Summer White Bean and Vegetable Stir-Fry

A Mediterranean one-skillet dinner that’s quick, easy, and healthy

We’re enjoying summer’s bounty of vegetables and herbs in our part of the world. But the weather is unremittingly hot, so we don’t want to spend much time cooking.

Fortunately, we have stir-fry. It’s a quick and easy way to showcase almost any vegetable you can think of.

This dish takes only about 20 minutes total for prep and cooking. Stress-free weeknight dinner, anyone?

Tomato, Cucumber, and White Bean Salad

This summer-fresh vegan delight works as a main or side

Local tomatoes and cucumbers are at their seasonal peak right now in our part of the world. So we take every opportunity to enjoy them, often tossing with oil and vinegar to make a simple, quick salad.

But sometimes we want a heartier dish. So we add white beans to the mix—turning a simple salad into a great picnic side dish, one that can also stand alone as a meatless main.

It’s easy, healthy, and bursting with fresh flavor. Not to mention vegan and gluten-free, so everyone can enjoy it. That’s summer at its best.

BLT Pasta with Goat Cheese

Garden-fresh produce lightens this summery dish

Vine-ripened tomatoes—with their deep, savory flavor—are one of the glories of summer. And they work well in so many dishes.

We particularly like to pair them with bacon and lettuce, as in the classic BLT sandwich. Or BLT Salad.

But sometimes we want a more substantial main course. Something we can serve hot, but that doesn’t require too much cooking on sultry summer days.

Enter BLT Pasta with Goat Cheese. This simple dish has restaurant-quality flavor, and cooks in minutes. It’s so good we’ve already added it to our recipe rotation. We bet you’ll agree—so get those meal planners revved.

Braised Celery with Tomato and Parmesan

A great side dish to accompany, well . . . anything

Never tasted Braised Celery? Well, you’re in for a treat. Because braising makes celery tender and sweet, revealing new depths of this often-overlooked veggie.

For this recipe, we cook celery in tomatoes (marinara sauce, actually), then finish it with a layer of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. We end up with a dish that’s almost a gratin, but not quite.

Braised Celery makes a perfect sidekick for grilled/roasted meat, fish, or poultry. Or anything, really. And its flavor is lip-smacking good. So this might be the perfect time to wear your “Kiss the Cook” apron.

Meat and Potatoes Chili

Winter comfort food 

Need some down-home cooking to combat the cold weather we’re having throughout much of the US? Well, there’s nothing better than good old meat and potatoes.

We could just fill our plates with a slab of beef and a mound of spuds. But why not go for something with more flavor? Like this chunky Meat and Potatoes Chili. It has all the savor of traditional meat and potatoes, with the zing of chili. Win win.

And speaking of winning, if you haven’t already planned your eats for the Super Bowl festivities, this would be a great dish to prepare. You can cook it a day ahead, then reheat it—so you won’t miss a minute of the game. That’s a touchdown in my book.

Pasta with Sardines and Fennel

This Variation on Sicilian-Style Pasta Sports a Tangy Tomato Sauce

When was the last time you used sardines in a dish?  For a lot of us, the answer may be “never.”

Sardines don’t get much respect in the US.  Which is too bad, because they’re inexpensive, abundant, and widely available (although most often in canned form).  But many people shy away from them because of their distinct “fishy” flavor.

If that’s you, don’t worry.  Sardines have been eaten in Mediterranean countries for thousands of years, so cooks there have figured out how to handle these little beauties.  No place is more Mediterranean than Sicily — and one of its signature dishes is pasta con le sarde (pasta with sardines).  In Sicily, cooks usually combine the pasta with fennel, raisins, and saffron, and these ingredients help mellow the flavor of the sardines.

March 19th (Tuesday) is Saint Joseph’s Day, a widely celebrated saint’s day around the world.  Many people consider St. Joseph to be the patron saint of Sicily (according to legend, prayers to St. Joseph helped prevent a famine there during the Middle Ages). Because St. Joseph’s Day falls during Lent, the festive foods are meatless.

What better way to celebrate one of Sicily’s special holidays than by making their signature (meatless) dish? You’ve heard the phrase (made memorable in Alka-Seltzer ads), “try it, you’ll like it.” When it comes to this dish, it’s true.

BLT Salad

Perfect for When Tomatoes Are Ripe — and It’s Too Hot to Cook

I don’t know what the weather is like where you are, but in St. Louis (where I live), we’re having a hot, hot, hot summer.  So when it’s time for dinner, I want something light — and something that won’t require me to spend much time standing over a hot stove.

Enter the BLT Salad. 

When we think about the classic combination of bacon, lettuce, and tomato, we usually think sandwich.  But these ingredients are also prime salad fare.  And if you microwave the bacon (a great way to cook it, if you’re careful), you won’t heat up your kitchen at all. 

As a bonus, tomatoes are in season right now throughout much of the US.  You can probably find some ripe red ones at your local farmers’ market — or in your own backyard garden.  Tomatoes are at their most flavorful this time of year.  And this salad is a great showcase for them.

Terrific flavor, prime seasonal ingredients, easy to prepare — not to mention light and cool.  Sounds too good to be true. 

So what’s the catch?  Well, sometimes there isn’t one.

Pasta Puttanesca

This Classic with the “Naughty” Name is a Great Summer Dish

Although I enjoy Pasta Puttanesca year round, it always seems particularly wonderful this time of year. That’s because the dish is best when cooked for only 15 or 20 minutes — ideal when you don’t want to heat the kitchen with a long-simmering sauce.

And the naughty name? I’ll get to that.

Salade Niçoise

Serve this Summer Classic as a Main Dish or Appetizer

Salade Niçoise was born in the French coastal Mediterranean city of Nice. The original Niçoise salad reportedly was a simple affair of largely uncooked ingredients: lettuce (though some insist the original didn’t include this), black olives, sliced tomatoes, bell pepper, anchovies, and sometimes artichoke hearts. These ingredients were tossed with olive oil (no vinegar), minced garlic, and perhaps some herbs. The dish was served in small hors d’œuvre portions, often with a garnish of sliced hard-boiled eggs.

Over the years, peoples’ tastes evolved, and so did the recipe. In the United States today, Salade Niçoise is usually a substantial composed salad that may also include green beans, potatoes, and canned (or seared fresh) tuna.

In its modern form, Salade Niçoise makes a generous (but not heavy) main course, perfect for hot summer weather. With the addition of some good quality bread and a nice wine, it’s a great company meal.