Tzatziki

For us, one of the best parts of Greek food is the tzatziki.  Take the gyro — equal parts sandwich and vehicle for consuming creamy, cucumber-y, dill-spiced tzatziki sauce.  At home, we love serving tzatziki alongside simple, olive oil and herb-marinated grilled lamb.  Tzatziki is also really good as a dip with pita bread, which is how we served it as an appetizer when we recently had friends over for a Mediterranean-inspired dinner with a different sort of lamb (Guinness-Glazed) as the main course.  Our tzatziki recipe has been a bit of a work-in-progress as we tested and adapted other recipes, trying to come up with the easiest and most tasty version.  Ours might not be the most authentic tzatziki out there, but it’s quick and easy to make (no draining the yogurt!) with fresh, bright and tangy flavors that are addicting.

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Eggplant “Meatballs”

The eggplant we put in our garden this year has done really well.  So well, in fact, that we’ve realized we don’t even really like eggplant that much!  It’s good every once in a while, when we’re in the mood for a vegetarian meal, like this pasta dish.  But our garden has produced enough eggplant this summer, that we’ve tried in enough different recipes (mostly side dishes) to discover that it’s not our favorite.  Among the dishes we’ve tried, however, this recipe is one that we probably liked the best.  The roasted eggplant has a rich, meaty flavor and the texture is very similar to “real” meatballs (made with meat.)  They likely wouldn’t beat the real thing in a blind taste-test, but eggplant “meatballs” are a good vegetarian alternative and a great way to use up an abundance of eggplant from the garden.

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Avocado and Edamame Salad

If you’re not familiar with edamame, the name refers to young (as in still-green) soybeans commonly served as an appetizer (boiled and salted in their pods) in sushi restaurants.  You can also find bags of shelled, frozen edamame in most grocery stores these days.  Although the health benefits of soybeans are not without controversy (similar to many other foods, about which “experts” offer vastly different opposing opinions), we’re in the pro-soy camp and think edamame makes a great addition to salads.  According to WebMD, a half cup of shelled edamame has as much fiber as four slices of whole wheat bread, as much iron as a four-ounce chicken breast and nearly as much protein as two eggs (each of these foods have, of course, been criticized nutritionally as well.  Can’t we all just get along?)  We’ve made edamame salad before, and appreciate how its mild, slightly nutty flavor pairs well with contrasting flavors from other salad components.  When we found this recipe, we knew the edamame would complement the bitter radish and buttery avocado and figured the bright flavors of the ginger/garlic/lime dressing would bring all the salad ingredients together.  We adapted the recipe by adding sesame oil and chili garlic sauce for more Asian flavor and red pepper flakes for extra spice.  The second time we made this salad, we happened to have spinach and arugula on hand, so we chopped up the greens and added them for yet another taste layer and additional texture.  We liked the addition of the greens so much that we will include them when we make this salad in the future.  And we’ll definitely make it again, despite what the soybean critics say (we’re culinary rebels like that.)

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Scalloped Tomatoes

With summer and tomato season in full swing, in addition to the upcoming July 4th holiday, may we suggest and highly recommend this easy, unusual and impressively delicious side dish.  It incorporates some of the best summertime flavors — tomatoes, basil and garlic — and will go well with all different kinds of grilled proteins, including steak, chicken and shrimp.  I was initially skeptical that this dish would amount to not much more than a mushy mess of cooked tomatoes, soggy bread and wilted basil, but we had garden tomatoes to use and Ina Garten’s recipe was inspired by her “dear friend” and “cooking inspiration” Sarah Chase, which was inspiration enough for us.  The finished dish did not disappoint.  The flavor reminds me of a fried mozzarella cheese stick dipped in marinara sauce, but a de-constructed, lighter and way more healthy version.

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Broccoli Rabe w/ Garlic & Romano

We’ve had this leafy vegetable (also known as “rapini”) before, first with pasta and another time with pasta and sausage.  The version with (turkey!) sausage is probably our favorite way to eat broccoli rabe, but we were intrigued to try it on its own as a side dish.  Although I’m not typically a fan of cooked greens (sauteed spinach and I will never be friends, but Dan could eat it every week), rapini is a pretty hearty green that holds up well when cooked, without becoming mushy.  We found this recipe incorporating garlic and pecorino romano cheese to complement the slightly bitter flavor of the broccoli rabe, and we adapted the cooking method by using a combination of saute and steam, similar to the way we cook broccolini (but even though we cook them the same way, don’t be fooled — broccoli rabe is more closely related to the turnip than broccoli.)  We also added some red pepper flakes for a little kick and finished the dish with lemon juice to brighten the flavors.  Dan loved the rapini cooked this way, and I can honestly say that I liked it well enough to add it to our (obviously limited) rotation of cooked vegetable side dishes.  How’s that for a ringing endorsement?

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Little Italy Relish

We found this recipe in one of our most-used grilling cookbooks, Weber’s “Real Grilling,” as an accompaniment to their recipe for grilled flatiron steaks.  It’s a simple and delicious way to dress up a steak, particularly if you’re a fan of olives.  Come to think of it, this relish might also work well as a topping for tilapia or some other flaky white fish, or even as a condiment for a hot dog, similar to the Chicago dog.  Certainly, each of these proteins are good on their own, but adding the fresh Mediterranean flavors of the relish can be a welcome change.  And since the relish is made with roasted red bell pepper, tomato, olives, celery and parsley, it has enough non-starch and non-meat components to qualify as a vegetable side dish in our book, thereby completing the meal.
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Crispy Brussels Sprouts with Honey and Sriracha

Apparently there is a restaurant called The Vanderbilt in Brooklyn, NY that specializes in various appetizers, including fried brussels sprouts.  We say “apparently” because we haven’t been there (yet!), so we don’t feel qualified to offer a personal opinion as to their specialties.  But, when researching brussels sprouts recipes (this one is our usual go-to, but we get bored with it), we found an entry on the Food 52 recipe/cooking website from a woman who loves the “undisputed star” brussels sprouts appetizer from The Vanderbilt so much that she recreated the recipe at home.  (After a quick perusal of The Vanderbilt’s menu, it doesn’t look like they currently offer the sprouts; all the more reason to try the homemade version.)  Peeling the brussels sprouts is rather time-consuming (if you have kids — put them to work!) but worthwhile to get a nice mix of crispy individual leaves and tender cores.  We think it’s the sauce that really makes this an outstanding side dish:  spicy sriracha combined with sweet honey, sour lime juice and just a touch of savory sesame oil.  Frying the sprout leaves can be a bit tricky (they pop and splatter a lot) and of course isn’t the most healthy way to get your veggies, so we tried roasting them in the oven instead.  Although the roasted ones weren’t quite as crispy, they were still really good, and we could eat just about anything tossed in that flavorful sauce.

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Cabbage-Carrot Casserole

File this one under “Interesting.”  One of the cool things about having a food blog is that it’s a natural conversation-starter.  Nearly everyone has an intriguing food anecdote, experience or recipe to share, once they find out we are passionate enough about food to blog about it.  When talking to one of Dan’s colleagues at a work event a little while ago, she told me how her niece is currently living in Russia and has had to adjust quite a bit to cooking and eating over there, especially in terms of food availability.  Apparently meat is very expensive (and quality can be somewhat sketchy), so they cook and eat a lot of vegetables.  In particular, cabbage is abundant and inexpensive there, and they cook with it often.  When I heard that one of their favorite dishes is a casserole made with cabbage and carrots, I was intrigued enough to ask for the recipe, especially since I don’t prefer the boiled cabbage that Dan insists I eat serves with corned beef every St. Patrick’s Day.  The dish sounds a bit strange — and I would definitely call it interesting — but we liked it.  The cabbage has a mild flavor, the carrots add a bit of sweetness to contrast with the spice from the paprika, and the sauce made with butter, flour, chicken broth, milk and cheese ties it all together well.  It may not be the best side dish we’ve ever had, but the fact that there’s a story behind it makes us appreciate this casserole even more.  (And it’s a heck of a lot better than plain old boiled cabbage.)

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Baked Asparagus w/ Parmesan

Although it may be available year-round in some places, Spring is the official season for asparagus.  So now is the time to spend less money on fresh, better quality, possibly even locally-grown, bunches of this delicately thin, slightly bitter vegetable.  Our go-to method for cooking asparagus usually involves tossing it with a little olive oil and salt & pepper, then grilling it for a few minutes until it is barely tender.  As with most cooked veggies, we prefer asparagus al dente or “crisp tender” — cooked through but retaining a bit of crunch.  For the times we don’t feel like grilling (or more likely, the (many) occasions when our propane tank is empty and we’ve forgotten (again) to replace it), this recipe is a good alternative for cooking the asparagus in the oven and achieving that crisp tender texture we prefer.  Adding melted Parmesan cheese and a drizzle of good balsamic vinegar elevates the flavors even more, for an elegantly savory Spring-time side dish.

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Homemade Hummus

Whenever we go to visit Dan’s younger brother and his family in New York, our sweet sister-in-law always makes it a point to stock up on hummus from the Middle Eastern specialty food shop in their neighborhood, because she knows how much we love it.  It’s the best we’ve ever had, and we’ve never been able to find anything that comes anywhere close here in Dallas.  So Dan finally decided to look no further than our very own kitchen, and researched a bunch of recipes for us to make hummus at home.  He chose and adapted this recipe, mainly because it divulges the secret to “ethereally smooth hummus” (so smooth that it’s the clever name of the recipe), the likes of which we’ve only ever encountered on our family visits to Brooklyn.  It may sound strange and unnecessary, but the key to getting butter-smooth consistency in homemade hummus is to peel the chickpeas before putting them through the food processor.  Now that we know this trick for getting foolproof smooth texture, the only challenging aspect of making homemade hummus is experimenting with flavors and varieties.  But that’s also the fun part.  We started with a very basic version flavored with garlic, tahini, lemon juice, salt, olive oil and cumin.  This will be our go-to favorite, but we look forward to trying other versions and flavor combinations — maybe a spicy one with jalapeno, or a peppery one with roasted garlic and red bell pepper.

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