Roasted Nectarine and Zucchini Salad

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ugust

Roasted Nectarine and Zucchini Salad

Here is a quick recipe I dreamt up, while on my roasted produce kick this week, using what is in abundance in the gardens and at the market. Thankfully, it turned out to be heavenly, lick-the-bowl-clean good.

There is a magical, sum is definitely greater than it's parts, result here, as with many very simple summer dishes (think: Tomatoes+Basil+Olive Oil.). Sweet and sour and earthy and salty and bright and crunchy all going on in your mouth together. Roasting the nectarines and zucchini really intensifies their flavor and makes them both feel like vegetables...or fruit...or something new and unique completely. A beautiful side dish for any summer meal, I imagine this would also be spectacular atop grilled fish, pork, or chicken.


	ROASTED NECTARINE AND ZUCCHINI SALAD by Catie Schwalb Serves 4 as a side dish. 2 medium zucchini, about 5 cups cubed 4 nectarines, about 3 cups cubed (I used yellow nectarines, which are slightly more tart than the white.) salt, to taste 1/4 + 1/4 cup olive oil 1 1/4 tablespoons lemon juice 4 ounces feta cheese 3 tablespoons fresh dill, finely chopped 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted Heat oven to 425 F. Toss zucchini and nectarines separately in a 1/4 cup of olive oil total between the two, just enough so they have a slight sheen. Season with a good pinch of salt. Taste, and add more if necessary. Place nectarines and zucchini on a baking sheet in a single layer. Keep them separate as they will be finished at different times. Place in the top half of the oven. After about 10 minutes check the zucchini and nectarines. If starting to brown on one side, gently turn over with a spatula. The cooking time will depend on the ripeness of your produce and the size of your pieces. For a half inch cube, my nectarines took 12 minutes and zucchini took 22 minutes. Check them again in a few minutes, and taste a piece to check for doneness. Remove from the oven when they are brown on the edges and tender, but not mushy, all the way through. Spread out on a plate or cool baking sheet and allow to cool. Either chill or leave at room temperature. Whisk together remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil and lemon juice. Hold off using extra salt in this vinaigrette, as the salt already on the roasted zucchini and nectarines and in the feta should be plenty. Just before serving, combine zucchini and nectarines, with feta, dill, and pumpkin seeds. Gently toss with the lemon vinaigrette. Taste, and add salt if necessary. Serve immediately. Zucchini and nectarines can be roasted a day in advance and kept in the refrigerator.

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eptember

Utterly Chard-ming

First, yes, it is a terrible pun. But in all honesty, I had a dream about writing this post, and that is the title I watched myself type in the dream. So who am I to interfere with subconscious inspiration/intervention?

Moving on...

Our garden is still loaded with beautiful food. But as is the case when September shows up, the plants are not looking quite as robust as they did a few weeks ago. There is definitely a sign that it is the end of the season and these plants are tired. However, our gorgeous Five Color Silverbeet Chard, that was looking a little peaked in the hottest days of August, has started to really perk up in this last week, with it's cool evenings.

I first started growing this heirloom variety of chard, after reading Barbara Kingsolver's glowing endorsement of it in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life:

"If I could only save one of my seed packets from the deluge, the heirloom vegetable I’d probably grab is five-color silverbeet. It is not silver (silverbeet is Australian for Swiss chard), but has broad stems and leaf ribs vividly colored red, yellow, orange, white or pink. Each plant has one stem color, but all five colors persist in a balanced mix in this beloved variety. It was the first seed variety I learned to save, and if in my dotage I end up in an old-folks’ home where they let me grow one vegetable in the yard, it will be this one."

Chard is a wonderful culinary green, loaded with iron and antioxidants. It stands up well in soups, and sautés, as well tarts and fillings. It is a great alternative to spinach and kale, and unlike either, comes up early in the garden season and lasts through early frosts.

With it too warm to have spinach in the garden lately, I substituted chard recently in Spanakopita-inspired phyllo purses. These little bundles are impressive and loaded with summer flavor. The filling is also equally good folded into larger phyllo pockets for a great lunch or vegetable dish.

CHARD, DILL, AND FETA BUNDLES
by Catie
makes approximately 30 hors d'oeuvres bundles, or 10 large pockets.

2 TBS Olive Oil
1 small Sweet Onion, diced small
Large bunch of Chard, about 1 lb, tough stems removed and roughly chopped
1 TBS fresh Dill, chopped, or 1 tsp dried Dill
2 TBS fresh Parsley, chopped
4 oz Feta Cheese, finely crumbled
1 egg, slightly beaten
Salt and Pepper, to taste
1/2 pkg of Phyllo Dough (8 oz)
melted butter

Heat the oven to 350° F.

Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the diced onion and gently saute until fragrant and translucent. Add the chopped chard, in large handfuls, as it starts to wilt down. Saute for a minute more until just cooked, adding the dill and parsley about 30 seconds before removing from heat.

Using either a spoon on the edge of the pan, or pouring the mixture into cheesecloth, squeeze out and drain as much liquid as you can from the vegetables.

Add the feta cheese to the chard mixture and evenly combine. Taste the mixture at this point before seasoning. Feta is salty and you may only need to add pepper. Once you are happy with the seasoning, add the egg and mix well.

Unwrap the phyllo dough, and keep flat under a damp towel or paper towels. On a counter or cutting board, place one sheet of dough. Brush dough lightly, but evenly, with melted butter, and top with another sheet of dough. Repeat so you have a stack that is three sheets thick. With a large knife or pizza cutter, cut sheets into 6 pieces (down the middle the long way, and then in thirds in the other direction). Place about a tablespoon of chard mixture in the center of one of the phyllo rectangles, gather up corners, and twist slightly in one direction. Place on a cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining mixture and dough sheets.

Alternatively, you can cut the stack of three sheets in half, lenghwise, put about 1/3 of a cup of mixture in the lower right corner, and then fold in triangles, as you would fold a flag.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until dough is golden brown. Bakelightly longer for the larger triangles.

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ebruary

Winter Chicken “Noodle” Soup, with Dill Parmesan Crisps

After the 3+ feet of snow we had this past week, I find it impossible to believe that I am watching even more flurries outside today. The blizzard this week caused the farmers, whose work ethic is only outdone by their good sense, to not come to NYC for the greenmarket this Friday. Union Square, though stunning all decked out in white, was empty.

Fortunately last week I bought a lot of long-keeping root vegetables. Perfect tools for a shut-in day upstate, with no takeout around for miles.

WINTER CHICKEN “NOODLE” SOUP WITH DILL PARMESAN CRISPS

By Catie

Serves 4

For the Soup:

2 quarts Chicken Stock

1 medium Celeriac, about 6 oz, peeled and shredded or sliced thin

2 medium Parsnips, about 6 oz, peeled and shredded or sliced thin

3-4 Carrots, about 6 oz, peeled and shredded or sliced thin

salt to taste

For the Crisps:

1 packed cup Parmesan Cheese, grated

1 tsp Fresh Dill, finely chopped (I used dill I had frozen from our garden this summer)

For the Crisps:

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Thoroughly mix grated parmesan and fresh dill together in a small bowl. Make small mounds (about 2 TBS each) of the cheese mixture evenly spaced on a silpat mat on a sheet pan. Gently flatten each mound into a disc shape—the cheese won’t spread much beyond where you place it. You should have about 6 discs.

Bake at 350° F for about 8 minutes—just until the melted cheese has reached the center of the discs, and the edges are just starting to turn golden. Don’t over cook, or they tend to get bitter. Let the crisps cool on the silpat. Gently remove with a thin spatula.

For the Soup:

The vegetables can be cut in a variety of ways. The easiest is shredding them all in the food processor with the large grating blade. However, you can also use a mandoline for long thin strips, julienne them by hand, or (as I did with the celeriac this time) thinly slice with a vegetable peeler—which ended up looking the most like noodles. It is pretty to slice them in a few different ways, particularly if you have two vegetables that are the same color.

(The most important thing is to make sure that all the vegetables are relatively similar in thickness once they are cut, so they cook evenly. You can certainly stagger putting them into the pot if you have larger cuts, so they can all be finished at the same time.)

Heat the chicken stock over medium heat to a gentle boil. Add the shredded vegetables. Bring the stock back to a boil, and reduce to a simmer until the vegetables are al dente—about 4 minutes total. Season with salt to taste.

Portion into four bowls, and mound vegetables slightly in the center. Top with a Dill Parmesan Crisp.

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Catie Baumer Schwalb is a chef, food writer and photographer, who splits her life between the city and the country. Not too long ago Catie was a New York City based actress and playwright for more than a decade. She has her Master of Fine Arts from the National Theater Conservatory, and her Grand Diplôme in classic culinary arts from the French Culinary Institute in New York City. ... Read More ≫

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