Steamed Green Beans and Carrots with Lemon-Yogurt Vinaigrette

Sadly, no photo for this one! But this recipe deserves a post because it was perfect for fresh, steamed green beans and carrots. I found the most beautiful, plump green beans at the market last Saturday, and to my delight, a small amount of carrots in various shades of yellow and orange. They were so pretty, in fact, that I couldn’t bear to chop them up or purée them into a soup. This recipe keeps the veggies intact, and the lemon, parsley, and chives complement their flavor without overpowering.

Steamed Green Beans and Carrots with Lemon-Yogurt Vinaigrette

Serves four.

• 1 lb. fresh green beans, leave whole
• 1/2 cup red pepper, cut into julienne strips
• 1 tbsp. fresh parsley, minced
• 3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 2 tbsp. yogurt
• 1 tbsp. green onion (green top only), finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp. each, salt and black pepper
• 1/2 cup canola oil

Wash green beans and remove the stem end only, leave whole. Steam or blanch green beans for three minutes. Toss with red pepper.

Make vinaigrette in a small bowl by combining parsley, lemon juice, yogurt, and chives. Add oil in a steady stream, whisking constantly until vinaigrette is blended. Chill.

Toss green beans and red peppers with enough vinaigrette to coat vegetables, about 1/3 cup. Serve warm. Leftover vinaigrette can be used as a salad dressing. Store in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Recipe adapted from seasoned.com.

A simple dessert

This concoction is a good reason to keep ice cream and coffee on hand. If you find yourself with unexpected guests, a large crowd, or if you just forgot to plan for something sweet, simply brew some coffee, and you’re seconds away from a lovely, elegant dessert.

We used French roast coffee and plain Jane vanilla ice cream. The dessert is topped with bits of caramelized cacao nibs from Cocoa Puro Kakawa Chocolate, a vendor at the farmer’s market. We’ve also made this recipe and placed biscotti or mini cookies on the side. Choose something decadent to give it that certain je ne sais quoi. And yes, I was just looking for an excuse to type je ne sais quoi.

Coffee Ice Cream

Serves 4.

• 8 scoops of vanilla ice cream
• 1 cup coffee or espresso
• 8 small cookies (or you can use a dark chocolate topping, as we did)

First, make the coffee or espresso. Something strong works best, since the ice cream will take the edge off anyway. Put two scoops of ice cream into each bowl. Pour 1/4 cup espresso over it, and add the cookies to the side or sprinkle on your topping of choice. Viola!

More basil and tomato love

This is what happens when you put Insalata Caprese between two slices of grilled ciabatta. Drool-worthy, sandwichy goodness.

Caprese Panini

Serves two.

• 2 ciabatta rolls
• 2-3 ounces of buffalo mozzarella
• 2 medium ripe tomatoes
• Few glugs (as Jamie Oliver would say) of olive oil
• big handful of fresh basil leaves
• 1 clove garlic
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Cook one: Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. Slice the ciabatta rolls lengthwise. When oil is heated, grill slices of bread until golden brown.
Cook two: Slice the moz and tomatoes. Heavily season tomatoes with salt and pepper. Peel garlic clove and cut in half.

Both: Rub garlic cloves on slices of bread. Assemble panini with tomato, cheese, and basil. Cut in half. Marvel at the flavor and simplicity.

We enjoyed this simple, summery panini, but in between mouthfuls of tomato and moz, we discussed a couple of things we’d do differently. Your panini will be so  much better if you do these two things:

1. Make the basil sauce from the Insalata Caprese. Smear on ciabatta slices after grilling, but before assembling panini.
2. Have salt and vinegar chips in the house.

P.S. I sometimes refer to mozzarella as “moz” (pronounced motz), but guacamole should NEVER be referred to as “guac” (pronounced gwahk). Just trust me on that one.

“This is good, and it doesn’t even have meat in it!”

That’s what Luis said after taking a bite of the Farfalle with Broccoli we made last night. It’s an easy pasta that makes for a quick weeknight meal.

On a street in Orvieto

We used flavored farfalle (bow tie pasta), which I first saw in Italy. I managed to squeeze three bags of it into my one piece of carry-on luggage. Thankfully I packed extra light! 

A few months ago, it started popping up in our supermarket. The 17-year-old stock boys must have thought I was a crazy lady to get so excited over pasta. (I also get overly-excited about crème fraîche and Greek yogurt. And dark chocolate with pear and almond. This list could get long.) 

Anyhoo, this recipe comes from Everyday Pasta by Giada De Laurentiis.

Farfalle with Broccoli

Serves 4 to 6.

• 1 pound farfalle pasta
• 2 heads of broccoli (about 4 cups)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 garlic cloves
• 5 anchovy fillets
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook one: Trim broccoli into florets. Grate Parmesean cheese.
Cook two: Chop garlic cloves and anchovies, throw into a small bowl. Add red pepper flakes.

Cook one: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally. After five minutes, add the broccoli florets to the pasta, stir, and cook for another four or five minutes. Drain the pasta and broccoli, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water.
Cook two: After your partner adds the broccoli to the pasta, heat the olive oil and butter over medium-low heat in a large skillet. Add the garlic, anchovies, and red pepper flakes and cook for five minutes. By this time, the broccoli and pasta should be done. Add the drained broccoli and pasta, along with the salt and pepper, and toss. Add some of the reserved pasta water if necessary to make a light sauce.

Both: Transfer to a serving platter and sprinkle with Parmesean cheese.