Carrot-Zucchini Bread

This is the kind of recipe I live for. It reminds me of those really good bran muffins you find at local coffee shops, with the nutty, wholesome flavors and tops that crust around the edges and never are perfectly round. It's got a more well-defined crumb than carrot kugel, but it's not as sweet as carrot cake, and grated zucchini lends it sophistication. Not that this is a snobby loaf -- just the opposite. It takes about 5 minutes to mix together, and the 80-minute baking time lets you actually get something else done while you wait. I brought it to our pre-Yom Kippur meal on Sunday afternoon, but it'd make a phenomenal breakfast or afternoon snack.

special thanks to reader Catherine for pointing out that I failed to mention the eggs in the ingredient list. Sorry everyone! Three eggs.

Carrot Bread adapted loosely from Bon Appetit

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp. baking powder 1/2 cup brown sugar 3/4 cup cane sugar 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup applesauce 3 eggs 2 cups grated carrot 1 cup grated zucchini

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. Sift first 6 ingredients into medium bowl. Beat sugar, oil, eggs, applesauce, and vanilla to blend in large bowl. Mix in zucchini and carrot. Add dry ingredients and stir well.

Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 20 minutes. Cool bread in pan on rack 15 minutes. Cut around bread to loosen. Turn out onto rack and cool completely. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Wrap in foil and let stand at room temperature.)

Salmon with Herb Butter and Various Roasted Vegetables

D and I had people over Friday night. As of Thursday, I not only had done no cooking, I hadn't even figured out my menu. Now, I'm not one to plan these things all too far in advance -- but 24 hours is not much time to plan, shop, and make food for a dinner party. Not impossible, but not ideal.

When I'm cutting it close to the wire, I tend to keep it as simple as possible. I picked up a bunch of salmon fillets and all the good-looking vegetables that TJs had to offer. Without much time to contemplate interesting recipes and a lingering fear of making the whole house smell like fish, I wrapped each piece of salmon individually in parchment paper and tucked a bit of herb butter inside. The herb butter infuses the salmon while it steams, and the end result is both healthy, flavorful, and much less potent. No fish smell whatsoever in the house as of Saturday morning.

I made a vinaigrette with the herb butter, some capers, and lots of lemon and lime, and served it alongside the fish. In retrospect, I should have just made the vinaigrette first and skipped the herb butter step entirely; that's the recipe I provide below. It's a simple presentation that almost always pleases.

In terms of vegetables, I had a big variety -- eggplant, cauliflower, baby potatoes, grape tomatoes, zucchini -- but not enough of any one to feed 7 people. The solution: I roasted each separately, and then served them together on a big platter and let guests take some of each. Another success: the mix of vegetables gives the plate nice color contrast, and because I roasted them individually, I flavored each vegetable slightly differently to give the final dish even more appeal. Cauliflower got east-Asian treatment with galangal, tumeric, and a pinch of saffron; tomatoes got the sweet tangy complexity of red onions; potatoes were a nod to the season with the last of my summer savory; and zucchini were simple as can be, with just olive oil and salt. Given the slightly frantic menu planning and shopping for this dinner, I certainly can't complain about the end-product.

The only thing to end a meal like this is birthday cake - red velvet cake, in particular, to celebrate the lovely Rebecca's birthday. But that's another post for another time.

Salmon with Herb Butter and Various Roasted Vegetables Serves 8

8 fillets salmon, cleaned and patted dry 3 tbsp. butter, melted 2 tbsp. chopped herbs; I used a mix of mint, parsley, and chives, but any herbs will do 2 tbsp. capers, chopped 1/4 cup lemon or lime juice (I used half and half and needed 2 limes and 1 lemon) salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add citrus juice and salt to blender. With motor running, pour in butter in steady stream. Mix until fully blended. Transfer to bowl.

Add herbs and capers; mix to combine. Set aside.

Meanwhile, rinse fillets and pat dry. Rip 8 pieces parchment paper; each should be at least 8x11. Set one salmon fillet on the center of each paper at a diagonal, and drizzle 3 tbsp. vinaigrette over each one. Rub into flesh to help absorb. After washing your hands, wrap paper around each fillet and twist ends as you would a piece of candy in a wrapper, until snug.

Put individually-wrapped fillets on baking sheet in single layer. Bake at 350 for between 15-25 minutes, or until cooked through. My oven runs a bit cold, and my almost 2-inch thick fillets took about 22 minutes. Definitely start checking them at 15 minutes; you're looking for orange flesh that's not translucent but also not tough to the touch. You can always open the one you plan to serve yourself and check for doneness.

Various Roasted Vegetables serves 8

2 heads cauliflower, de-stemmed and trimmed into florets 4 zucchini, sliced on sharp bias 2 lbs. grape tomatoes 1 red onion 2 lbs. baby potatoes

Here's the method: put vegetables in a clear plastic bag with plenty of olive oil, salt, pepper, and whatever spices you're using. Shake, mush, and toss to get those spices and seasonings spread evenly over the vegetables. Put on a roasting pan in a single layer and roast in a 325-degree oven until done. Details below:

Cauliflower: I used 1 tsp. galangal (a mild, floral, fruity relative of ginger), 2 tsp. tumeric (for color), a pinch of saffron threads, salt, and pepper. Baking time was about 15 minutes, maybe 17.

Tomatoes: I sliced a red onion into 1/2-inch rings and scattered them among the tomatoes. Come to think of it, I also used a sliced garlic clove. Other than that, just salt and pepper. I tossed them once at minute 15 and left them in there for about 30 minutes, at which point the onions had basically melted into deliciousness and the tomatoes were about ready to burst. Perfect.

Zucchini: real simple -- slice on bias, toss with salt, pepper, olive oil, bake 20 minutes turning once halfway through.

Potatoes: I halved them but you don't need to. I coated them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and summer savory (two sprigs was plenty). I roasted them for about an hour. I like'em tres crunchy.

Smoky Corn Salad

So sorry that posts have been so few and far between (and so short) lately. I'm doing my best to offer some great summer suggestions between work and work -- bear with me; just two more weeks of this insanity, and I'll be back on track.

Meanwhile, hopefully you're taking advantage of the last of summer's produce more than I am. If you find yourself swimming in corn, this smoky number is a great variation on the corn salad theme. It combines raw corn that's charred in a smoking castiron pan, poblanos that are cooked over an open flame to remove the skins and intensify their flavor, a bit of red onion, and of course, some of those delightfully plump and round cherry tomatoes that are so good this time of year. The method is so simple it's a joke: just char everything in the castiron pan all together, and add the tomatoes just before serving. It's just the way to take advantage of summer's abundance. Have a plate in my honor, and once I crawl out from under this rock, I'll be back in the kitchen in no time.

Smoky Corn Salad

3 ears of corn, husks and fibers removed 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved 1/4 of a red onion, diced 2 poblano peppers 1/2 a jalapeno, diced, optional 1/4 tsp. smoked spanish paprika olive oil salt pepper 1 lime

Roast poblanos over an open flame, turning to blister skin on all sides. When fully blistered, turn off heat and transfer peppers to a paper bag or roll inside tinfoil. let steam for 5 minutes, then run under water to remove skins. Chop roughly and set aside.

Heat castiron or heavy stainless steel pan over high heat. Remove corn from cob, and combine with chopped onions and jalapeno, if using. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to pan and immediately add corn mixture. Toss to coat, then let sit for a 30 seconds at a time just to develop a real char on the kernels. Add smoked paprika, and add salt to taste. Keep tossing and charring, tossing and charring, until there are enough brown spots to give some serious smoky flavor. Remove from heat, add tomatoes, and toss to combine. Transfer to a plate, and squeeze 1 fresh lime overtop. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Not So Potato-y Salad

From a vege-mostly-tarian’s perspective, spring and summer are the seasons to beat. Fresh fruit and vegetables are available in abundance, and the variety, especially in summer, is simply unmatched. I make at least one salad a day; using anything from the usual lettuce and Israeli cucumbers to radishes to carrots to tomatoes and nectarines, mushrooms and garlic scapes and beets and even raw kale (my newest addition), I rarely repeat ingredients two days in a row.

It’s in this light that barbeque food confuses the hell out of me; why, when there are so many beautiful fruits and vegetables available, do we resort to coleslaws and potato salads that are literally choking on my gloppy, quivering, nemesis, the devil named Mayo? Those thick, white dressings are a “no, thanks” for me, but if we’re going to use them, why not when we’re on our 20th batch of kale and need to get creative about masking the taste of winter? I simply don’t get the desire to coat delicious summer vegetables in all that goop. …And the Mayo gripes resume.

While I almost always serve a leafy green salad with meals these days, I did buy some really beautiful tiny tomatoes at the Foggy Bottom market last week, which gave me an occasion to reconsider the merits of potato salad. I’m not a huge potato person, but I get the appeal of having a side dish that’s got some starch and substance but isn’t the same old rice or other grain. However, instead of putting the potatoes front and center, I decided to make room for other vegetables to share the limelight. Happily, the market provided many options. I settled on some pattypan, small summer squash that are shaped somewhat like a flying saucer, as well as some nice-looking green beans.

After boiling, shocking, and slicing the potatoes, I sliced and blanched the zucchini. I left the green beans raw, for crunch, and I'm glad I did -- they provided a much-needed contrast to the softer vegetables. I coated the salad in a light, tangy, slightly spicy shallot-mustard vinaigrette, which complemented the slight bitterness of the zucchini and gave otherwise boring potatoes some real character. All in all, this is the type of potato salad I'd actually go for: it highlights summer produce instead of masking it, and its tangy flavors will make a great addition to any barbeque.

Not So Potato-y Salad

1 pound small (like, really small) red and yellow potatoes 2 long summer squash (yellow or green), sliced into 1/2-inch slices 1 pound green beans, halved 2 shallots, diced finely 2 teaspoons coarse dijon mustard 1 teaspoon honey 1/4 cup sherry or white wine vinegar 1/8 cup olive oil 1 teaspoon walnut oil, optional salt and pepper

Boil potatoes in 4 cups water until soft but not mushy, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove potatoes and transfer to serving bowl. Let cool 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, blanch squash slices in potato water about 2 minutes, just until soft. Drain and run under cold water for a couple seconds to stop cooking. Transfer to serving bowl.

Slice potatoes into rounds, and transfer to serving bowl. Add green beans and toss to mix.

In a small bowl or dressing jar, combine all remaining ingredients except oil. Pour oil in a slow stream, whisking to combine. If using jar, shake vigorously to emulsify. Add dressing to salad and toss about 10 minutes before serving. Serve at room temperature.