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Ridiculously Easy Grilled Corn

In some ways it can be really difficult to feed your family, three times a day, 365 days a year…we know, that’s why we created Table365.  But, sometimes we find tips, tools, and recipes, that are so ridiculously easy, that we need to share it with everyone else…the other reason we created Table365.

So here it is, the ridiculously easy way to make delicious corn on the cob on the grill.  We’ve researched many different methods for preparing corn on the cob (boiling, roasting, grilling) and it can be done in a multi-course process (soaking, shucking, etc.) but it can also just be “thrown” on the grill and roasted.  It’s so fast and easy, I may never heat up my kitchen with a huge pot of boiling water in the summer again.

Cheers!

Grilled Corn on the Cob

• 4 ears of corn
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

Heat grill (gas or charcoal) to medium heat, hot enough to cook the corn but not to burn the husks.  Lay the corn on the grill and cover.  Cook for 5 minutes and turn the corn every 5 minutes until husks are dark and dry, 15-20 minutes.  Pull the husks off the corn and discard.  Liberally season the corn with butter, salt, and pepper and enjoy!

It’s the last month of summer…sigh…time to truly revel in the bounty of fresh produce available in the markets.  These seven meal ideas feature farm-to-table recipes and a farmers market shopping list for August.  Enjoy!

A Week of August Farm-to-Table Dinners 
(click here for menu and shopping list)

Main Course Recipes:

• Nicoise Salad
• Quinoa Bowl
• Chicken and Refried Bean Tostadas
• Pasta with Grilled Vegetables
• Corn Chowder
• Oven Fried Chicken
• Grilled Sausages

Produce and products vary regionally, but, use this as a starting point and get creative in substituting ingredients as needed.  Table365 created menus for each month of the summer for a program at the Mercer Island Farmers Market, Healthy Families All Year Round, in partnership with MI Community Fund, MI Preschool Association, and MI Food Revolution.  We were happy to have this menu featured in this week’s My Mercer Island e-news.

Cheers to fresh summer produce to keep your family healthy!

It’s the last month of summer.  The produce is plentiful and the days are warm (or blazing hot). But still the question remains, what are you making for dinner tonight?  Kimberly and I ask each other all the time what we are currently cooking or preparing for our families.  It’s inspiring to get new ideas, or just be reminded of old favorites.  So in the spirit of sharing, here’s what I fed my family last week…may it provide some inspiration for you too.

cheers!

Monday – Meatless Monday

• Gazpacho
• Roasted small potatoes

Tuesday

• Salad Nicoise

Wednesday

Dinner at a friend’s birthday party – catered Indian buffet

Thursday

Pizza dinner with friends

Friday – Picnic at the pool

• Salami
• String cheese
• Guacamole
• Food Should Taste Good chips
• Sliced peaches
• Cucumber spears

Saturday

• BBQ chicken legs
• Pesto pasta with cherry tomatoes

Sunday – BBQ at the beach

• Grilled pork loin
• Tomato, basil, mozzarella skewers
• Food Should Taste Good chips
• Hummus
• Watermelon
• S’mores

Summer sports, travel, picnics, and entertaining…you’d better stay hydrated!

What’s to drink?  Table365 has the answer for you:

5 Summer Sippers (without alcohol)

1.  Infused Water. (cucumber, berry, citrus, herbal).  The healthiest option, always.

2.  Strawberry Basil Iced Tea.  This delicious drink takes a few steps in preparation, but it’s a crowd pleaser!

3.  Watermelon Mint Lemonade.  Blending this lemonade makes it extra refreshing.

4.  Mango Lassi.  A creamy mango, yogurt smoothie that can be made with fresh or frozen mango.

5.  Banana “Milkshake”.  A variation on a smoothie, made with bananas and milk, instead of ice cream.

Cheers!

Gazpacho is one of the most magnificent summer dishes.  It’s packed with healthy ingredients; it’s as easy to make as running the blender; and it’s a delicious cold dish for a hot summer afternoon or evening.  I decided that I wanted to take gazpacho on a picnic, so I poured it into canning jars and packed it in the cool box.  I packed the garnishes in separate jars, and passed them around at the dinner.  It was a hit and an easy way to serve soup from a cooler.

Easy to make ahead, gazpacho and Spanish Tortilla are perfect to pack for a picnic, or to serve at home on a hot night when you don’t want to be in the kitchen.

Buen provecho!

Sharon’s Gazpacho Andaluz, inspired from Culinaria Spain

• Generous 1 pound ripe tomatoes, skinned, and chopped
• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped (or a seedless cucumber like English cucumber)
• 1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 2-3 tablespoons red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar (use the best quality available)

To garnish:

• Cubes of white bread
• Bell pepper, diced up small
• Diced onion
• Cubes of ham
• Peeled, seeded cucumber, diced
• Hard-cooked egg, diced

Put the tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, and garlic in a blender, start blending and then slowly pour in the oil and puree the whole mixture. Season with salt and vinegar.  Place the gazpacho in the refrigerator for a minimum of 1 hour.  Serve it very cold with a selection of finely diced garnishes for the top.

From Sharon’s kitchen: Andalusian gazpacho is made with a generous amount of olive oil (advice from my sister who lived in Spain) so don’t skimp on the oil.  I also skip seeding the tomatoes most of the time as my blender breaks them down enough that it is an unnecessary step.

From Kimberly’s kitchen:  This may depend on the blender you use and how smoothly it can break down all the ingredients, but I don’t remove the skin from the tomatoes to cut down on time.

Tomato Tips: 

• Gazpacho tomatoes don’t need to be the most beautiful tomatoes at the market since they will just get blended.  I save money by buying the discounted “seconds” at our farmers market.
• To prep the tomatoes for Gazpacho: cut a small x in the bottom of the tomato and drop into a pot of boiling water for about a minute.  Scoop out with a slotted spoon and drop into a bowl of ice water.  The skin should start to peel back from the x and then you can use a small knife to pull the rest off.   Once you have a skinned tomato, cut in half and scoop out the seeds with a spoon.  Then you can chop the skinned, seeded tomato and add to the blender.

Basil is one of the bountiful gifts of summer.  It’s a breeze to make on hot days since you don’t have to cook anything to prepare it, and it keeps in the refrigerator and freezer for a long time.

Presto 5 fast meals with pesto!

• Toss with grilled vegetables
• Use as a pasta sauce for hot pasta or for a cold pasta salad
• Spoon on grilled chicken breasts or thighs
• Spread on crusty bread for a salami and cheese sandwich
• Stir into white beans and cherry tomatoes for a salad

Summer Pesto

• 2 cups loosely packed cups fresh basil leaves, rinsed and dried
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled, or more to taste
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts or chopped walnuts / or roasted and salted sunflower seeds (for a nut-free version)
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil, or more if desired
• ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Combine the basil, salt, pepper, garlic, nuts (or seeds), and about half the oil in a food processor or blender.  Process, stopping to scrape down the sides of the container and slowly add the rest of the oil.  Add the cheese and blend for one minute.  Add more oil if you prefer a thinner mixture.  Serve immediately or cover with plastic wrap or a layer of olive oil to keep the pesto from browning.  Store in the refrigerator for a week or two, or in the freezer for several months.

Happy summer!

Are you looking to expand your summer menu beyond hot dogs and watermelon? Add these meals, featuring farm-to-market fresh ingredients, to your July menu. Use this week of menus and shopping list to feed your family during the juicy, delicious, month of July.  Enjoy!

A Week of Fresh Farmers Market July Dinners

Main Course Recipes:

• Pork or Lamb Chops
• Greek Salad with Garbanzo Beans
• Chicken, Steak, or Veggie Fajitas
• Pesto Pasta (optional add of cubed chicken or garbanzo beans)
• Potato Soup
• Italian Sandwiches
• BBQ Grilled Chicken

Produce and products vary regionally, but, use this as a starting point and get creative in substituting ingredients as needed.  Table365 created menus for each month of the summer for a program at the Mercer Island Farmers Market, Healthy Families All Year Round, in partnership with MI Community Fund, MI Preschool Association, and MI Food Revolution.

Cheers to fresh summer produce to keep your family healthy!

Grilling is a fabulous alternative to cooking in a hot oven during the dog days of summer. Marinated pork loin needs at least four hours, and sometimes as long as overnight, to reach the flavor peak.  When I haven’t planned ahead and started a marinade, a perfect alternative is a dry spice rub.

It doesn’t get any easier or faster than using a dry spice blend (or rub) for an instant, delicious seasoning that will result in a flavorful pork loin with a crusty edge.  Find a spice mix that features some of your favorite flavors (citrus, curry, chili, etc.) and keep it in your pantry for ultra-fast meal prep.

Pork Loin with a Dry Spice Rub

• 1-2 lb pork loin
• 6 tablespoons spice blend (like Katz Chef’s Pick Spice Blend)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Freshly ground pepper and coarse salt to taste

1.  Lay the pork loin out on butcher paper or a low pan like a cookie sheet.  Sprinkle half the spice blend on the loin and gently press into the meat.  Turn the loin over and sprinkle the other half of the spice blend into the other side.  2.  Drizzle the olive oil over the pork loin and gently pat into the spice blend. Season with freshly ground pepper and coarse salt.   3.  Put the seasoned loin onto a preheated and oiled grill and cook over medium heat until the inside reaches 160 degrees (about 15-20 minutes).  4.  Take the loin off the grill and let rest on a platter covered with foil for 10 minutes.  5.  Slice and serve hot or cold.

Enjoy!

One of my favorite easy dinners is a Spanish Tortilla (Tortilla Española) with a large green salad. This satisfying dish of eggs and potatoes can be served hot, room temperature, or cold making it incredibly versatile and handy for leftovers (we hardly ever have any).

Spanish tortilla is very similar to a frittata.  The base is eggs and while the classic tortilla is made with potatoes, almost any ingredient can be added such as shrimp, sardines, herbs, tuna, fresh vegetables, spinach, asparagus, mushrooms, and sausage.

Tortilla Española is one of the national dishes of Spain.  The classic recipe is made with just eggs, potatoes, olive oil and salt, tortilla de patatas.  I prefer it with a small amount (1/4 cup) of thinly sliced onions, tortilla de patatas con cebolla.

Tortilla de Patats by Culinary Spain Cookbook published by Konemann

• 2/3 cup /150 ml olive oil
• 2 1/4 pounds large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (I like waxy potatoes best)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 6 eggs

Heat a scant 1/2 cup of olive oil in a heavy iron pan.  Put the sliced potatoes into the pan, season with 1 teaspoon of the salt and toss once in the oil.  Then reduce the heat and fry the potatoes for 15-20 minutes, turning them occasionally.  Drain off the surplus oil.  Beat the eggs with 1 teaspoon of salt until they are frothy, using a whisk.  Carefully fold in the sliced potatoes and then leave the entire mixture to rest for a time.  Heat the remaining oil in an iron pan and put the potatoes and egg mixture into it.  Smooth it out and let it thicken for a few minutes on a low heat.  Turn the potato omelet over with the help of a plate or a lid and brown it in the same way on the other side.  Serve hot or cold.

• Serve as a tapa in bite sized pieces on a toothpick
• Slice and serve with a green salad
• Put in the middle of a crusty baguette for a sandwich

Delicious!

Sometimes it’s easier to feed your family when you have a nice glass of sunny sangria to sip on while you’re preparing or enjoying the meal.  Ina Garten shared this recipe on her blog, for Memorial Day Weekend, and it’s quickly become my new favorite (and has been getting rave reviews everywhere I take it).  It highlights seasonal fruit: raspberries, strawberries, and plums, and is made with a base of rosé instead of red wine.  It’s light, not too sweet, and tastes just like summer.

Cheers!

Summer Rosé Sangria by Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa, Make it Ahead Cookbook

1 (750 ml) bottle good rosé wine
1/2 cup Pom Wonderful pomegranate juice
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons)
1/4 cup superfine sugar
3 tablespoons Grand Marnier
1 tablespoon Cognac or brandy
Water and ice, plus extra ice for serving
1/2 cup fresh raspberries
8 large fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
2 red plums, pitted and sliced ¼ inch thick

Combine the rosé, pomegranate juice, lemon juice, sugar, Grand Marnier, Cognac, 1 cup of water, and 1 cup of ice in a large glass pitcher. Stir in the raspberries, strawberries, and plums, cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours but preferably overnight.

When ready to serve, fill wine goblets or highball glasses halfway with ice. Pour the sangria over the ice, spooning some of the macerated fruit into each glass. Serve ice cold.

Copyright 2014, Make It Ahead by Ina Garten, Clarkson Potter/Publishers, All Rights Reserved