Tomatillos
Tomatoes
Corn
Serrano and hungarian peppers
red onion
Husk and wash the tomatillos. Boil the tomatillos and corn in water for 5 minutes. Let cool. Chop onions and tomatoes. Put tomatillos and peppers into a food processor. Pulse until a nice chunky consistency is made. Take corn off of the cob. Add all ingredients to a bowl and ENJOY! NOM!
Corn, Zucchini and Chevre Salad
Zucchini
Corn
Chevre
Basil
Lemon
Salt and Pepper
Grill the corn (we leave it in the husks), then remove the kernels. Slice zucchini lengthwise. Lightly coat with olive oil and salt and pepper. Grill lightly. Chop into bite size pieces.
Combine the corn and zucchini. Squeeze in juice from 1/2 a lemon. Chiffonade the basil. Add it to the corn and zucchini. Spoon chèvre over the top.
Houston Style Green Salsa
- 1 lb fresh tomatillos
- 1 large avocado
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 small onion, roughly chopped
- 1-2 serrano peppers, seeds removed (or left in!)
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1/4 cup cilantro
- Salt, to taste
- 2 tbsp sour cream
- Remove the husks from the tomatillos and drop them whole into a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes to soften them. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, transfer them from the pot to the blender.
- Remove the pit and scoop out the avocado flesh. Add it to the blender along with the garlic, onion, peppers, lime juice, and sour cream.
- Blend until you reach desired consistency.
- Add cilantro, cayenne, and a large pinch of salt, pulsing once or twice to combine.
- Leftovers will keep several days in the fridge. Yields 2 cups.
BOTofu: Bacon, Onion, Tomato, Tofu
one block tofu - we used organic silken tofu
♥ 2 Tbs grated ginger
♥ 1/4 cup sesame sauce - we used gomadare, a Japanese dipping sauce (substitute: tahini)
♥ tiny dash or mirin - optional
♥ one small red onion
♥ 2 strips of cottage bacon(substitute: 4 strips regular bacon or 2 slices ham)
♥ 3 tomatoes
directions
♥ Slice the tofu into 4 flat rectangles. Drain the excess water out of the tofu.
♥ While the tofu drains, make the tofu marinade: combine ginger, sesame sauce, dash of mirin.
♥ Marinate the tofu. I marinated it for an hour. I recommend at least 15 minutes for good flavor penetration.
♥ Grill tofu. (Or pan sear it.)
♥ Grill the bacon. (Or pan sear it.)
♥ Slice the onions and tomatoes. Chop the bacon into strips.
♥ Arrange on a plate - we did tofu on the bottom, then bacon, with tomatoes on top. The onion went on the side; we weren't sure if our dinner guests wanted to eat raw onions.
tips
♥ on draining tofu: I like to wrap the sliced tofu in a tea towel, put it on a plate, and put another plate on top - 10 minutes. Or you can drain it for 30+ minutes in a colander. Or wrap it in paper towels and nuke at 70% power for 1 minute.
♥ on grilling tofu: put the tofu slices on non-stick foil and put the foil on the grill. Eliminates sticking and it won't fall into the ashes that way! Even with the foil barrier you'll still get a good char and smoky grill flavor.
♥ on onions: we used young baby onions so they didn't have much of a sharp bite. If yours do, you can grill them lightly before slicing. Or, you can slice them and throw them into cold salted water for 10-15 minutes. It'll take out the sting and lightly pickle them.
Risotto with Tomato, Eggplant and Mint
1 eggplant
2 medium tomatoes (peeled, seeded, and finely chopped)
5-6 basil leaves torn
4 cups veggie stock
1 cup unwashed risotto 2/3 cup Parm-Regg (I use pec. romano)
1 small onion peeled and finely chopped
olive oil
1 T finely chopped mint
Peel the eggplant and cut it lengthwise into 1" thick slabs. Brush the slabs lightly with olive oil and dust lightly with salt and pepper. Lay slices on broiling tray about 4" from heat source. Broil until both sides are lightly browned. Cut into 1" dice.
Heat the stock and keep it hot over very, very low heat. Put 3T olive oil into large, heavy, non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Put in the onion; stir fry for a minute. Add tomatoes and basil; stir fry for a minute. Add eggplant; stir fry for a minute. Then, add rice and stir fry for 1 minute. Pour a generous ladle of stock and turn heat to medium. Stir the risotto until the stock has been absorbed, and then add another ladle-ful. Keep stirring and adding stock until all the stock has been used up or the rice is fully cooked (minimum of 22 minutes). Add the cheese and stir until it has disappeared into the rice. Sprinkle the mint over and drizzle quality olive oil over the top. Let sit for a minute or two before serving. (Serves 3-4. Adopted from Madhur Jaffrey's "World Vegetarian" 1999).