Lest I overwhelm the collective voice of the blog via my self-indulgent introduction, I will provide the breakdown of the Watermelon and Feta salad I contributed to V-Bar’s delightful engagement party. I can’t take credit for the Jambalaya, that was all the boy and The Fat Man (Paul Prudhomme).

Watermelon and Feta Salad

adapted from Jacques Pépin

1 Watermelon, cut into bite-sized chunks or balled, if you have the patience

1/3 cup olive oil (the unsullied kind)

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons kosher salt

Tabasco (I like a good amount, but add to your taste)

Freshly ground black pepper

2 cups crumbled feta cheese

1 small sweet onion, diced

1 cup coarsely chopped mint leaves

Jacques adds olives, but I omit.

Whisk together everything you can whisk in a big bowl, then add the watermelon, feta, and anything that’s not so easy to whisk and toss. Garnish with the mint. Eat soon, it quickly turns to soup as the melon de-bloats.

Fresh Salsa
1 pint cherry/grape tomatoes, finely diced
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1 jalapeno, finely diced (use your discretion on seeds)
1 garlic clove, pressed (optional)
1 lime, zested and juiced
handful of cilantro, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients into a bowl, once mixed salsa should be ready to consume.  The lime zest is what really made this salsa pop for us crows, why do we not zest more often?

Black Bean Burgers
2 16oz cans of black beans drained and rinsed
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1 bunch cilantro or parsley, chopped
1 poblano pepper, finely diced
1 egg
1 C bread crumbs
cumin, cayenne, salt, and pepper

Toppings: Feta, hot sauce & tomato slice

Puree the black beans (reserving 1/4 of them whole) in a food processor with seasoning, and garlic.  Drizzle in some olive oil and a dash of hot water if the mixture is too dry to blend.  Spoon purred bean mixture into a large bowl and add remaining beans, scallions, pepper, and cilantro.  Stir to combine and then add the egg and enough breadcrumbs to give you the right consistency to form patties out of the mixture.  I was able to make 6 medium sized patties but since these are quite filling, in the future I may make the patties into appetizer size which would yield around 8-10.  Refrigerate patties for at least an hour prior to cooking on the grill or stove top.  Add desired toppings and mow away.

With the black bean burgers under my belt I am anxious to try making some veggie burgers since the ones you buy in the store can be up to $6 for a box of four!  I imagine that the same refrigerator technique would apply with these patties but am not sure what to use as the main filler- any suggestions?  I was thinking a combination of purred veggies and grains but any advice would be useful…

Grilled Eggplant Stacks w/ Random Herb Pesto
Cheese and herb options are really up to the cook, I shared what I used in italics but left the ingredients quite vague in the recipe.

1 large eggplant sliced in 1/2 inch rounds
2-3 tomatoes, thickly sliced (make sure you have the same amount of eggplant and tomato slices)
sliced melting cheese (Brie)
olive oil, salt and pepper
Random Herb Pesto: grind up fresh herbs, toasted nuts, chopped garlic and olive oil in a food processor and season with salt and pepper.  Adding a hodge podge of herbs is a good technique to use when your basil is getting low. (basil, chives, parsley, walnuts)

Sprinkle both sides of the eggplant with salt and let rest in a strainer or drying rack for 15 minutes.  Dab moisture away with paper towels.  Brush both sides with oil and place on a preheated grill and put the cover down.  After a few minutes check for grill marks and flip.  Spread the pesto on the gilled side and add the tomatoes to the grill.

Once the tomato slices are quickly grilled on both sides add them to the eggplant and cover with a piece of melting cheese.  Turn the grill on low and shut the cover until the cheese is fully melted.

These eggplant stacks go great with some grilled bread and a garden salad.  If your kitchen isn’t a bazillion degrees then I would also suggest making some couscous as a side.

There weren’t any REAL shockers in this article but I would be interested to see if #2 works effectively, who thinks to freeze mashed up avocado?  #4 seemed the most creative, since avocados are high in fat it makes sense that they would be good in baking, maybe I’ll put that on my kitchen to do list.

Here’s a few that I came up with:

Salad Ingredient- Dice up avocado and toss them with citrus juice and poppy seeds.  I think orange works well here but lime, lemon, and grapefruit are all prime candidates.  Add the diced avocado to your next garden salad for some richness.  Staying on the salad theme you could also add avocado to make a creamy vinaigrette like Miz Emily shared with us last June- Orange Basil Dressing.

Sandwich Ingredient- I know this is old news but since I am an anti-mayo Crow, my new favorite substitute on a BLT is Avocado.  The key here is to use a mushier avocado and spread it on the bread rather then adding huge slices that fall off and add to the overall messiness of the sandwich.  You need to save room on the sandwich for the extra bacon as you can see in the picture below.  Note: this was constructed by my Man Crow who happens to love Mayo & Bacon.

Soup Topping: It’s common to add a dollop of sour cream on certain soups such as black bean or chicken tortilla but you can step it up a notch by pureeing avocado with sour cream or creme fraiche and adding a dollop of that!
Breakfast: Avocados and eggs are a match made in heaven whether you eat them on the side or stuffed in your breakfast burrito.  There is a brunch spot just around the corner from my apartment called Bon Savor that has the best options for omelets with avocado, check them out:
French Omelet Stuffed with fresh avocado, sautéed asparagus, tomatoes, and melted Swiss cheese
Richie Omelet Stuffed with fresh avocado, crispy bacon and melted Swiss cheese
It’s always so hard for me to decide between asparagus or bacon but the important description to pay attention to is the word “stuffed” because they pack atleast a half an avocado in each omelet.

Some of these ideas may or may not be new to you but if you are a lover of this delicious fruit (yes i checked on Wikipedia and it is indeed a fruit) then you probably share the belief that adding avocado to almost anything makes it better.

Mac & Cheese w/ Manchego and Jalapenos
My strategy for making a bechamel or cheese sauce is simple: I wing it.  I follow the same technique but I never measure out quantities, sometimes it comes out perfect and other times it takes a little tweaking.  I start with a couple pads of butter and some olive oil and sautee finely diced onion and minced garlic until softened (for this batch I added some diced jalapenos to compliment the manchego).  Season with salt and pepper and stir in a couple Tablespoons of flour and cook for a minute or two.  Slowly add warmed milk or stock* and whisk to combine the mixture.  Stir in grated cheese and check for consistency.

If the mixture is too thick add additional liquid, you want this to be a little on the soupy side because it will be baking in a warm oven and some of the liquid will evaporate.  Once the cheese sauce is complete, stir in pasta and top with breadcrumbs and additional diced jalapeno.  Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until the top is crusty.

My cast iron was the perfect size to produce enough food for my man crow and I to eat a hefty portion and have a little leftover for lunch the following day.  Next time I make this version of mac and cheese I would like to add a pinch of cumin for some smokey flavor and top it with freshly chopped cilantro.

*to make this dish on the lighter side I use veggie stock for the liquid combined with a little cream.

Once the pasta is all rolled out, you can cut it up however you’d like. I opted to stuff raviolis with ricotta, spinach and parm. Just a few minutes in boiling water and it’s done!

A Crow will never let good food go to waste-the next morning I used the leftover ravioli stuffing to make an omelet. I topped mine with fresh chives and Sriracha sauce. Yum!

Grilled Chicken & Rice Salad

RICE: I chose brown rice for this salad and since it takes a while to cook it’s wise to start that first.  I like to cook my rice in stock to enhance the flavor, but if I don’t have any around then I just add some crushed garlic cloves, bay leaf, salt and red pepper flakes.  The easy part about rice is that it doesn’t need much tending so while it cooks you can prepare the rest of the meal.
VEGGIES: Since the theme here is easy I just went with red onion and red bell pepper.  I already preheated the grill for the chicken so thought it would also be a simple way to cook the pepper and onion. I put the pepper on the grill whole making sure to char it on all sides.  Once charred, place the pepper in a covered bowl and let steam for 15 minutes, then peel and slice.  If your pepper is massive, which was true for my case, put the leftover red pepper slices in a small jar or container with olive oil and save them for a future pizza or sandwich.   The onion took much less effort; just slice it in 1/4 inch rings, brush with olive oil and toss it right on the grill.  Once you get some grill marks flip them once, then chop up in half or quarters.
MARINADE:  Combine the juice of one lemon, 3-4 crushed garlic cloves, 1tsp of honey, freshly chopped oregano and or thyme, 3 TBS of white balsamic or champagne vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.   Whisk in 1/4C olive oil. Pour 3/4 of the marinade over the chicken and reserve the remaining to stir into the brown rice and veggie mixture.

The rest of the recipe is pretty straightforward: Combine cooked rice, roasted veggies and remainder of marinade in a large serving bowl.  Grill the chicken, let it rest and then slice it into strips to serve over the rice mixture.  We had leftovers, so for my lunch the following day I heated up a wrap, added sliced chicken and rice, rolled it up and I was good to go.  It seems like a lot of steps but it all can be done in the 40 minutes it takes to cook the brown rice.

Roasted Veggie & Barley Salad with Ginger-Garlic Dressing

This recipe stemmed from a night that I got home late from work and really wanted to order out for dinner but felt the guilt of having so many fresh veggies in my fridge so I bit the bullet and whipped up this salad in about 40 minutes.  I know I went over the 30 minute Rachel Ray/easy week night meal time limit but she totally gets help from kitchen elves during commercial breaks and 40 minutes is not a long time for a normal human to make a tasty dinner.

BARLEY:  Cook one cup of barley in a pot of salted water, for about 20 minutes or until tender.
VEGGIES:  Toss veggies in olive oil, soy sauce and garlic and roast in a 425 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.  Use what ever veggies you have on hand, I had broccoli, string beans, zucchini, carrots and onion.
DRESSING: Combine 1/2 tsp dijon mustard, 1/2 tsp honey, grated garlic and ginger, rice wine vinegar and soy sauce (I didn’t measure these but im guessing around 1-2 TBS).  Whisk in olive oil and pour it over the roasted veggie and barley mixture.

There you have it, one recipe for the carnivore and one for the vegetarian.

Currently the only herb on my porch is a chive plant so I have been finding as many ways as possible to incorporate it into my cooking.

When I hear chives the first thing the pops into mind is potato- mashed, baked, fried, any way you make it the flavor is always increased with chives.

Moving beyond potatoes, another food this herb goes great with is eggs.  I started off putting freshly snipped* chives in my omelette and egg scrambles, and then moved on to sprinkling them on my egg and cheese sandwiches.  Staying with the breakfast theme, chives are also great for sprucing up a bagel and cream cheese.  I know you can buy the cream cheese with chive flavoring but in most instances, fresher is better.

My mom shared this chive recipe with me which I can not wait to try!

Chive Vinaigrette
juice from 1/2 a lemon
splash of apple cider vinegar
1 garlic clove, pressed or macerated w/ salt
1 TBS freshly snipped chives
salt & pepper

Combine ingredients and then whisk in olive oil until it reaches your desired flavor.  My mom suggested a 3:1 oil to acid ratio but it really just depends on how mild or acidic you prefer your vinaigrette.

*I use the term snipped because I find it easier to snip chives with kitchen shears rather than chopping them with a knife.

VBar and I had some spare time during the work day to scour the internet for a tasty fish marinade and a worthy red cabbage slaw recipe.  We decided on a marinade from epicurious and a slaw recipe from Bobby Flay, both seemed easy to tackle on a work night and didn’t prove to be expensive if we split the ingredients we needed to purchase in half.

Red Cabbage Slaw
My friend Sarah was down visiting from Portland and helped me prepare the slaw since it is far more tasty if it has time to sit and marinade in its own flavor.  I knew the slaw and marinade would be heavy on the cilantro but was intrigued to see that this recipe called for fresh basil as well.  This recipe was surely a winner and I was delighted to see that I had leftovers to bring to work the following day.

Fish Marinade
We made a variation of a recipe we found on epicurious.com.  The amount of ingredients is totally dependent on how much fish you are using but here are the key flavor components:
olive oil, lime juice, pressed garlic, chopped cilantro, sliced jalapeno, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper.  Whisk mixture together and add additional red wine vinegar to add more volume to the marinade.  Pour over fish and let sit for about 20 minutes.

Grilled Fish
The biggest fear when grilling fish is having it stick to the grates.  Here are some techniques I used to ensure this wouldn’t happen to the cod we were using.
1.)  Make sure the grill grates are heated completely through before adding the fish.
2.)  Prior to fish grilling, make sure the grates are scraped clean and lubricate them with oil.  This can be done by cutting a small onion in half, dip in it oil and run it along the grill grates.  The onion is more durable to the heat than a folded up paper towel and adds another layer of flavor.

We flipped the fish once then poured the rest of the marinade over it to keep it moist.  Once the fish started to show slight signs of flaking apart we removed it from the grill and let sit on a plate to finish the internal cooking.

VBar's plate

Assembly
Heat tortillas either on the grill, or if you are feeding a larger crowd wrap them in foil and heat them in the oven.  On the heated tortilla add a layer of sour cream, grilled fish, red cabbage slaw, sliced avocado and some dashes of hot sauce.  If you know all of your guests enjoy heat you can always mix the hot sauce directly into your sour cream to form a light pinkish mixture.

The fish tacos were served along  side sweet potato fries, which were tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, cumin and red pepper flakes and baked in a 425 degree oven until brown and crispy.  This meal proved to be light and satisfying- truly perfect for future summer dinner parties.