MINIMAL EFFORT COOL MEALS

Minimal Effort Cool Meals

          The heat from the Midwest finally caught up with us last week. What would have been considered a “cool day in Arizona” certainly felt like a day in a sauna in Maine. A local restaurant had to close in the afternoon, because the kitchen fans could not keep up with the heat and it became a health hazard to the employees. Home thoughts turned to simple meals with minimal effort and a cool and refreshing taste.

          Unless you have a gas grill right outside your kitchen door, even grilling can seem like too much effort. Tacos come to mind as an easy substitute in all their possible variations. There are beef tacos, chicken tacos, German tacos with ham and sauerkraut and cheese, shrimp tacos, black bean tacos for vegetarians and even lobster tacos for those of us fortunate to have some extra lobster meat.

          Another favorite are Fajitas, a wrapped meal popular in warm climes. Fajitas preferably are made with skirt steak or other thin tender cuts of beef, but chicken has become a popular variation. For either one you can marinate the meat 30 minutes to 2 hours before cooking in lime juice with spices or take the easy way out and avoid pre-marinating the meat with any Fajita mix available in the store.     

   

                                                Quick Beef Fajitas

           Cut up in ½ inch strips: ½ large onion, 1 each green and red peppers seeded and deveined. Cut in wedges 2 Roma tomatoes.  Slice ½ lb skirt steak or sirloin strip tips in ½ inch strips. In a large skillet heat 2 tblsp. peanut oil, quickly sear the meat for about 3 minutes and set aside. Add another 1tblsp. olive oil to the pan and stir fry the onions and peppers for about 3 minutes, stir in the tomatoes the Fajita mix and some water according to the Fajita mix directions. Cook for 3 minutes, return the meat back to the pan and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Serves two in warm flour tortillas. If desired top with sour cream and hot salsa.

          Gazpacho, the traditional hot weather soup is actually a cold tomato-based salad with a soup like consistency. With slightly more effort, one can achieve white-gazpacho, which in my kitchen has evolved from a blend of Vichyssoise and Gazpacho.

                                            White Gazpacho

          In a medium pot bring to boil 3 cups chicken broth. Add: 1 cut up large celery stalk with leaves, 1 medium onion quartered, 2 medium zucchini cut in chunks, 2 cloves garlic roughly chopped, 1 large potato cut in 1 inch pieces, ¼ cup Italian parsley, ¼ tsp. red pepper flakes and 1 tsp. ground thyme. Boil vegetables for 15 minutes and allow to cool a bit before blending with 3 tblsp. white vinegar and 3 cups yoghurt. In a large bowl stir into the soup: ½ chopped green and red peppers, 2 sliced scallions, 1 small chopped English cucumber, 2 chopped Roma tomatoes, ½ cup chopped curly parsley. Correct salt and pepper seasoning and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours for the flavors to blend. Can be made a day ahead. Serve garnished with croutons and chopped chives.

          Either of these meals with a chilled glass of sangria is likely to please.

(I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)

SUMMER PASTA

Summer Pasta

          Cold weather has instilled in our mind visions of heavily sauced pasta as essential comfort food. But this versatile food can be equally delightful in summer in either warm or cold presentations.

          My first inkling of that truth came years ago on my first trip to Italy, where I found pasta served as a first course in either lunch or dinner most of the time, regardless of what came afterward. Italians take their pasta very seriously with an incredible variety of shapes, sizes and modes of preparation from every region and community. For anyone  used to thinking primarily of spaghetti, macaroni and lasagna the variety can be mind boggling.

 

          Pasta can range from tiny orzo (rice size) to orecchiette (ears), conchiglie (shells) and farfalle (bow tie) to papparadelle (thick and broad pasta ribbons) and of course lasagna noodles. Some of the names can be very confusing: there are rotini (corkscrew) and rotelle (little wheels), The twisted corkscrew types evolve further, when rotini becomes fusilli with thinner dimensions and tighter screws and becomes fusilli bucati, when the tight screwed fusilli is elongated and coiled like a spring.

          This complexity and my ignorance became first apparent in a “pasta” restaurant some years ago in Milan, just around the corner from the famed opera house, when a waiter put in our hands a menu the size of a bound ledger. My husband and I must have looked stricken as we tried to decipher the pages of offerings of different pastas, each of which could be prepared in a long list of ways featuring regional specialties. Dinner took a long time, but the confusion was significantly eased by the excellent local wine.

          Cooking summer pasta, whether to be served hot or cold is best with medium sized pasta that allows the sauce or dressing to adhere to the cooked pasta. Addition of a green vegetable gives the warm pasta a lighter feel and increases eye appeal.

                             Penne with Ham and Asparagus

          Cook 8 oz. penne in salted boiling water to desired softness ( ~10 minutes) and drain reserving ½ cup of the liquid. In a large pan heat 2 tblsp. grapeseed oil and quickly sauté 2 minced cloves of garlic with 2 chopped Roma tomatoes, ¼ tsp. red pepper flakes and 1 tsp. capers until softened. Stir in the reserved pasta liquid, 1 cup deli ham cut in thin strips, 1 cup washed asparagus spears cut in 1 ½ inch pieces and heat through for 3 minutes. Stir in drained hot pasta, transfer to a bowl and toss with ½ cup grated aged Asiago cheese. Serve with additional grated cheese if desired. (Substitute ½ cup of frozen peas for asparagus if desired).

                             Mediterranean Pasta Salad

          Vinaigrette: 6 tblsp. wine vinegar, 3 tblsp. olive oil, ¼ tsp. garlic powder, 1 tsp. Dijon mustard, 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce, ½ tsp. celery seed, salt and pepper to taste. Cook 8 oz fusilli or rotelle in salted boiling water to al dente.  Drain pasta and in a large bowl toss with the vinaigrette while hot. Allow to cool. When cool, add diced: ½ red and ½ green peppers, ¼ cup red onion, 1/3 cup sliced pitted kalamata olives, ½ cup crumbled Feta cheese and 4 oz grape tomatoes cut in halves. Toss all ingredients together and chill 2 hours before serving. If you wish for a more colorful effect, toss with a drained and rinsed a can of black beans. Serve garnished with chopped parsley and hard-boiled egg slices.

          The ease of summer pasta preparation is not to be underestimated. The almost infinite variety of pasta is likely to result in many different pasta dishes, each of them with a different and delightful character. And should you wish for further variety, then of course there are Japanese, Chines and Thai noodle dishes. That may be a topic for another column.  

    

(I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)