Blistered Corn Salad

From The Press Enterprise, July 15, 2015

Grilling fresh corn until the kernels are blistered and the natural sugars are caramelized makes this salad burst with flavor. This little bit of effort makes all the difference in this colorful summer recipe.
Sometimes cutting the kernels off the cob can be awkward, and I have tried all of the gadgets for doing this without much success.

The easiest and safest way I have found is to first cut the corn cob into two pieces. Cut the cob straight across the middle, then stand each half cut side down on your cutting board. Make sure your cutting board is anchored with a wet paper towel or skid-proof sheet. The flat-cut surface will be much sturdier than the top or bottom of the cob.

Now imagine that the cob is a square instead of round, and slice from the top down on four sides.

You should use a knife with a sharp non-serrated blade that is long enough to get a good “slice.”

I prefer a 6- or 8-inch santuko knife for this purpose, but use whatever knife you are comfortable with.

You can go back and slice off the remaining strip of kernels once you have cut four “square” sides... Or enjoy them yourself as the cook’s bounty.
• • •

Blistered Corn Salad
Start to finish: 30 minutes
Servings: 8

1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2/3 cup olive oil, plus 2 tablespoons, divided
Kosher salt and ground pepper
8 ears of corn
1/2 cup diced Spanish onion
1/2 cup finely chopped scallions (about 1 bunch)
1/2 cup minced jalapeno peppers
1 cup chopped heirloom tomatoes or quartered cherry tomatoes
 1 to 2 tablespoons mixed minced fresh herbs, such as chives, basil, cilantro and parsley

1. Heat the grill to medium-high.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar and mustard.  While whisking, slowly drizzle in the 2/3 cup of oil until the mixture is smooth and emulsified.  Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

3. Husk the ears of corn, then brush them all over with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

4. Set the ears directly over the heat on the grill and cook, turning occasionally, until all sides are blistered and lightly charred, 15 to 20 minutes.  Set the corn aside until cool enough to be easily handled.

5. Cut the kernels from the ears of corn.  To do this, one at a time cut each ear in half across the center.  Stand each piece on its wide, cut end and use a very sharp knife to cut down the length of the cob, cutting just deep enough to remove the kernels.  Rotate and continue cutting until all of the kernels have been removed.

6. In a large bowl, toss the warm corn kernels with the vinaigrette.  Add the remaining ingredients, mix well, then set aside to cool to room temperature.

7. Before serving, taste and season with salt and pepper, if needed.

Recipe from Elizabeth Karmel for the Associated Press.
Nutritional information per serving: 300 calories; 210 calories from fat (70 percent of total calories); 24 g fat (3 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 170 mg sodium; 22 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 7 g sugar; and 5 g protein.

Grilled Pineapple Fruit Salad

From Press Enterprise, July 15, 2015

Want an easy way to add a little punch to your otherwise humdrum fruit salad? Just add some heat.
Toss pineapple rings on the grill for just 4 to 5 minutes per side. The intense heat of the flames caramelizes the natural sugars of the pineapple and adds a smoky char
.
Once the pineapple rings come off the grill and cool a bit, they can be chopped and tossed with all the usual fruit salad suspects.

Want to take it even further? Thickly sliced peaches and nectarines also could be grill and added to this salad.

And for additional non-grilled items, consider tossing in some blueberries and grapes.

The peppery bite of torn fresh basil is called for here, but mint also would be good.

Grilled Pineapple Fruit Salad
Start to finish: 20 minutes
Servings: 6

1 pineapple
1 quart strawberries, hulled and halved (or quartered for larger berries)
4 kiwi, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
2 mangoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup torn fresh basil leaves
Kosher salt

1. Heat the grill to medium-high.

2. Lay the pineapple on its side and slice of the top and bottom.  Stand it up, then slice off the peel on the sides one strip at a time.  Return the pineapple to its side and cut the pineapple into 1/2-inch slices.

3. Grill each slice for 4 to 5 minutes per side, or until lightly charred. Set aside to cool until easily handled.

4. Once the pineapple is cool, cut it into bite-sized pieces, trimming around and discarding the core.

5. In a large bowl, combine the pineapple chunks, strawberries, kiwi, mangoes, basil and a pinch of salt.  Stir very gently.

6. Chill for 20 minutes to allow the juices to meld.  Stir very gently before serving.
Recipe from Alison Ladman, Associated Press writer.

Nutritional information per serving: 210 calories; 10 calories from fat (5 percent of total calories); 1 g fat (0 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 45 mg sodium; 51 g carbohydrate; 7 g fiber; 40 g sugar; and 3 g protein.

Lomi Lomi Kale Salad

For years, I kept getting kale in my Community Supported Agriculture box, and for years was befuddled.  I didn't like kale chips.  I didn't like kale salad.  I could put up with it sauteed, but only barely.

But bit by bit, I found a few recipes I actually liked.  And last weekend, I found myself PURPOSELY BUYING kale, because I couldn't wait for it to show up in my CSA box! 

Here's one of the recipes that won me over, courtesy of Don and Joan at Dancing Hen Farm, who in turn say they got it from someone named Claudia. "Lomi Lomi" in Hawaiian means to squeeze or massage, they report.  The massage step is critical to making the leaves tender.  After all, who among us doesn't feel more tender after a good massage?

One word of warning - if you do this right, you'll be very safe from vampires. It's also an excellent way to make long-winded interviewees find excuses to keep their answers short, especially if you ask questions with a lot of "h" sounds in them.

Ingredients:

1 large head of fresh kale, washed and torn into pieces discarding the spine and stems
1 bunch of basil, chopped
3 cloves of garlic (I told you you'd be safe from vampires)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. sea salt or kosher salt
1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds
1/2  cup feta or goat cheese
1/2 cup grape tomatoes

You can vary this recipe, I'm told, using sunflower seeds instead of pumpkin seeds, adding diced apples soaked in lemon juice, adding garbanzo beans and adding apple cider vinegar with a little honey mixed in.

Place the first five ingredients in a large bowl and mix well, massaging them together with clean hands.  Then lightly toss with the remaining three ingredients.

David Kline's zucchini pasta sauce

David Kline of Benton gave me this recipe - a perfect way to use up leftover zucchini!

Zucchini
half onion
cooking oil
Tomato
garlic
sugar
salt
Fresh Basil

Fry half onion and a clove of garlic in cooking oil. Fry small chunks of zucchini in cooking oil till tender and brown. Cut tomato and stew in sugar and salt with basil until thick.

Braised Lemon Chicken with Herbs

6 chicken leg quarters
3/4 C flour
2 TB oil
1 Spanish onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 C white wine, sweet or semisweet
1 juice of lemon
1 TB honey
2 TB balsamic vinegar
1 1/4 C chicken broth
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme, crushed
1 tsp dried basil, crushed
1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/4 tsp salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat the chicken with flour.

Heat oil in large ovenproof pan or shallow pot with a lid on medium to high heat.

Add chicken in single layer and sear on both sides for about 5 minutes per side. You may need to do this in batches. Remove chicken.

Add 1 tsp oil to the same pan, saute the onion and garlic until soft. Add the wine and cook until reduced by half. Add the remaining ingredients and cook for about 5 minutes until the flavors are melded.

Add chicken into sauce, spoon sauce over to cover, and cover pan. Bring to boil.

Place pan in preheated oven, bake for 1 1/2 hours. Serve with sauce.