insides of the blossoms for bugs (especially if you’ve picked the squash blossoms from your garden), rinse out if you find any or if the blossoms are dusty. Otherwise there should be no need to wash. Cut away the stems. Roughly chop the blossoms, stamens and all.

2 Heat the oil in a large sauté pan on medium high heat. Add the chopped onion and sauté  for 5 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté a minute more.

Add the squash blossoms and toss to coat with the garlic and onions. Cook for a minute or two more, until the blossoms are just wilted. Remove from heat.

3 Heat a large cast iron pan or a large relatively stick-free skillet on medium heat. Rub a little butter in the pan (just enough to give the tortillas a little flavor). Place a corn tortilla in the pan and heat on both sides for half a minute or so, until bubbles begin to form in the tortilla.

Place a slice or two of the cheese on one side of the tortilla. Top with a tablespoon or two of the squash blossom mixture. Use a spatula to fold the other side of the tortilla over the side with the cheese and squash blossoms. Press down with a spatula. Cook until the cheese has melted and the tortilla lightly browned.

While the quesadilla is cooking, if your pan is large enough, you can start heating another tortilla in the pan.

4 When the cheese has melted, remove the quesadilla from the pan and continue to make the remaining quesadillas in the same manner. To serve, cut each quesadilla into triangles and serve with salsa, chopped fresh cilantro, avocado, black beans, Mexican queso crema (or diluted sour cream)

Read More: Squash Blossom Quesadillas

Confetti Cucumber Salsa

I love growing cucumbers, truly I do! But boy are they prolific. With just one Persian cucumber plant I have enough cucumbers for the neighborhood. If you too are a summer gardener faced with the same dilemma of too many cucumbers, or if you just love the taste of cool and crunchy cucumbers, here’s an easy and fun way to use them, in a colorful salsa!

With a little mint, some finely chopped red onion, red bell pepper, and jalapeño, this cucumber salsa is cool and light, perfect for the summer, and lovely with grilled chicken, fish, or shrimp.

Confetti Cucumber Salsa Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Yield: Makes about 2 cups of salsa

Some individual jalapeños refuse to be hot. Others will light your mouth on fire. If you find yourself with a dud, just add some red pepper flakes to the salsa to your desired level of hotness.

Ingredients

• 1 large cucumber or 2 small cucumbers (about 1/2 pound to 3/4 pound total), seeded and finely diced (peel first if the cucumber is thick-skinned, leave peel on if thin-skinned)
• 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
• 1/4 cup finely diced red, orange, or yellow bell pepper
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh mint
• 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon minced jalapeño (more to taste)

Method

To make the salsa, place all of the salsa ingredients into a medium bowl, and gently stir to combine. Taste and add more jalapeño if you desire more heat.

Keeps for several days, covered and chilled in the refrigerator.

Perfect for serving with grilled chicken or seafood.

Read More: Confetti Cucumber Salsa

Turkey Zucchini Burger with Garlic Mayo

Turkey meat is much leaner than beef or pork, so it can be a challenge to make a burger with ground turkey that still gives you the satisfaction of eating a juicy burger. One trick I use to infuse moisture into ground turkey is to add freshly grated zucchini. (Perfect for summer when those of us who garden have more zucchini than we can possibly use.)

It’s a trick I learned making these spicy turkey zucchini burgers with middle eastern flavors from the Jerusalem cookbook. No, the burgers don’t taste like zucchini, and yes, the grated zucchini works great to keep the burgers from drying out. Just make sure you are using fresh summer zucchini, and not something that’s shipped from thousands of miles away in the dead of winter when they are out of season.

Zucchini doesn’t add much in the way of taste, and ground turkey is mild as well, so we need to bump up our turkey burgers with herbs and spices. In this Italian inspired turkey burger we are including chopped fresh basil and oregano into the burger mix, and serving the burger with a slathering of garlic mayo.

Turkey Zucchini Burger with Garlic Mayo Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 30 minutes
• Yield: Makes 6 turkey burgers

These turkey burgers don’t have a binder in them so are best cooked gently on the stovetop rather than the grill. If you would prefer to grill them, I recommend squeezing out some of the excess moisture from the grated zucchini, and adding some mayonnaise to the burger mix. The egg in the mayonnaise will help bind the burger while it cooks, and the oil in the mayo will help the burgers stay juicy.

I have found that zucchini have a higher water content than patty pan or other types of summer squash, so are the best type of summer squash to use in this recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground turkey (thigh meat preferred)
• 2 green onions, white and green parts, minced
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 pound of zucchini, grated (about 2 cups)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil

Garlic Mayo

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced

Rest of burger

• Several leaves of lettuce
• Thinly sliced red onion
• Thinly sliced tomato
• Burger buns
• Butter

Method

1 In a large bowl place the ground turkey, green onions, chopped basil and oregano, garlic, black pepper, and salt. Using clean hands mix together thoroughly. Then mix in the grated zucchini until well distributed throughout the ground turkey.

2 Heat the oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Carefully form six patties with the turkey zucchini mixture. Working in batches, gently cook the patties for about 4 to 5 minutes on each side. You don’t want the heat to be too high or the patties may get too browned before they are cooked through.  Remove to a plate to keep warm.

3 When you are finished with the pan for the burgers, wipe out any burned bits. Melt a little butter in the pan and place the buns in the pan, cut side down to brown. Increase the heat to medium high. Remove from pan when the edges start to brown.

4 To make the garlic mayo, whisk together the finely minced garlic and the mayonnaise in a small bow.

This is how we recommend to build the burger. Start with the bottom half of the burger bun. Spread a layer of garlic mayo over it. Place a layer of lettuce leaf over the mayo. Place the burger over the lettuce. Place the onion on the burger. Place a slice of tomato on the onion. If you want, place another lettuce leaf on the tomato. Top with the other half of the bun. The lettuce leaf on the bottom of the burger help prevent the juices from the burger from running into the bottom bun and making it soggy.

Read More: Turkey Zucchini Burger with Garlic Mayo

The Easiest Way to Microwave Corn on the Cob

A video came my way on Facebook the other day for a drop dead easy way of cooking corn on the cob. Like my favorite grilling method for cooking corn, you don’t shuck the corn first, but leave it in its husk. After a few minutes on high, you remove the corn from the microwave, cut off the bottom, and cleanly slip off the husk and silk. Perfectly cooked corn with no mess!

This I had to see for myself.

You know what? It works! It is probably not the most efficient way to cook corn if you are cooking more than a couple ears. In that case it’s faster and easier to steam or boil. But since I’m often cooking for one, and I have the patience of a hummingbird, I like the idea of quickly cooking one ear of corn in the microwave.

I also like cooking the corn in its husk. Cooked this way, the corn steams in its own juices and absorbs flavor from the husks, resulting in a wonderful, undiluted corn taste. If your corn if farm fresh, you don’t even need butter. (But don’t let me stop you!)

The YouTube video that inspired this experiment can be found here. (It’s charming.)

I made my own video (only 22 seconds long). Take a look!

 

The Easiest Way to Microwave Corn on the Cob

• Cook time: 5 minutes

These instructions are for one ear of corn. If you want to microwave more than one ear at a time, increase the cooking time by 4 minutes for every ear of corn.

Ingredients

• 1 ear of corn, husk on

Method

1 Place the corn in the microwave, do not remove the husk. Microwave the corn on the high setting for 4 minutes.

2 Use a kitchen towel or pot holder to remove corn from the microwave (it’s hot!) Cut off the bottom of the corn, stem end, about one row of corn in from the stem.

3 Slip off the husk and silk.

That’s it!

Read More: The Easiest Way to Microwave Corn on the Cob

Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil

Ah bruschetta, one of the best ways to enjoy the bounty of summer. Pronounced “brusketta”, this classic Italian appetizer is a perfect way to capture the flavors of garden ripened tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic, and olive oil. Think of it as summer on toast!

My friend Dee showed me how to make it years ago, and it couldn’t be easier to prepare. It’s just a mixture of chopped tomatoes, balsamic, basil, and garlic, spooned over olive-oil brushed slices of toasted baguette or rustic bread.

It’s perfect for a party because you can make a large batch of the topping ahead of time, as well as toasting baguette slices. Either bring out a bowl of the bruschetta topping for people to put on their own toasts, or do it for them right before serving.

Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 20 minutes
• Yield: Makes 24 small slices, serves 6-10 as an appetizer

We suggest using plum tomatoes for bruschetta because they have thicker flesh with fewer seeds and less juice than regular tomatoes, but feel free to use any tomato for this recipe. If you use cherry tomatoes, just quarter them, don’t bother blanching or peeling them.

Ingredients

• 6 or 7 ripe plum tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons)
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 6-8 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced* or chopped
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, more or less to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, more or less to taste

• 1 baguette French bread or similar Italian bread
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil

*To thinly slice basil leaves, stack the leaves on top of each other and roll up like a cigar. Then make thin slices from one end of the basil cigar to the other.

Method

1 Blanch and peel the tomatoes: Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. As the water is heating make shallow cuts in a cross pattern at the tip ends of the tomatoes (this will make the tomatoes easier to peel).

Once the water is boiling, remove the pot from the heat. Put the tomatoes in the hot water and blanch for 1 minute.

Remove with a slotted spoon and let sit until cool enough to handle. Then gently peel off the tomato skins. Cut out the stem base with a paring knife.

Cut the tomatoes into halves or quarters and squeeze out most of the juices and seeds.

2 Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C) with a rack in the top slot of the oven.

3 Chop tomatoes, toss them with garlic, olive oil, vinegar, basil, salt and pepper: Finely chop the tomatoes and place them in a medium bowl. Mix in the minced garlic, 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, and the balsamic vinegar.

Stir in the thinly sliced basil and add salt and freshly ground black pepper, adding more to taste. Note, tomatoes love salt; you may need to add more than you expect.

4 Toast the baguette slices: Use a bread knife to slice the baguette on the diagonal making half-inch thick slices. Brush one side of each slice with olive oil (a pastry brush helps here) and place olive oil-side down on a baking sheet or roasting pan.

The baguette slices will toast best in the top rack of your oven, so you may need to work in batches to toast them all.

When the oven has reached 450°F (230°C) place the slices in the oven on the top rack and toast for 5 to 6 minutes until lightly browned around the edges.

If you want you can toast the bread slices without coating them first in olive oil. Toast them until lightly browned on both sides. Then cut a clove of garlic in half and rub over one side of the toast. Then brush with olive oil. (See Easiest Ever Garlic Bread.)

5 Serve toasted bread with tomato mixture: Arrange the toasted bread on a platter, olive oil side facing up (the olive oil will help create a temporary barrier keeping the bread from getting soggy from the chopped tomatoes).

Either serve the toasts plain with a bowl of the tomato bruschetta mixture on the side for people to top their own, or use a spoon to gently top each toasted bread slice with some of the tomato mixture. If you top each slice individually, do it right before serving.

Read More: Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil

Chewy Almond Squares

Sometimes I want to bake something sweet, but I just don’t want a big fuss with a mixer or running the oven for an hour. These chewy almond squares fit the bill. They’re basically blondies, but made with almond extract instead of vanilla, and with chopped toasted almonds mixed in instead of butterscotch. A big thank you to commenter Chris who made these substitutions on our blondie recipe and shared how well they turned out!

Chewy Almond Squares Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 30 minutes
• Yield: Makes 9 squares.

To make the decorative almond halves, take a whole raw almond and pinch it between your fingers. Use a serrated bread knife to carefully cut the almond in half. The almond has a natural break-point so it should split easily once you start to cut it.

No need for a mixer for this recipe, all you need is a whisk and a strong spoon.

You can easily double this recipe.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick, 112 g), melted, plus butter for greasing the pan
• 1 cup tightly packed light brown sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon of almond extract
• 1 cup (128 g) all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup toasted, blanched almonds, chopped
• Whole almond halves for decoration

 

• One 8×8-inch baking pan

Method

1 Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease an 8×8-inch baking pan with butter. Toast blanched almonds if you have not already done so, and when cool, roughly chop them.

2 In a mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until there are no more lumps of brown sugar. Whisk in the beaten egg and almond extract.

3 In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and pinch of salt. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and mix until smooth. Stir in the chopped almonds.

4 Pour into the prepared baking pan and smooth the surface. You can “cut” the surface with a knife to make it easier to see where you will want to make cuts once the squares are done. Place an almond half, cut side down, in the middle of each square.

5 Bake at 350°F for 20 to 25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Read More: Chewy Almond Squares

Zucchini, Eggplant, Tomato Gratin

Oh my. Look who’s getting all fancy with the vegetables!

It’s as if my garden decided to throw a prom, and the eggplants, zucchini, and tomatoes banded together to show everyone else up. (Clearly they deserve best prize for something, don’t you think?)

Normally I would look at something like this and think it’s waaaay too complicated. But this summer vegetable gratin is actually quite straightforward.

To prepare these vegetables, you have to cut them anyway, so why not cut them in rounds and arrange them in a pretty pattern?

If you recall, Remy, the “little chef” in Pixar’s Ratatouille movie, prepared something similar for Anton Ego, the food critic. This isn’t that dish, but something much easier.

You just sauté onions and bell peppers, layer them at the bottom of a casserole dish, top with rounds of eggplant, zucchini, and tomato. Top that with cheese and bake!

It’s a lovely, easy, colorful presentation for our favorite summer vegetables. A perfect side to take to a party.

Zucchini, Eggplant, Tomato Gratin Recipe

• Prep time: 20 minutes
• Cook time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
• Yield: Serves 6 to 8

We’re topping this gratin with provolone and Parmesan cheeses. You could easily top it with Gruyere instead. For a more Provencal approach, skip the cheese all together and top with bread crumbs, minced garlic, parsley, and olive oil.

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups sliced yellow onion (1 large onion)
• 1 cup of sliced red, orange, or yellow bell peppers
• 1 long eggplant (a slender eggplant like a Japanese eggplant, not a large globe, about 1/2 pound)
• 1 large zucchini (about 10 to 12 inches long, 1 1/2 inch diameter, about 1/2 pound), or other summer squash
• 2 medium sized tomatoes
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 2 ounces Provolone cheese, sliced or grated
• 3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Method

1 Sauté the onions and peppers: In a large sauté pan heat 2 Tbsp of the olive oil on medium high heat. Add the sliced onions and cook until lightly browned, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes.

Add the sliced bell peppers and continue to cook with the onions until the bell peppers are softened and the onions are well browned, about 5 to 6 minutes more.

When done, transfer the onions and bell peppers into a large gratin pan or casserole dish.

2 Slice the eggplant, zucchini, and tomato in similar sized rounds: While the onions and peppers are cooking, slice the eggplant and zucchini in 1/4-inch thick round slices.

You’ll also want to slice the tomato into 1/4-inch thick slices, but depending on how big your tomato is, you may need to cut the tomato in half or in quarters first.

All of the sliced vegetable pieces should be about the same size to make it easier to layer them in an attractive manner.

3 Layer the eggplant, zucchini, tomato rounds on top of the onions, bell peppers as garlic: Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Spread the cooked onions and bell peppers in an even layer at the bottom of the gratin dish. Place the mashed garlic on top of the onions and peppers.

Arrange the slices of the eggplant, zucchini, and tomato on top of the cooked onions and peppers, alternating the vegetables, in an attractive pattern, stacking them and fanning them across the surface of the dish.

4 Top with salt, parsley, cheeses, olive oil: Sprinkle with salt and parsley. Top with Provolone and Parmesan cheeses.

Drizzle the remaining tablespoon of olive oil around the perimeter, where the vegetables meet the side of the dish.

5 Cover with foil and bake, broil uncovered to finish: Cover with foil (it helps to grease the underside of the foil with a little olive oil so that the cheese as it melts does not stick to the foil).

Bake for 40 minutes at 350°F (175°C). Remove the foil. Turn on the broiler and broil for 5 minutes or until nicely browned.

Read More: Zucchini, Eggplant, Tomato Gratin