Summer Corn and Tomato Salad with Shrimp, by Diane

 

This recipe was a spontaneous weeknight creation after a visit to the farmers market, and loosely based off Cheryl's pesto corn salad with shrimp! I batch cooked a bunch of it at once by cutting everything and placing it into separate containers so that I could just combine them into a salad when I was ready to eat, which made 4 portions. Yum!

Ingredients:

1 lb cooked and deveined shrimp, tail off

2 cups tomatoes (I used red and orange cherry tomatoes from the farm)

4 ears corn, uncooked, corn kernels removed

8 scallions, green and white parts sliced

2 avocados

1 handful basil leaves

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup EVOO

Salt and pepper

Merken (smoky spice is ok here too!)

1 lime

Directions:

1. Combine 1 avocado, basil, garlic, EVOO, salt and pepper and lime in a blender, using salt and pepper to taste. Set aside as your dressing- I like this on the thick side.

2. Combine remaining ingredients including the other avocado diced up and toss well to combine.

3. Top with dressing, and season to your preference.

Charoset Stuffed Honey Cake, by Diane

We made this cake for Rosh Hashanah this year- it was originally planned for Passover but we never got around to making it then. It wound up being a good thing, because the Passover recipe used alternate flour, so for Rosh Hashanah we were able to combine the charoset cake recipe from @jakecohen with a traditional honey cake recipe from @dianemorrisey to get this amazing deliciousness! This cake was so good, the flavors were really reminiscent of the Jewish holidays, and it was easy to make. The only changes we all agreed on were that we would cook the cake for less time, as the honey cake layers weren't as moist as we would have liked. The cake was actually better the second day around, because the charoset filling had penetrated the honey cake layers with some extra delicious flavor. We will definitely be adapting this for Passover using Jake's original recipe, and this will likely be a Rosh Hashanah staple from here on out!

Ingredients:

Cooking spray or butter (enough to grease the pan)

3/4 cup white sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

3/4 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups AP flour 

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

3 apples, chopped into bite size pieces (we used gala)

1 cup walnuts, chopped

1/4 cup golden raisins

3 tbsp honey

2 tbsp cornstarch

Directions:

1. Grease a bundt pan heavily and set aside, preheat oven to 350.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.

3. In a larger bowl, beat sugar and oil until combined, then add eggs in one at a time until well mixed. 

4. Stir honey and vanilla into the sugar mixture.

5. Add the dry ingredients in and mix very well. The mixture will be thick and you'll need to make sure everything is combined.

6. Combine apples through cornstarch in a separate bowl and set aside.

7. Build your cake by spreading half the cake batter on the bottom, then a middle layer of the entire charoset mixture, then remaining cake batter.

8. Bake for 40-50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. (Note: we did 50 minutes and think this is what made the cake dryer, so I'd go for 40!). Let cool before serving (we left it uncovered, but when covered overnight the cake softened so we are going to try and cover it next time!)

Moby Dick Chicken, by Diane

This recipe was straight from our favorite kabob restaurant, Moby Dick. They published the recipe for their killer chicken kabobs which my whole family loves because they are juicy and so delicious, even as leftovers. Unfortunately, these were just okay, and I’ll be buying them from now on! They didn’t have as much flavor and were not nearly as juicy as the restaurant. 

Ingredients:

6 chicken breasts, cubed

1 medium onion, quartered

Pinch saffron

1/2 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper

4 tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients except chicken in a food processor until smooth.

2. Pour into a large bag with chicken and marinate for 2-8 hours.

3. Thread onto skewers and grill for 6 min each side.

Grilled Pizza with Summer Corn and Tomatoes, by Diane

This pizza recipe has been on my list of summer foods for 3 years, and it was so worth it!! Super fun to make, and the whole family loved it for a Labor Day cookout!

Ingredients:

15oz can pizza dough

3 ears cooked corn, kernels chopped off

4 tbsp evoo

Salt

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1 tsp grated garlic

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 large tomatoes, sliced thick

1 ball Buffalo mozzarella, sliced 

Handful basil leaves

Directions:

1. Stretch the dough to desired size, brush with evoo and sprinkle with salt. Set aside at room temp for one hour.

2. Combine corn, 2 tbsp evoo, Parmesan, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor until creamy. Set aside.

3. Preheat a grill to medium, cook dough for 6 min covered, watching the bottom so it doesn’t char. 

4. Flip the dough over, spread the corn sauce on, top with tomato and mozzarella slices. Grill covered for another 6 min. 

5. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt and top with basil.