Green beans get their shot in the delicious spotlight with easy-to-make salad

“Green beans” and “fantastically delicious” are not often words that occupy the same sentence.
   But in the case of Giada De Laurentiis’s Pecorino and Bean Salad (click for the recipe), the words “fantastically delicious” do indeed describe green beans.
   Laurentiis has come up with a magic formula that will make you want to abandon all decorum, pick up your plate, put it near your mouth and shovel the salad right in.
   I think the secret ingredients are cannellini beans (also called white kidney beans), which add a creamy starchiness, and fresh rosemary leaves, which add a perfect, mild herbaceous note.
   This salad is very easy to make and works as a side not only on a weeknight, but at a dinner party. We had it with pork chops and it was a perfect match.
   I think people will be surprised at how good it is.
   The recipe I linked to is on a recipe-sharing site, and it is exactly the same one that I used.
   Two cups of trimmed and cut green beans are boiled for three minutes, then drained and placed in a bowl of ice water for one minute. After being drained again, the beans are set aside.
   Olive oil is heated in a skillet, then minced garlic is added and cooked for 30 seconds. The pan is removed from the heat and finely-chopped fresh rosemary leaves are added.
   The green beans, rinsed and drained cannellini (white kidney) beans, cubed Pecorino-Romano cheese, fresh parsley, salt and pepper combined in a bowl, then the garlic-rosemary oil is added and the salad tossed well until all the ingredients are coated.

Peaches are right at home with crabmeat and orange syrup in fresh summer salad

I love to try ingredients in dishes where you don’t often see them, and that’s why the recipe for Peach and Crab Salad with Mesclun and Herbs (click for the recipe) attracted my attention in Martha Stewart Living magazine.
   While most everyone likes to eat peaches out-of-hand or in desserts, the fruit doesn’t often show up in main dishes.
   And here was a recipe that was not only offering peaches in a main dish, but was pairing it with crab. It was not a combination I immediately recall seeing before. There was also an unusual syrup-dressing of orange juice, coriander and lime juice.
   Assembled together, the peaches, crab and light syrup resulted in a lovely, refreshing summer salad.
   With peach season in full swing, it was easy to get one of the key ingredients for the salad at its finest hour.
   The other key ingredient, crabmeat, posed more trouble.
   Lately I’ve been unable to find fresh jumbo lump crabmeat at the supermarket.
   Since I don’t want to put in the time and effort to take crabmeat out of crab legs, I have found a quite reasonable substitution: Lump crabmeat in a can.
   This is opposed to flaked or shredded crabmeat from the can, which can easily dry out and be unappetizing.
   Lump crabmeat, however, maintains enough of its moisture that it’s a reasonable replacement for fresh crabmeat from the seafood section of the supermarket.
   The mesclun the recipe calls for is simply pre-mixed salad greens that can be found in the prepared salads section of the supermarket. It’s sometimes labeled mesclun, but most often “baby greens” or “spring mix.”
   The syrup is made by bringing orange juice, sugar and coarsely-ground coriander to a boil, allowing the mixture to cool, straining it, and stirring in lime juice.
   One cup of the syrup is combined with sliced peaches, minced shallot, fresh mint and a thinly-sliced chile in a bowl (the recipe calls for a Thai red chile, but I used half of a jalapeno pepper instead. I also minced it instead of slicing it.)
   The crabmeat is mixed with the peach mixture, then mesclun, fresh basil and mint are added and the bowl of ingredients tossed together. More syrup is drizzled on top.
   The salad is served.

Quick and cool Cucumber, Tomato and Feta Salad

I’m always on the lookout for simple, delicious salads that I can whip up in minutes in the heat of summer without losing my cool.
   Not that I ever really lose my patience when cooking, and we do have air conditioning.
   What I mean is that it’s nice to have some salad recipes on hand that come together quickly and with minimum fuss as a side for grilled meats, fish and poultry. Who wants to be slaving away in the kitchen when you can be enjoying the food and a summer evening?
   Cucumber, Tomato and Feta Salad (click for the recipe) from Bon Appetit magazine fits the bill of cool and quick – just a bit of slicing and dicing and presto-bango, you’ve got a refreshing salad.
   The flavor of the salad is quite subtle, even though there is one bunch of scallions (also called green or spring onions) and olives present. It lets the grilled entry on a plate take centre stage.
   The recipe calls for assorted pitted olives. Since we just had pitted Kalamata olives hanging out in the fridge, that’s what we used.
   To make the salad, coarsely chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, scallions (green onions), pitted olives, feta cheese and chopped fresh mint are combined.
   The dressing is made by whisking olive oil and fresh lemon juice. The dressing is poured over the salad and tossed to coat.
   More feta cheese is sprinkled on top, and the salad is ready to serve.

Tuscan Potato Salad = good potato salad

Upon hearing the words “potato salad,” some people rightly recoil in horror, thinking of the mayo-soaked, bland concoctions they’ve been served in the past.
   If you’re one of those people, I’ve got just the thing for you – Tuscan Potato Salad (click for the recipe) has no mayo, and it’s anything but bland.
   Roasted red peppers, fresh rosemary, Dijon mustard and Parmesan cheese makes this potato salad fresh and lively, a worthy accompaniment to grilled meat or poultry. Even though it’s got some zesty ingredients, it’s still very family-friendly.
   My husband, who isn’t a fan of regular mayo-style potato salads, really liked this one.
   The recipe I linked to above is on a blog, but it’s the same one I used from Cook’s Country magazine.
   The salad is very easy to make.
   Red wine vinegar, minced garlic, minced fresh rosemary, salt and pepper are combined in a bowl.
   Two pounds of small red potatoes are scrubbed, sliced 1/4-inch thick, and brought to a boil in a large saucepan with two tablespoons of salt.
   The potatoes are simmered for about five minutes, then drained and spread in an even layer on a baking sheet. Half of the red wine vinegar mixture is drizzled over, and the potatoes are left to stand until cool.
   Dijon mustard is stirred into the remaining vinegar mixture.
   Parsley, chopped jarred roasted red peppers and grated Parmesan cheese are scattered evenly over the potatoes, which are then transferred to a bowl with the Dijon vinaigrette and tossed gently until combined.
   The salad can now be served, or refrigerated for up to two days.

Strawberries and green onions are pals in easy summer salad

One might not immediately think of strawberries and onions as a tasty pair, but they certainly become so in Strawberry and Spring Onion Salad (click for the recipe).
   The two main ingredients play off one another – the sweetness of the strawberries tempers the bite of the spring onions (also called green onions or scallions.) The Dijon mustard adds a bit more zing.
   The recipe calls for two bunches of green onions, thinly sliced. I thought this seemed like a lot, so I stuck with one bunch of bigger-than-usual green onions. I found it was about right – just enough oniony bite.
   The key to the recipe’s success, I think, is slicing the green onions thinly. If they are big pieces, they are far more noticeable to the palate and to the eye. Thinly-sliced, small pieces of green onions make for a lighter-tasting and more visually appealing salad.
   This is a superb salad to go alongside grilled meat or poultry.
   I encountered this recipe in the cookbook Better Homes and Gardens Garden Fresh Meals. The recipe I linked to above is on another site, for Country Home magazine, but it is exactly the same one I used.
   The salad is very easy to make.
   Strawberries, hulled and sliced ¼ inch thick, and thinly-sliced green onions, are combined in a large bowl.
   White wine or champagne vinegar, fresh chives, Dijon mustard, salt, fresh dill, salt and pepper are mixed in a bowl, then olive oil is whisked in.
   The dressing is poured over the strawberries and onions and the salad tossed.
   I skipped the garnish of edible flowers.

Better Homes & Gardens Garden Fresh Meals at amazon.ca

Blueberry search is rewarding for terrific summer salad

One summer a few years ago, my husband’s sister and her husband came to visit.
   After a long day of touring around, I dragged them around even more as I searched for blueberries, the key ingredient in a salad I wanted to make for supper.
   For some bizarre reason, only one local supermarket had them in stock, and of course, it was the last one we visited.
   But one bite into the salad, my sister- and brother-in-law knew why I considered blueberries essential, and why I wanted them to try Mixed Greens with Feta, Almonds and Blueberries (click for the recipe) from Bon Appetit magazine.
   They agreed it is a simply amazing salad, fresh and delicious. When they went home, they started making the salad themselves.
   It’s so simple to make, and is a brilliant side dish for any grilled meat or fish in the summer.
   One interesting thing, which has existed since the recipe was first posted on epicurious.com about five years ago: Despite having the word “almonds” in the title, and almonds was also the listed ingredient in the original magazine recipe, the one online says pine nuts instead.
   I’m sure pine nuts would be OK, but I always make the salad with ¼ cup slivered almonds, toasted, instead.
   For the salad dressing, red wine vinegar, olive oil and honey are whisked together in a small bowl.
   A five-ounce bag of baby salad greens, crumbled feta cheese and fresh blueberries are combined in a large bowl. The dressing is poured over top and tossed to coat.
   Before serving, the almonds are sprinkled on the salad.

Fresh and speedy Soba Noodle Salad with Ginger-Peanut Dressing

A fresh, cool noodle salad studded with cucumber, red bell pepper and carrot – this is the dreamy product resulting from Soba Noodle Salad with Ginger-Peanut Dressing (click for the recipe at the Vegetarian Times website).
   It’s a versatile dish – it can eaten as a main or as a side. I commented to my husband when we first tried it that it would do well at a spring potluck or backyard party.
   And it’s so easy to make, it’s almost ridiculous. You can drag yourself home after a long day, feeling like you’ve been run over by a truck, and a scant 20 minutes later you’ll be eating something refreshing.
   People who are cooking for one will not only appreciate its speedy preparation, but the fact it’s cold and so keeps well in the fridge for a couple of days.
   It’s the first recipe I’ve tried from the magazine Vegetarian Times, and I’m encouraged to try more.
   It’s a nice vegetarian version of another recipe I reviewed here on Recipes That Worked: Spicy Peanut Noodles with Ground Pork and Shredded Vegetables.
   The recipe on the Vegetarian Times website said to use “low-sodium soba noodles,” “Marantha Organic No-Stir peanut butter,” and “brown rice vinegar,” but regular soba noodles, any brand of creamy peanut butter and any type rice vinegar will work just fine.
   As always, we left the cilantro out of this recipe.
   The noodles are cooked in boiling water according to package directions, drained, and rinsed under cold water.
   A sauce is made by pureeing creamy peanut butter, rice vinegar, agave nectar or maple syrup, fresh ginger, soy sauce, garlic, lime juice and lime zest (finely-grated lemon peel) in a blender until smooth.
   The noodles and sauce are tossed with diced cucumber, sliced red bell pepper and a grated carrot.
   Serve and enjoy the salad’s cool appeal.

Romesco - a delicious sauce with a crunch!

Romesco, according to Wikipedia, is a sauce originating Spain that is typically made from almonds, pine nuts, and/or hazelnuts, roasted garlic, olive oil and nyora peppers, a smaller, sweet, dried variety of red bell pepper. Other common ingredients include roasted tomatoes, red wine vinegar and onion.
   Sounds good, doesn’t it?
   I know for a fact that it is after making Chicken Cutlets with Romesco and Serrano Cracklins from Bon Appetit magazine.
   The romesco sauce in this recipe uses jarred red bell peppers and almonds, and the result is outstanding.
   I’ve never had a sauce that was a little crunchy, but this one is! The almonds, which are blended into small pieces, provide the crunch. The nuts also “hold” the sauce together so it is more like a spread rather than a sauce.
   The simple salad of lettuce and parsley that is served alongside the chicken is a perfect accompaniment. Both chicken and salad have a bright, light taste and texture that perfect for ushering in spring.
   The recipe calls for fresh breadcrumbs made from a baguette. We used panko instead, a type of ready-made breadcrumb that can be found in the bakery or Asian foods section of many supermarkets.
   The recipe also calls for Sherry wine vinegar. We couldn’t find this, and substituted red wine vinegar for it.
   To make the romesco, the vinegar, breadcrumbs, jarred roasted red bell peppers, olive oil, garlic and paprika are blended together.
   Thinly-sliced Serrano ham or proscuitto is sauted until crisp and transferred to a bowl.
   In the same skillet, chicken cutlets that have been coated with a mixture of breadcrumbs and parsley are cooked.
   The chicken is served with romesco sauce and the ham on top, and a salad of olive oil, red wine vinegar, lettuce and parsley on the side.

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A salad to celebrate the magnificence of mushrooms

The promise of spring makes me think about mushrooms.
   Shiitake, oyster and chanterelle mushrooms start to make their appearance in the supermarket alongside the year-round mainstays of portobello, button and cremini mushrooms.
   I’ve got a terrific recipe to share for a mushroom salad that is bright in flavor, making it perfect as a side for a springtime meal.
   Fine Cooking’s Mushroom Salad with Lemon, Thyme and Parmigiano (click for the recipe) is absolutely delicious. Writing about it now, my mouth is watering.
   It is so easy to make that it suits weeknight cooking, but it is also elegant enough to serve at a dinner party.
   The advice to make the salad just before serving is a good one, because mushrooms will indeed release more liquid the longer they marinate.
   However, the marinade/dressing for the mushrooms can be made in advance, and the mushrooms added to marinate 10 minutes prior to serving.
   The recipe said to use a pinch of freshly-grated nutmeg. In the absence of this, I used ground nutmeg.
   Lemon zest (finely-grated lemon peel), lemon juice, shallots, fresh thyme, nutmeg, kosher salt and olive oil are mixed together, and sliced button mushrooms are added stirred to coat. The salad is left to marinate for 10 minutes.
   Just before serving, shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese is scattered on top. (Using a vegetable peeler as the recipe directs is good advice.)

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Recipe suggestions for Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is on Monday. For those of you thinking of making dinner for your sweetie that night, here are my suggestions, in blog entries, for recipes that will make the occasion a truly special one.

For starters
Champagne Cosmo
Garlic and Cheese Crostini

Mains
Linguine with Lemon-Garlic Shrimp
Orecchiette with Fennel, Sausage & Tomatoes
Pistachio-Crusted Rack of Lamb
Braised Chicken with Dates and Moroccan Spices

Sides
Warm Spinach, Mushroom and Goat Cheese Salad
Celery Root and Apple Salad with Hazelnut Vinaigrette

For dessert
Caramelized Banana Splits with Hot Chocolate Sauce
One-Bowl Chocolate Cake (or Cupcakes)
Tunnel of Fudge Cake
Sunken Chocolate-Orange Cupcakes


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Good wintery greens: Warm Spinach, Mushroom and Goat Cheese Salad

It’s not the easiest task finding a good “wintery” salad, one that goes well with the richer dishes and red wine of cold weather as opposed to the hamburgers and margaritas of summer.
   I’ve found one that I really like, though – Warm Spinach, Mushroom and Goat Cheese Salad (click for the recipe) from Bon Appetit magazine. It’s rich-dish and red-wine ready.
   When goat cheese is featured in a salad, it often steals the spotlight because of its soft, creamy texture and pleasing taste.
   But that’s not the case here – goat cheese just blends in nicely with the rest of the ingredients.
   My husband and I tinkered with the recipe just a bit.
   It calls for six bacon slices, chopped, to be cooked in a skillet, removed, set aside, and the drippings to be used for cooking the rest of the ingredients.
   The bacon is sadly never heard from again in the recipe, and my husband and I didn’t think that was fair. We sprinkled the bacon on top of our salad servings, and found it was a perfect addition.
   Also, the recipe calls for half of a medium-size red onion cut into paper-thin slices. My husband and I did this, but ended up taking out the red onion pieces out of our salad servings anyway – we’re really not fans of it raw (we love it cooked, though!)
   I think you can easily skip the red onion and still get delicious results.
   After the bacon is cooked and removed from the skillet, a large red bell pepper, chopped, is added to the drippings and cooked. The mushrooms follow suit.
   The bell pepper, mushrooms, spinach and red onion (skip it if you want!) are tossed together in a large bowl.
   Olive oil, white wine vinegar and sugar are added to the now-empty skillet and are brought to a boil. The resulting dressing is poured over the salad ingredients, enough to coat them well (you may not use all of the dressing.)
   The salad is put onto plates, and sprinkled with goat cheese.

More great salads and sides

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Review: The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook has a reassuring look about it, as if all the cooking advice contained within will be as sound as if Grandma herself was passing it on to you.
   This is a good all-around general cookery book. Want to make brownies? There’s a recipe for brownies. Mac and cheese? Check. Need some advice on how to grill a steak? It’s there. Want to make gravy without pan drippings? There’s one that uses soup broth instead.
   Recipes for common family-friendly food abound, such as grilled cheese sandwiches, sloppy joes, hamburgers, chicken noodle soup, spaghetti and meatballs, chicken fingers, meatloaf, beef stroganoff and chili.
   Some pages contain several different varieties of a popular food item. Potato salad, for example, is represented with recipes for American, German and French versions.
   There are chapters for appetizers, salads, sandwiches, soups and stews, vegetables, rice, grains and beans, pasta, eggs and breakfast, fish and shellfish, poultry, meat, grilling, slow cooker and pressure cooker, bread and pizza, quick breads, cookies, cakes, pies and tarts, fruit desserts, pudding and custards, frozen desserts, sauces and condiments and light recipes.
   Because the cookbook is from America’s Test Kitchen, there’s a very good chance that many of the recipes have reliable methods that will yield delicious results.
   Recipes that take less than 30 minutes to make are labelled “fast” – great help when you are looking for a speedy weeknight meal.
   I’ve written about Banana Bread, Creamy Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese and Curried Singapore Noodles on Recipes That Worked, all of which are contained in the ATK Family Cookbook.
   There are others I'd like to try. Ones that are catching my eye include:
- Creamy Polenta with Butter and Parmesan
- Pan-Seared Scallops with Lemon, Shallots and Capers, or Orange and Thyme
- Weeknight Skillet Fajitas
- Cream Scones with Currants
- Ultimate Fudgy Brownies
- Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook at amazon.ca

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Review: Food Network Kitchens Favorite Recipes

Food Network Kitchens Favorite Recipes is a cookbook that comes from behind the scenes.
   It’s a compilation of best recipes chosen by the people that work in the TV network’s test kitchens: Chefs, testers, food stylists, bakers and recipe developers.
   The cooking professionals in the kitchens have tested recipes for thousands of episodes of Food Network shows.
   I trust that they know what they’re talking about when they say these are the best recipes that have passed through the kitchens.
   Actually, I know for sure myself the recipes are the best because I’ve tried a few of them and they have been absolutely terrific (and easy).
   Nothing in the book looks too crazy to make. There are many recipes for relatively common dishes such as gazpacho, crab cakes, pork satay, bruschetta, lobster rolls and quesadillas.
   One of the recipes my husband and I absolutely love is Miso Soup. It’s killer delicious, amazingly simple to make, and better than any miso soup I’ve ever had in a restaurant.
   Other favorites of ours from this cookbook are Thai Shrimp & Rice Soup, Thai Rice Noodles, Little Tomato Salad with Fresh Herbs and Heirloom Tomato & Mint Salad.
   Recipes I’ve got my eye on to try are Blue Cheese Steak Sandwiches; Grilled Halloumi, Scallion & Mint Flatbread; Celery & Soppressata Salad with Lemon; Blueberry Buttermilk Bundt Cake; Little Cheesecakes with Strawberry Sauce, and Tiramisu Rapido.

Food Network Kitchens Favorite Recipes at amazon.ca

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A brilliant way to use celery root: In a salad, with apples!

Celery root – you may have seen this brown, round wizened vegetable in your local supermarket, particularly this time of year.
   You may have asked yourself: What is it?
   Also known as celeriac, celery root is a type of celery, but it looks far more like a root vegetable such as a turnip than long green sticks.
   You may also have asked yourself: What the heck to I do with it?
   Well, I’ve got a dandy recipe that uses celery root, one that will make you wonder why you never tried it before.
   It’s Celery Root and Apple Salad with Hazelnut Vinaigrette (click for the recipe), a recipe from Bon Appetit magazine developed by columnist Molly Wizenberg, the writer of the world’s top food blog, Orangette.
   The salad is crisp and fresh, with a lovely light vinaigrette highlighted by Dijon mustard.
   We substituted walnut oil for the hazelnut oil (this stuff is hard to find!) and the salad tasted delicious. We used a Granny Smith apple in place of the called-for Gala.
   However, don’t substitute plain celery if you can’t find celery root – you won’t get the same results! Swipe some celery root when you see it and then try this recipe.
   It’s easy to make.
   A vinaigrette is made by combining Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, lemon juice, salt, pressed garlic, hazelnut or walnut oil and olive oil.
   A celery root, fennel bulb and apple are cut into strips and combined, then tossed with the vinaigrette.
   The salad is served with Parmesan cheese shavings on top.

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A very non-ecchhyy spinach salad

When the word spinach is spoken, some people say ecchhhh.
   I used to be this way as a kid. Spinach? No thank you. Get that weird green stuff away from me!
   Somewhere along the way, though, I learned to love spinach. Call it taste buds growing up, I guess.
   On Saturday, my husband and I bought some spinach at a local farmer’s market, and I fished around for a recipe to use it in.
   Luckily, I found a terrific one: Spinach Salad with Mango and Candied Pecans.
   Several people who reviewed the recipe on the epicurious.com website recommended adding goat cheese, which is not a listed ingredient.
   Though I am usually loathe to tinker around with recipes, as they have usually been tested and re-tested, so many people suggested adding it that I did.
   It was a nice addition, though my husband and I agreed the salad would probably be fine without it.
   The candied pecans and mango contribute a sweetness to counterbalance the spinach. In fact, the pecans make a lovely snack on their own!
   The salad is very easy to prepare.
   To make the candied pecans, brown sugar, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar are brought to a bubble in a skillet. The pecans are mixed in and stirred around until they are toasted and the syrup coats them evenly.
   The recipe says it takes about three minutes to get the sugar, oil and vinegar bubbling, but I found it took about two. The recipe also says it takes about seven minutes for the syrup to coat the pecans evenly and the pecans to toast, but I found it took much less time, about three minutes.
   The pecans are turned onto a sheet of foil.
   Fresh spinach, mango (I used sliced mango from a can), and the cooled pecans are combined.
   Oil and balsamic vinegar are combined to make a dressing, which is then poured over the spinach and tossed to coat.

Checking out Jamie Oliver's 'best in the world' salad claim

Many people know who Jamie Oliver is – the chef extraordinaire from Britain who has written many cookbooks and hosted several TV series.
   The first time I made a recipe of Jamie's was a couple of weeks ago, when my husband and I took Best Chorizo & Tomato Salad In The World (click for the recipe) for a spin.
   It’s an interesting title, and since I’ve been known to indulge in superlatives on this blog, I wanted to try the recipe.
   It turned out to be a very good salad, so perhaps it is the best in the world. My husband really liked it!
   The recipe calls for one raw chorizo sausage, roughly sliced. I found ready-sliced chorizo in the deli section of the local Superstore.
   Sherry vinegar is also a listed ingredient in the recipe. I’ve been having trouble finding that lately, and so have been using red wine vinegar as a substitute.
   Jamie suggests serving goat cheese alongside the salad, and I do too. It provides a tangy counterpoint to the chorizo.
   The recipe is written in Jamie’s conversational tone. It’s like you’re watching one of his cooking shows as you make the salad.
   However, this can sometimes result in confusing recipe instructions, so make sure you read over the recipe completely before you start.
   The chorizo is fried with garlic in olive oil, and sherry or red wine vinegar is splashed in. The chorizo is spooned over a salad of roughly chopped ripe tomatoes, halved cherry tomatoes, three spring onions (green onions) or a shallot, olive oil and flat-leaf parsley.

A fantastic way to use that zucchini: Shaved Zucchini Salad with Parmesan and Pine Nuts

A friend of mine once joked that August is the month when, if you leave your car door open while parked on the street, you’ll find a zucchini in it when you come back.
   Thus is the effort of those who grow the green-skinned vegetable to thrust it upon others if plentiful, and especially if the zucchini is monstrous.
   Luckily, I have a few great recipes that use zucchini tucked away to use during this season.
   On Tuesday night, I discovered my latest new favorite zucchini recipe when my husband and I made Shaved Zucchini Salad with Parmesan and Pine Nuts from the August 2010 issue of Bon Appetit magazine.
   I really can’t express properly how terrific this salad was. It was absolutely delicious. It has officially become a new heavy-rotation summer salad recipe.
   Although the salad is easy to make and can quickly be put together on a weeknight, it is elegant enough to work at a sit-down summer dinner party. Served as a first course, it will impress.
   The secret ingredients, in my opinion, are the coarse kosher salt and crushed red pepper, which lends a pickle-like taste to the salad that’s very appealing.
   Two pounds of medium zucchini are trimmed and sliced with a vegetable peeler or V-slicer, and a dressing of olive oil, lemon juice, coarse salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper is added. Chopped fresh basil and toasted pine nuts come next, and the salad is tossed.
   Strips of Parmesan cheese are shaved off a wedge with a vegetable peeler. Although the recipe says to put the strips on top of the salad, I placed them on individual servings.

A recipe that has really worked - our marriage

Today my husband and I have been married for 10 years.
   It sounds very cliché, but it absolutely feels like yesterday when we said our vows in my hometown of Esterhazy, Saskatchewan.
   My husband is responsible for a lot of content here on Recipes That Worked.
   I worked an evening shift for several years before I started writing this blog, and he made supper for us several times a week.
   He was often the first to try out a new recipe that I had picked out, and he always did it without complaint.
   On this occasion of my wedding anniversary, I’m featuring a couple of recipes my husband and I recently tried that he really liked (I liked them, too.)

Easy Chocolate Cupcakes (click here for the recipe at the BBC GoodFood website) have an apt name – they were very easy to make.
   The icing is the real treat, but the recipe produces a lot. I only used about half of it. You might consider making a second batch of cupcakes and using up the icing.
   Here’s my official make-it-better tip: Although people will be clamoring to try these cupcakes on the day they’re made, if you can keep them in a sealed container until the next day, they will have more moisture and the flavor will be deeper.
   The recipe calls for light muscovado sugar. I found demerara sugar at the supermarket and used it as a substitute, but I found several mentions online that dark brown sugar would also be an effective substitute.
   To make the cupcakes, dark chocolate is whizzed into small pieces in a food processor, and some of the pieces are mixed together with soured cream (a.k.a sour cream), cocoa powder, self-raising flour, sunflower oil, eggs, vanilla and water using electric beaters.
   The batter is divided among the holes in a muffin tin that have been lined with paper cups. The cupcakes are baked and cooled.
   The icing is made by melting the remaining chocolate bits with sour cream and sugar in a small saucepan. It’s put in the fridge until it is cool enough to spread on the waiting muffins.

Vietnamese Prawn Salad (click here for the recipe on the BBC GoodFood website) is a fresh dish that’s great to make if you’re craving something with noodles but don’t want anything steaming hot.
   It’s quite easy to put together. Boiling water is poured over thin rice noodles (also called vermicelli; found in the Asian foods section of the supermarket), and they’re left to stand for 10 minutes. Then they’re drained.
   Mashed garlic, a small red chilli (we used a half of a jalapeno pepper), golden caster sugar (we used superfine sugar, sometimes labelled berry sugar or extra fine granulated sugar), and the juice of two limes comprise the dressing.
   Cooked tiger prawns (we used cooked shrimp), cucumber, carrot, spring onions (green onions or scallions) are tossed together.
   The salad is served by putting noodles on a plate, topping it with the prawn and vegetable mixture and scattering mint or cilantro (we used mint) and chopped peanuts on top.

Two of my husband's other favorites:
Tunnel of Fudge Cake
Red Wine-Raspberry Sorbet

You'll eat this antipasto salad twice,because it is so nice

Louis Prima sang that he ate antipasto twice, because Angelina, the waitress at the local pizzeria, was so nice.
   Here's an antipasto dish that will entice people to have seconds without any added motivation!
   It’s Antipasto Pasta Salad (click here for the recipe at the epicurious.com website), a terrific, easy-to make dish that will be a hit at your next casual backyard get-together. It would be great alongside chicken or pork. The recipe makes a ton (six main-course servings!), so there will be no shortage.
   In Italian, antipasto means “before the meal,” and is a traditional first course that includes cured meats, olives, artichoke hearts, cheese and marinated peppers.
   All of those things are here, mixed in with rotini pasta. I used multigrain rotini, and it worked great.
   To make it, the rotini is cooked, rinsed and drained. It doesn’t matter how long the rotini sits as the rest of the dish is prepared, as it is served at room temperature. In fact, I let the rotini cook, then moved on to preparing the rest of the dish.
   Red-wine vinegar and olive oil are whisked together in a large bowl, then chopped marinated artichokes, jarred roasted red peppers, cubed mozzarella, sopressetta or salami, pitted and chopped Kalamata olives or other black olives and fresh parsley are added and mixed. The pasta is put in and everything is tossed together.
   One tip: Serve this dish at room temperature, as the recipe says – it lets the flavours out. It will do fine being refrigerated before serving or afterwards with leftovers; just take it out and let it return to room temp before enjoying.

Two sensational summer salads

I tried a couple of salad recipes recently that immediately became staples of my summer cooking arsenal.
   The first is Creamy Dill Cucumber Salad from a recent issue of Cook’s Illustrated magazine.
   Although I couldn’t find the exactly the same recipe online, I found a slightly different version of it on a website, mealsmatter.org. (Click here for the recipe.) If you tweak a few things, and I’ll tell you how, you’ll have exactly the same recipe I made.
   I was first attracted to this recipe because it called for extensively draining the liquid from the cucumbers before the salad is made. My husband hates cucumber salads that are swimming in excess water.
The technique used, putting a zipper-lock bag full of water on top of the cucumbers and an onion to push out the liquid, works like a charm.
   The resulting salad was not watery – it was just delicious, family-friendly and a perfect side for burgers, hot dogs or steaks.
   The cider vinegar called for in the recipe, by the way, may also be labelled apple cider vinegar at the supermarket.
   Here’s how to tweak the recipe on mealsmatter.org so it will be exactly like the one I made:

   The mealsmatter.org recipe calls for ½ of a medium red onion.
   The recipe I made called for ½ of a medium onion – I used a yellow onion.

   The mealsmatter.org recipe does not explicitly have directions to toss and drain the onion with the cucumber.
   The recipe I made says to toss the cucumbers, onion and salt together in a strainer or colander.

   The mealsmatter.org recipe calls for one tablespoon of salt to be tossed with the cucumbers and onion.
   The recipe I made calls for 1 ½ tsps. of salt to be tossed with the cucumbers and onion.

The second recipe, Heirloom Tomato and Mint Salad, is a fantastic way to showcase fresh tomatoes.
   I couldn’t find the recipe, or a comparable one, on the Internet.
   The only place I know for sure you’ll find it in all of its delicious glory is in the cookbook Food Network Kitchens Favorite Recipes.
   This is a book that gets used a lot around our place, as it has some terrific recipes for miso soup and noodle dishes.
   This recipe calls for cutting up heirloom tomatoes (I use regular tomatoes if I can’t find heirloom), arranging the pieces on a platter and then scattering sliced shallot, sea salt and pepper on the pieces.
   After being left for about five minutes, the tomatoes are sprinkled with fresh mint and then drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and champagne or white wine vinegar.