What's For Dinner: Sweet Corn Chowder

Sweet corn picked fresh in the morning makes for a delicious corn chowder for dinner
that tastes like a bowlful of sunshine. 

What's For Lunch: Pearl Couscous Salad with Basil Pesto and Summer Vegetables

Hot summer days call for light meals with little-to-no cooking effort. This Pearl Couscous Salad with Basil Pesto and Summer Vegetables is a satisfying way to keep cool during a summer heatwave.

This time last week I was on my way to the Eastern Seaboard for a weekend getaway in southern Maryland with my dear girlfriends from grad school. We try to get together at least once a year for what we lovingly dub "Spring Breeaaaak!" regardless of the time of year. During our trip we tallied all the times we've gotten together since the majority of us graduated in 2004; long story short, the list was impressively long. I love that we are so committed to getting together and keeping in touch.

When it comes to our girlfriend getaways, we do not mess around when it comes to food. We had quite a stockpile of snacks, and while there was plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables (aka, filler, ha ha ha), I definitely managed to consume more of the not-so-good for you stuff. (Cheesy poofs for breakfast? Why not?) We also made a brilliant concoction of brookies one night – a layer of brownies baked with a layer of cookie dough on top. Um, yeah, that was delicious. And of course, seeing as we were in Maryland, plenty of crab cakes were eaten as well. Long story short, by the time I came home, I was ready for some light meals.

Enter in this recipe for Pearl Couscous with Basil Pesto and Summer Vegetables. It's a simple one-pot meal that takes less than 15 minutes to prepare. Add in some cubed tofu or shredded cooked chicken to make it a full meal, or it works perfectly well as a side dish, too. This recipe makes a big batch, and I've been enjoying it as a light lunch all week long.

Pearl Couscous Salad with Basil Pesto and Summer Vegetables (printer-friendly version)
makes 6-8 servings

1 1/2 cups water
1 cup pearl (also called Israeli) couscous
1/3 - 1/2 cup basil pesto
1 medium zucchini, diced small (about 2 cups)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved and seeds removed
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the couscous and return to a boil. Then cover with a lid and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes, or until all the liquid has been absorbed. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the pesto sauce.
2. Gently stir in the zucchini and tomato until combined. Then stir in the garbanzo beans and crumbled feta. Season to taste with salt and pepper if necessary. Serve room temperature or cold.

(adapted from this recipe from Bob's Red Mill)

What's On the Side: Fresh Salsa

So. Many. Tomatoes. Have I mentioned that we are currently experiencing an explosion of ripe tomatoes in our garden? Yes, I think I have ...

As is the nature of a garden, more and more tomatoes are ripening every day. We currently have two buckets of tomatoes on our hands, with more to come. I'm currently desperately pinning (and searching for) tomato recipes to try. Of course, we could do some canning, and I'm sure we'll can some tomatoes before the season is out. I initially was planning to make a huge batch of salsa to can this past weekend, but I couldn't quite find the motivation to head to the grocery store to pick up the additional peppers and onions that I didn't have on hand.

Our friends invited us over for dinner on Saturday night, so I figured the best way to use up a huge pile of tomatoes (or, okay, at least make a dent in said pile) was to make up a batch of fresh salsa to share. This worked especially well as I did happen to have an onion, green pepper, 1/2 a red pepper, some cilantro, and a jalapeño pepper on hand.

This recipe is pretty forgiving, so do play around with the proportions. For example, if you don't have a giant pile of tomatoes on hand, you can simply decrease the proportions of all the other ingredients to match. Also, full disclosure, D kind of complained about the amount of onion in the salsa (it didn't bother me), so if you aren't a huge onion fan, go ahead and cut down on the amount you use.

Fresh Salsa (printer-friendly version)
makes about 6 cups

5 cups chopped tomatoes (6-8 tomatoes, depending on size)
1 cup chopped white onions (about 1/2 large onion)
1/2 cup chopped red pepper (1/2 red pepper)
1 jalapeño, seeded, deribbed, and chopped fine
1 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste if necessary
juice of 1 fresh lime
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. In a large serving bowl, stir together the chopped tomatoes, chopped onion, chopped red pepper, and chopped jalapeño. Stir in 1 teaspoon salt. Let sit for a few minutes, then drain off some of the accumulated liquid.
2. Stir in the fresh lemon juice and chopped cilantro. Season to taste with pepper and additional salt, if desired.

3. Serve with tortilla chips. 

What's For Dessert: Warm Fresh Peach Sauce over Vanilla Ice Cream

I was considering going to the gym this afternoon, but a couple of peaches in the fridge were calling their siren song, so I chose to make a warm peach sauce instead. Priorities! Though I chose to use my sauce as a topping for a (big) scoop of vanilla ice cream, I think it would make a great pancake or waffle sauce as well.

Warm Fresh Peach Sauce (printer-friendly version)
makes enough for 2-3 servings

1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 peaches, cut into 1" pieces (peeling is up to you; I peeled one and didn't peel the other)
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Add the brown sugar and cornstarch to the water in a sauce pot and stir until both the sugar and cornstarch have dissolved. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Add in the chopped peach pieces. Season with nutmeg and cinnamon and stir to combine.
3. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally. Cook for an additional 5-10 minutes, or until the peach sauce comes to your preferred thickness.
4. Serve warm over vanilla ice cream.