Category: Vegetarian
Summertime, summertime..Watermelon Tomato Salad

Summertime, summertime..Watermelon Tomato Salad

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One of the best things about summer, besides long lazy days and warm evenings for leisurely walks; is the abundance of fantastic produce.  Juicy sweet peaches, nectarines, sun ripened tomatoes, all sorts of melons and berries so sweet they taste like sugar. Farmer’s markets are literally bursting at the seams with crates filled and with summer’s bounty.  The other day I came home with heirloom tomatoes with one thing on my mind, a recipe from my weekly NYT Cooking newsletter, Tomato Watermelon Salad with Feta Cheese.    When the kids are home, a watermelon lasts a day at most, cut and consumed just like that. Poof, gone.  But with just two of us at home, a creative twist is needed to help us finish an entire melon.  This salad is the perfect answer.  Juicy chunks of watermelon, tomatoes, cucumbers, slivers of red onion, salty feta cheese, a basil and a balsamic dressing, hmmm,  a perfect summertime salad.  Enjoy!

**Don’t FREAK Out!**  The recipe does not have actual measurments!  Its pretty fast and loose.  Use a ratio of 1:1 watermelon to tomatoes.  4:1 for the watermelon to cucumbers (1/4 amount of cucumbers) and 8:1 for the red onion.  Really its to your taste and the amount you make depends on how many you are are serving.  The vinagrette is probably enough for a salad composed of half of a watermelon and 6-8 tomatoes. Crumble as much or as little feta as you like, it provides a nice tang and saltiness to the salad.  Variations:  Use mint instead of basil or a combination of the two.  Green onions instead of red onions or ricotta salata instead of feta.

Adapted from the New York Times

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Summertime, summertime..Watermelon Tomato Salad

Course Salad
Cuisine American
Keyword watermelon

Ingredients

  • 1 seedless watermelon cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 4-6 ripe assortment of ripe tomatoes seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces
  • cucumbers peeled, seeded, cut into 1 inch pieces
  • red onion diced or thinly sliced
  • feta cheese of ricotta insalata crumbled
  • basil julienned

Dressing:

  • 2 tbsp Sherry vinegar or balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Combine watermelon, tomatoes, and cucumbers in a large bowl. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon kosher salt and mix. Let stand 5 minutes. Meanwhile make the dressing. Pour vinegar into a small bowl, whisk oil into vinegar into emulsion forms. Salt and pepper to taste.
  • Drain excess liquid from tomatoes and watermelon mixture. Add onions and julienned basil. Mix lightly. Crumble feta cheese on top of salad and drizzle with vinagrette. Serve.
Look Ma…No meat! (Wild Mushroom Pasta)

Look Ma…No meat! (Wild Mushroom Pasta)

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My family loves meat but every now and then I can fool them and serve a dish without the carnivore stamp on it.  The secret ingredient is mushrooms!  Mushrooms have a nice meaty consistency that works well as a substitute.  We make portabello burgers, stuff creminis with bread crumbs, onions, garlic, parmesan and peppers and slide them into the oven but our favorite is Pasta with Mushrooms.  A variety of mushrooms are sauteed with garlic, thyme and shallots, flavored with marsala and finished with some stock and cream.  It’s delicious.  If you are a purest you can use a mushroom or vegetable stock but I like to use chicken stock.

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Pasta a la fungi ok, its really noodles with mushrooms

Ingredients

  • 16 ounces of fresh mushrooms combination of wild and white button or cremini, almost any mushroom will work, cleaned and sliced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 T butter
  • 1 shallot minced
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic minced
  • 2 sprigs of thyme
  • 1/4 cup dry marsala
  • 1 cup stock or broth vegetable, mushroom or chicken
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
  • 1 stalk of green onions or small bunch of chives, chopped
  • 1 16 ounce box of linguine or tagliatelle
  • salt and pepper

Instructions

  • Heat oil and butter in a saute pan large enough to fit mushrooms. When oil and butter start to sizzle add shallots to pan saute 1 minute, then add garlic. Saute another minute, when soft but not brown, add mushrooms. Saute mushrooms until brown, liquid released and evaporated. Add marsala and cook a couple minutes to almost evaporated. Add stock, thyme and continue to cook until reduced by half. Add heavy whipping cream and simmer until sauce thickens and again is reduced by half. Add green onions and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper to taste.
  • While sauce is reducing, bring a pot of water to boil to cook noodles. Boil pasta as directed.
  • Drain noodles. Once sauce has reduced add to pasta. Garnish with additional parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.