Heirloom and Beet Whipped Goat Cheese Salad, by Diane

 

I saw this whipped goat cheese bottom on a veggie platter I ordered in Denver and I was so inspired to come home and figure out what I could do with it. Enter this- my afternoon snack alllll last week. It is so good with fresh summer tomatoes and basil, yum!

Ingredients:

4 tbsp goat cheese

1 tbsp EVOO

fresh herbs (I used oregano and basil)

1 cup baby heirloom tomatoes, cut into bite size pieces

1/2 cup marinated beets, cut into bite size pieces

Balsamic vinegar (I have a blackberry ginger one that goes great on this!)

Optional- fresh basil for garnish

Directions:

1. Make the whipped feta either in a food processor or by hand by whipping together feta, oil, and herbs. Spread on the bottom of the bowl.

2. Top with tomatoes and beets and a drizzle of balsamic!

Juicy Lucy Burgers, by Diane

 

Forming the burgers

Looking good....

The final product!

I saw this burger on a cooking show, it's known all around Minneapolis as a juicy cheeseburger that leaks cheese sauce everywhere when you bite it! The secret is that the cheese is stuffed inside the burger patties rather than being laid on top, and as the burgers cook the juice of the meat blends with the melting cheese. We tried this for our latest cookout along with some homemade thousand island made with grilled diced onions (to mimic in-n-out burger!), and man were these a hit!!! We also paired them with lightly grilled King's Hawaiian rolls. These will be on heavy rotation this summer for sure, and were a nice change from the normal cheeseburgers on rotation.

PS- all recipes call for processed American cheese singles, but we want to experiment to see if other cheeses melt differently!

Ingredients (this made 3 burgers):

1 lb Ground beef (make sure to use 80/20 as the fat content helps the cheese)

Seasoning (we used a blend but salt and pepper would also work)

3 slices American cheese singles

3 Kings Hawaiian rolls

Thousand Island dressing (we blended ketchup, mayo, 1 tsp vinegar, salt, minced garlic, sweet relish, and pan fried white onions- YUM)

Sliced raw white onions

Directions:

1. Season the ground beef and separate into 6 portions. Form each one into a thin patty (these will be 3 big burgers so each patty is half a burger). It helps if you slap the meat to make sure it's held together!

2. Break each cheese slice into 4 squares and place in the center of 1 patty, then top with the remaining patties and seal the edges so the cheese sauce doesn't leak out. See first photo for reference!

3. Grill patties until cooked well on each side, flipping only once so as not to disturb the cheese. 

4. Serve immediately so the cheese sauce stays hot on a grilled bun slathered with your dressing and raw onion slices. Bite carefully- the sauce will be hot and spill everywhere!

Rojak, by Diane

 

This was the side dish of our Indonesian lunch, and so so good! Rojak is one of my most favorite Indonesian and Malaysian dishes. It is a really unique combo of jicama, green mango, pineapple, and cucumber (this version had apple too) in a really flavorful sauce that is sweet and savory. The crunch of the veggies with the sweet savory sauce and peanut top is really addictive and extra refreshing in the summertime! I had no idea it was so easy to make, so this will be on repeat all summer as a light meal or fun snack! Recipe from my friend's Indonesian Street Food cookbook!

Ingredients:

1 medium jicama, peeled and cubed

1 medium green apple, peeled and cubed

1 green mango, peeled and cubed

3/4 pineapple, peeled and cubed

2 kirby cucumbers, chopped into bite size pieces

1 tbsp dried shrimp paste

3 tbsp sweet soy sauce

1.5 tbsp tamarind paste

1 fresh fresno chili

3 tbsp palm sugar (or sub dark brown)

1/2 cup skinned roasted ground peanuts

Directions:

1. Add all the fruits and veggies to a bowl and toss. Set aside. 

2. Start to make the sauce by placing the shrimp paste in a square of foil, folding inward to make a smaller square. Flatten the square with the palm of your hand. Roast this packet directly over gas flame for 1.5 minutes on each side until the paste begins to smoke and takes on a slightly burnt flavor. Open the packet and let cool.

3. Add soy sauce-sugar, plus the cooled shrimp paste, into a bowl and whisk until mixed.

4. Combine the sauce and fruits, top with peanuts and serve cold. Don't wait longer than 20 minutes to serve or else it becomes less crunchy!

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.

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.

Summer Heirloom Salad, by Diane

Once again Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat has helped me intuit another amazing combination of flavors for one of the best salads I've had in a long time. The key is really ripe heirlooms here, and be prepared to scarf this all down! I love the way this book makes me think about balancing ingredients with different flavor profiles and textures, and the results really do make what comes out of my kitchen a million times better! I loved the use of lemon flavored olive oil here, which was a last minute choice in thinking about acidity for flavoring. YUM!

Ingredients:

Red Butter lettuce

1 yellow and 1 purple heirloom tomato, chopped into bite size pieces

1 pack serrano ham, torn

1/4 cup basil leaves, torn

1/2 cup green olives (mine were garlic marinated and I recommend this!)

1/8 cup red onion, thinly sliced

1/4 cup capers, drained and dried

Drizzle lemon flavored EVOO and balsamic vinegar

Directions:

1. Over medium high heat, cook the capers until crispy and puffed. Let cool to room temp.

2. Add all ingredients and toss, adjusting tastes as needed.

Watermelon and Prosciutto Salad, by Diane

 

I made this salad for a summer meal with a friend and it was so good! Reading Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat is definitely changing the way I combine flavors naturally, and coming up with this salad was no exception! I wouldn't top the watermelon too far in advance with the remaining ingredients since it pulled the water out and there was a lot of liquid soon after in the bottom- so serve it fresh and ready to go!

Ingredients:

1/2 large watermelon, cubed

1 pack prosciutto, torn

1 large handful of mint, torn

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/2 cup toasted pistachios

Drizzle EVOO and balsamic vinegar to finish

Directions: Toss everything together and adjust to taste!

Mistake Cake, by Diane

This is a recipe I have been making for years for our family and I have just never thought to post it! This cake is a riff on a strawberry shortcake, but we make it with blueberries for the 4th of July each year. The cake gets its name from a mistake that went wrong but so good it's oh so right and now we make it this way every year! A few 4th of July's ago, I tried to make whipped cream from scratch using whipping cream and sugar, then assembled the layers of the cake and put it in the fridge before our cookout. By the end of the meal, the whipped cream had turned to liquid and essentially melted through the layers of the cake. What started out as a massive disappointment turned into quite the discovery as the cake soaked up all the sugary creamy goodness and now we will never make it any other way!! This cake is so freakin' delicious and absolutely the taste of summer. YUM.

Ingredients:

1 ring angel food cake

1 pint strawberries, sliced

1 pint blueberries

1 8oz container heavy whipping cream

1/2- 1 1/2 cups sugar

Canned whipped cream

Directions:

1. Slice the angel food cake into three even layers and poke each layer several times with a fork, set aside. 

2. Mix cream and sugar until the sugar dissolves (use your desired level of sweetness).

3. Assemble the cake by starting with the bottom layer and drizzling about 8 tbsp of the cream mixture onto the cake, making sure it soaks in. Then cover with berries and place the next cake layer on top. 

4. Repeat for all layers, and the drizzle more cream mixture over the outsides and inside of the cake, reserving some "mistake cake sauce" for serving. Chill for 30-60 minutes to allow the sauce to absorb.

5. When ready to serve, top with dollops of canned whipped cream and berries and serve with a side of the magic sauce. Yum!!!