Tomato & Cucumber Salad with a Kick

With a vinaigrette so good you want to drink it, this fresh and light salad with a touch of cumin brings out the best of your summer tomatoes and cucumbers.

The Veggies
2+ lb fresh tomatoes, diced small to make about 2 cups
½ + lb seedless cucumber diced to fill just over 1 cup (or regular cucumber with seeds cut out)
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh curly parsley
1/8 cup finely chopped shallots or green onions

The Dressing
3 Tablespoons grapeseed oil or olive oil
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice – about 1 lemon’s worth

1 Tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
½ Tablespoon sugar
½ Teaspoon seasalt

½ to 1 Teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 Teaspoon coarsely ground or fresh ground black pepper

Cut tomatoes and clean out seeds before dicing. Dice cucumber, shallots, and parsley and add with tomatoes into a 2 quart serving or storage bowl.

In separate small bowl, blend with whisk, hand or beater the oil, lemon juice, vinegar, sugar, salt, cumin, and pepper in a medium bowl. Pour over vegetables and stir gently with a wooden spoon to combine. Let stand at room temperature 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 2 to 4 servings.

Lemony Lemon Meringue Pie

The secret to this melt in your mouth pie is the foolproof method for preparing the meringue. But first things first! If you are lucky enough to tolerate dairy products, use butter for the crust and filling.



Prepare and bake a 9 inch pie shell. A basic pie crust recipe works well with a ratio of ½ shortening like butter flavored Crisco, and ½ non-dairy margarine such as Earth Balance.

Step 2: The Filling can be prepared in the microwave. It helps to have all the ingredients lined up and ready to go. These are stovetop directions:
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups sugar
1/3 cup plus 1 Tbl. cornstarch
1 ½ cups water
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten – save whites for the meringue!
3 Tbls. non-dairy margarine
2 Teasp. lemon zest or grated lemon peel
½ cup lemon juice ~ 2 fresh lemons

Directions:
Mix sugar and cornstarch together well in a medium size, heavy bottomed saucepan. Add water gradually while stirring. Over medium heat, stir constantly, until filling thickens and boils. It will turn from cloudy to clear. Only boil for 1 minute!
Next add eggs. Quickly stir the filling while slowly pouring in the egg yolks to prevent them from clumping. Continue to boil for only one more minute, then remove from heat.
Stir in margarine, lemon zest and lemon juice and mix until margarine is melted and all is blended. Pour into pie shell.

Step 3: Easy Meringue
Ingredients:
3 egg whites
1/3 cup sugar
½ Teasp. Vanilla
1/8 Teasp. Salt
½ Teasp lemon zest (opt)

Directions:
Mix egg whites with sugar in a clean dry bowl and place the bowl in a bigger pan of hot water. The trick is to continue to stir until the whites feel warm and sugar begins to dissolve. Remove bowl from the hot water bath and add salt, lemon zest and vanilla. Beat meringue until stiff and shiny. Spread the pie filling with the meringue being sure to touch all edges of the crust to keep it from shrinking. Put the pie in the oven on one of the upper middle racks with the broiler on. Keep constant watch until meringue peaks brown a little. Depending on rack height and type of broiler, this could only take a minute or two!

Now just as the anticipation is all built up, you'll still have to continue to wait for at least an hour while the pie cools and the filling firms up. You won't be disappointed!

Fresh Tomato and Basil Sauce

This recipe tastes like summer. It can be simply tossed with your favorite pasta, or add chicken, shrimp, or Italian sausages (our favorite).



3 Lbs tomatoes
1/2 Cup chopped fresh basil
2 Small garlic cloves, finely minced and slightly smashed
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 Tablespoon Basalmic vinegar
1 Teaspoon salt
1/2 Teaspoon sugar (optional)
1/2 Teaspoon black pepper

Heat a large pot to boiling. Add 1.5 lbs of the tomatoes for 20-30 seconds, then drain into ice water. This makes the skins slip off without cooking the tomatoes.
Once skins are removed, chop, remove most seeds and toss into large bowl. Cut remaining tomatoes in half. With a large hole grater placed over the bowl of tomatoes, run the tomatoes over the grates in a way that leaves only the skins behind. Throw the skins in your compost!
Add garlic, lemon juice, basalmic vinegar salt, sugar (if using), and pepper. If not using Basalmic vinegar, add another 1/2 teaspoon sugar.
You're done!
Wait at least 15 minutes before serving. The sauce can be kept at room temperature for a few hours, and refrigerated for 2-3 days.

Serves 4-6

CHICKEN MARSALA

1 3/4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (14 fl oz) reduced to 3/4 cup
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, or Earth Balance Margarine
10 oz mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 Tablesoon finely chopped fresh sage
1/4 teaspoon Kosher sea salt
1/4 teaspoon course ground black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves (2 lb total)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons dry Marsala wine
2/3 cup heavy cream or Evaporated Goat Milk
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 200°F.

To reduce broth, bring to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan over high heat, uncovered, until reduced to about 3/4 cup, about 15 - 20 minutes.

Saute shallot in 3 tablespoons butter in an 8- to 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until shallot begins to turn golden, about 1 minute. Add mushrooms, 1 teaspoon sage, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated and mushrooms begin to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat.

Put flour in a wide shallow bowl. Gently pound chicken to 1/4 inch thick between 2 sheets of plastic wrap using the flat side of a meat pounder or a rolling pin.

Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper, then dredge in flour, 1 piece at a time, shaking off excess. Transfer to sheets of wax paper, arranging chicken in 1 layer.

Heat 1 tablespoon each of oil and butter in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sauté half of chicken, turning over once, until golden and just cooked through, about 4 minutes total. Transfer cooked chicken to a large heatproof platter, arranging in 1 layer, then put platter in oven to keep warm. Wipe out skillet with paper towels and cook remaining chicken in same manner, then transfer to oven, arranging in 1 layer.

Add 1/2 cup wine to skillet and boil over high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, about 30 seconds. Add reduced broth, cream, and mushrooms, then simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is slightly thickened, 6 to 8 minutes. Add lemon juice and remaining 2 tablespoons wine and 1/2 teaspoon sage.

Serve chicken with sauce.

Makes 4 servings.

A Fish in Hand

It isn't every day that your neighbor hands you freshly caught yellowtail.As if that isn't amazing enough, he had already cleaned and fileted the succulent fish. Immediately I searched http://www.epicurious.com/ for a recipe that would honor the catch. MACADAMIA-CRUSTED YELLOWTAIL WITH MANGO-PAPAYA SALSA
was perfect served with coconut lemon rice and fresh spring salad greens mixed with bartlet pear, sheep feta, and a light thyme dressing. We thanked our benefactor by presenting him with a generous serving. As a result, we worked out a win-win relationship. He'll catch the fish and I'll cook them!