Andalusian Gazpacho

Please welcome my friend Jeremy, who was bold enough to suggest guest-posting on my blog and kind enough to follow through. He brought over a jar of this gazpacho and when I dunked a spoon in for a taste, I ended up finishing half the jar. It's the perfect summer soup, and I'm thrilled to be featuring it on NDP.

The height of summer means the height of tomato season, and in our house that means gazpacho season. Now, this means different things to different people. Some are partial to a soup that could easily be mistaken for salsa. Others are all about the cucumbers or the bell peppers. I've even heard people refer to a perfectly lovely watermelon soup as gazpacho, though I'd like to think any self-respecting Spaniard would scoff at this. For my money -- and we'll get to how it doesn't need to be a lot of money in a minute -- this easy-to-make gazpacho is the way to go. My spouse and I came upon the basis for this recipe (from Epicurious) some years ago, and over time we've adapted it and turned it into a staple of our summertime repertoire.

All in you're talking about 15 minutes of work for a gazpacho that puts the tomatoes right where they belong: front and center. It's substantial enough with a hunk of fresh baguette to make for a great mid-week meal just sitting at the coffee table. It's refined enough, topped with fresh chives, to lead off a small dinner party. And it's casual enough to serve spoonless in teacups or shot glasses for larger gatherings. It's just about a perfect summer soup, which is why we perpetually have a big jar of it in the fridge until tomatoes go out of season. And did I mention it'll keep for close to a week?

Andalusian Gazpacho

Ingredients 1 2-inch-long piece baguette 3 garlic cloves, or to taste 2 teaspoons salt 2 tablespoons Sherry vinegar, or to taste 1 teaspoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 2 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes, cored and quartered 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil Garnish: whatever's around, but finely chopped (bell peppers, chives, cucumbers, parsley...)

Thoughts on Ingredients

Fresh baguette is probably best, but in the name of economy, we find this is the perfect place to use any stub that you might have leftover from lunch or shoved in the freezer for whatever reason.

For god's sake, please use fresh garlic. Don't try to substitute powder or any of that crap that comes in jars or wrapped in plastic. The early garlic, out now (or coming soon) to a farmers' market near you, is awesome.

Coarse kosher salt works great.

Don't try to substitute for the Sherry vinegar. We've tried, and the gazpacho doesn't quite pucker the same way without it. Sometimes labeled with the Spanish "vinagre de Jerez," Sherry vinegar can be hard to find at Safeway or Giant or the like, but Whole Foods usually has it. If not, and I hate how snobby this sounds, try Dean & Deluca or Fairway.

Use second tomatoes. You don't need gorgeous, perfect fruit when it's about to hit the bottom of a blender. At our local farmers' market, tomatoes go for $3.50-$4.00 per pound, but seconds are only $1.50, and if you choose wisely (firm with a blemish is fine, borderline rotten is not) finding enough for this recipe should be a cinch). As for variety, we're yet to find one that doesn't work, though I have to admit, I'm partial to the heirlooms later in the season.

Don't bother with a garnish unless it's fresh.

Directions:

Start by soaking the bread in a glass of water for a minute or two, then squeeze it dry and dump the water. The Gourmet recipe calls for trimming the crust, which I do. My spouse doesn't trim the crust, however, and frankly I can't taste much difference nor detect any real change in mouth-feel.

Gourmet tells you to mash garlic to a paste with salt using a mortar and pestle. We just crush the garlic with the side of our chef's knife and then chop it.

Blend the garlic, salt, baguette, vinegar, sugar, cumin, and half the tomatoes. We use a blender, because you're going to want to let the soup chill in a glass container, but a food processor works, too. Blend until the tomatoes are very finely chopped. Add the remaining tomatoes with motor running, and then ever so slowly, pour in the oil in a steady stream, blending until totally smooth. Don't rush -- taking your time with the oil is key to a velvety gazpacho

The garlic takes some time to come to the fore here, but when it does, it kicks, so resist the temptation to overdo. Refrigerate for a few hours, or until cold. Garnish and serve.

Linguini with Artichokes and Sweet Peas

Here's another round of my "weekday lunch" series, where I offer recipes that'll make your colleagues green with envy.

Peas are one of those foods that have completely changed for me since I started shopping at the farmers' market. In regular grocery stores (that aren't Fairway, Whole Foods or Dean and Delucca), it's pretty rare to find whole peas in the pod. If you want peas, you're likely headed for the frozen section or even the canned section (though I really think that frozen peas are 100x better than canned). The first time I saw peas at the farmers' market, I was mystified: peas come in a pod, with a couple of teeny leaves on one end -- and unlike canned or frozen peas, they're completely raw.

I've now made this recipe twice, and I can assure you that raw peas really make all the difference. These pictures are from the time I made it with frozen peas, and you can see that the peas are kind of shriveled in places; that's because frozen peas are already cooked, so even a quick blanch or a toss in the pan makes them soften and shrivel. When using raw peas, you can do a super-quick blanch or saute and still keep the integrity of the peas shape. And that's not to mention how much sweeter fresh peas are! They actually taste like....peas. It's wonderful.

To keep this recipe vegetarian, I used a mixture of wine, vegetable stock, and water as the base, but if you have chicken stock on hand, I imagine it would lend the dish some added depth.

One last wonderful thing about this dish: it's super-friendly as lunch leftovers the next day.

Linquini with Artichokes and Sweet Peas

1 lb. linguini or other long pasta 2 lbs. peas, shelled 1 lb. artichoke hearts, frozen (thawed) or fresh if available; if using fresh, run a slice of lemon over the exposed flesh of the artichokes to slow oxidation 1 recipe caramelized onions (cook 1 sliced onion in a fair amount of olive oil over low heat until brown and soft, about 1 hour) olive oil 1 c. chicken or vegetable stock (if none on hand, water and a splash of wine will do) zest of one lemon 2 sprigs mint or tarragon, both are really lovely with peas 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions, cutting one minute off the cooking time to leave room for a final toss on the stove with the sauce.

In a large shallow saute pan over medium heat, combine several Tbsp. of olive oil and the diced shallot. Add artichoke hearts and toss to coat with the olive oil. Cook about 5 minutes, until artichokes have browned. Add broth or cooking liquid, turn heat to high, and cook about 15 minutes until quantity of liquid has been reduced by half to two thirds. Add lemon zest. Test artichokes to make sure they're cooked through; they should be able to be pierced easily with a knife. When artichokes are cooked through, reduce heat to low and add peas and pasta to pan. Using tongs, toss to incorporate pasta with sauce and vegetables. If desired, add a tab of butter to the sauce to finish it off richly. Off the heat, add cheese and toss to combine. Serve immediately, but be sure to pack yourself some for lunch the next day.

Avocado Tomato Salad

It'd be a shame to spend too much of this day indoors, because it's beautiful outside and I have an all-day pool pass -- so I'm going to keep this short: It's summer, people! That means I'm barely to be seen at the grocery store, stocking up on fruit and veggies almost exclusively at the three nearby farmers' markets to supplement my CSA. I'm high on summer produce.

Avocados and tomatoes are especially excellent right now. Tomatoes haven't quite hit their peak, but I picked up some beautiful heirlooms this morning and we enjoyed them in salad, with a bit of salt and not much else. Last week, I had some beautiful on-the-vine tomatoes in the house, as well as some perfectly ripe avocados and some baby lettuce from a friend's garden, so I threw together a really simple salad that's definitely going to be a staple on my plate this season. It's just lettuce, avocados, tomatoes, a crumble or two of my usual Keswick Creamery feta, and some lemon, salt, and pepper. It doesn't get much simpler or better than that.

As you can see, we enjoyed this salad both in the bowl and atop a bagel and lox leftover from my dear friend Dellie's med school graduation party. Congrats, Dr. Sorel! So proud!

If I could make one suggestion for summer eating, it would be to Keep It Simple (excuse the weird capitalization). Let the produce speak for itself -- it doesn't need much to sing.

Happy Summer, everyone!

Wheatberry Salad with Cranberries, Feta, and Mint

Yet another installment of my weekday lunch series; you can never have enough recipes for midday workplace eats.

I don't have anything to share about this recipe that's particularly exciting. It's just another rendition of my standard grain+bean+berry+herb salad formula. But I realized as I made this salad that it was my first time making wheatberries. At least, I'm pretty sure it was my first time -- in any event, it definitely won't be my last. Wheatberries are pretty underrated, so much so that when I served them last Friday night, most everyone around the table asked what they were. "Wheat," I replied. No one got it; "What part of the wheat? Like, they're really just wheat? Are they some sort of berries that grow off the wheat crop?" No, I replied, it's really just wheat. Funny that we don't know what the food we eat most often actually looks like, but that's a story for another time.

Wheatberries are sweet and nutty, with a nice solid texture. They're probably super versatile; I can envision them in a variety of salads, soups, and stews. Writing that line, I just remembered that I've actually used wheatberries before, when making the Sephardic version of cholent, the rib-sticking stew made on Friday and cooked at a low temperature through the night. Unlike the Eastern European recipe of barley, beans, potatoes, beef, and eggs, the Sephardic version, called "Hamin," is made with wheatberries, chickpeas, and dates in addition to the beef, chicken, and other leftovers. The wheatberries are cooked inside cheesecloth wrapper within the dish, so they can be piled separately onto the plate as a bed for the rest of the goodies.

Hamin is for another day. This here salad is simple and fresh, and it's a great way to make use of any leftover herbs you may have. I used cranberries, mint, black eyed peas, and Keswick Creamery feta (the best feta on earth, btw -- would you believe it's cheaper than the imitation crap at the grocery store?), but I can envision an equally delicious version with feta, sundried tomatoes, basil, and navy beans, or with cilantro, kidney beans, fresh tomatoes, and some chipotle en adobo. I made a super-tangy vinaigrette with some Honeycup honey mustard, fresh lemon, salt, pepper, chopped shallot, and olive oil -- but any old vinaigrette would do just fine. My pics don't have the feta, because I put it in just before serving -- but don't leave it out; it adds a brininess that plays really well with the sweet tartness of the cranberries and the freshness of the mint.

Wheatberry Salad with Cranberries, Feta, and Mint

1 cup wheatberries (available at natural foods stores) 1 can or 1 cup dried black eyed peas 1/2 cup diced or crumbled Feta 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion 1/2 cup dried cranberries, cherries, or other dried berries 1/2 cup chopped mint 5 tablespoons olive oil 5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, or to taste 1 tablespoon mustard (I like a sharp honey mustard) freshly cracked pepper, to taste

In a pot of boiling salted water, cook the wheat berries for 1 hour, or until they are tender, and drain them. (At this stage, the wheatberries can be stored for several days in a covered container until ready to use.) In a small bowl, mix lemon juice, olice oil, salt, pepper, and mustard. Whisk to combine, and adjust as necessary. In a large bowl stir together the wheat berries and all other ingredients. Toss to combine. Serve cold or room temperature.