Grilled Asparagus & Halloumi with Tomato Basil Vinaigrette
May is cooperating rather well, and we are eating our way into spring with Asparagus. We threw a crisp bunch on a hot grill this week, along with cherry tomatoes and local halloumi cheese, and drizzled the chunky spears with a fresh and summer inspired tomato and basil vinaigrette. To a lovely weekend of eating!
Yield: Serves 4 as a side
Ingredients:
- 1 pound asparagus, tough, woody stems removed
- 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 pound halloumi cheese, cut into thin slices
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup Tomato Basil Vinaigrette
Steps:
- Preheat grill on high for 10 minutes. Clean the grill well to minimize sticking.
- Toss the trimmed asparagus, cherry tomatoes and halloumi in a large bowl with oil, garlic, salt & pepper. Make sure to coat evenly.
- Cook the asparagus, cherry tomatoes and halloumi on the medium-high heat grill, perpendicular to the grill grates. Cook, covered, for 3-5 minutes, turning once, but largely leaving the vegetables and cheese undisturbed in order to achieve maximum color.
- Remove from grill and serve hot with tomato basil vinaigrette on top or on the side.
Marinated Tomato Mozzarella Salad
It has been a bit of a blur since Gideon's arrival, as we remember what it's like to go weeks without a full nights sleep. Little Gideon and Mom are both doing well, and so we are on track to returning to Haiti in early August. As we wrap up our last weeks here, stateside, we are relishing the tastes of North American summer: impossibly good sweet corn, tart local blueberries with a dash of cream, and fresh peak-of-summer tomatoes and herbs. This Marinated Tomato and Mozzarella Salad has been a frequent highlight on our table these last few weeks. It is ready in minutes, bursting with summer flavor, a balance of bright sweet tomatoes and creamy fresh mozzarella.
Tomato & Almond Pesto, Pesto Alla Trapanese
Tomato and Almond Pesto, pesto alla Trapanese, is from the Trapani province in Northwest Sicily. Almonds are native to Sicily, and so in this offbeat, rosy-hued pesto, almonds replace pine nuts and cherry tomatoes add color and tartness to the mix. We love this pesto for its mellow, complex and fruity flavor and have been making it for years, unfortunately, some ‘technical issues’ have gotten in the way of publishing it on the blog.
There was the time I forgot to attach the lid to the food processor and the pesto ended up streaking the ceiling. In my next attempt, I managed to actually make the pesto, but then took a whole bunch of yummy looking pictures without a card in the camera. Determined to make and photograph it my third attempt, I got mid-way through the recipe before realizing that I didn’t have parmesan, so I substituted a mysterious fridge cheese and created a monster of a dish with a vomitus appearance and nasty bitter flavor. At this point I gave up until, in an attempt to escape afternoon house projects this weekend, I volunteered to make lunch, and commenced my final attempt to make and photograph tomato and almond pesto for our blog. I had forgotten how good and easy it really is! Some take home reflections: secure lids on all kitchen devices; don’t bother photographing your food, just eat it; stick with parmesan cheese; and ditch plain-Jane basil pesto and make it’s funkier Sicilian cousin with almonds and tomatoes. As we move into fall, and warm pasta dishes begin to sound cozy, try whipping up another of our easy weeknight pasta recipes: Chorizo & Feta Pasta.
Roasted Asparagus with lemon
We started our weekend with a long walk with the dogs, they sensed spring and pranced down the trail while we clomped through the mud behind them in our rain boots. Came home, roasted up a big mess of asparagus with a little lemon for a simple spring lunch. Spring is fast becoming more truth than fiction. Eat green.
Tomato Basil Vinaigrette
Spring lettuces have started coming into gardens and farmers markets, and with our fridge currently flush with local greens, we have been experimenting with new vinaigrettes. Tomato Basil Vinaigrette is our recent favorite, and we pour this fresh tasting dressing over everything from steak to grilled vegetables. With a base of pureed fresh tomatoes, spiked with basil's anise and peppery notes, Tomato Basil Vinaigrette eats like a warm summer's day. Tomato Basil Vinaigrette is also a great base dressing to customize with different tomato varieties and fresh herbs; tarragon and rosemary are both delicious.
Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta with Queso Fresco
Normally tomatoes and I aren't close. I am that annoying person who picks them out of my salad and fishes tomatoes out of my sandwich, it's an embarrassing trait. This tomato avoidance changes each summer with the arrival of beautiful, sweet, summer tomatoes. This week we got two colorful striped heirloom tomatoes from our CSA and my tomato appetite returned with a vengeance. Paul had just pulled a grainy loaf of sourdough bread out of the oven, our basil plants were looking lush and prime for the picking, and so decided on bruschetta for dinner. We gobbled up a platter for an al fresco summer dinner.
