French Tuna Salad Sandwich

This is another of our summer staples this year. I've found it's particularly nice on a Sunday afternoon after we've been at the swimming pool. According to the original recipe, this is another recipe to make the day before and let sit overnight (in fact, you assemble the whole sandwich, and refrigerate, pressed, overnight in order for the oils/juices to make the bread soggy). However, while I can get my act together to make Cold Sauce Pasta the night before, I can't seem to do this the night before. It tastes great when you make it about 10 minutes before you eat it, you just miss out on the soggy bread.

My children don't like this. I'm not sure why, but to be honest, it makes me a little happy. Curtis and I get to happily eat our fancy tuna while they eat traditional tuna salad (ie tuna + mayonaisse) sandwiches. They don't know what they are missing out on. I usually cook a whole pound of green beans, put a few in our tuna and the kids eat the rest on the side.

This meal is perfect right now for what we are getting in our CSA box. Last night we used a bell pepper, green beans, and parsley from our box.

This serves between 2 -4, depending on how big your sandwiches are.

French Tuna Salad Sandwich

adapted from Waverly on Food52

1/2 - 1 loaf crusty baguette

1 (6-oz) can tuna

3/4 c black olives (Nicoise preferable), sliced

1/2 c bell pepper, seeded and sliced thin

1/4 c parsley, finely chopped

1 (net weight 14.5-oz) can artichoke hearts (not in oil), reserving about 3 hearts for another use

1/4 c green beans, cut and blanched

3 T lemon juice

6 T extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

In a mixing bowl, combine the tuna, olive, pepper, parsley, artichoke hearts, and green beans. In a small jar, shake together the lemon juice and olive oil until it is emulsified (or well-combined). Pour the lemon/olive oil vinaigrette over the tuna mixture and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cut baguette into desired sandwich sizes and then in half, lengthwise (to fill). Remove some of the bread of the bottom half to create a trough to fill (just eat the bread you pulled out, yum.). Fill each bottom piece with tuna salad and enjoy.

Twice-Fried Green Beans and Cashews

Just for the record, vegetarian food isn't always healthier. Granted this meal would have been even unhealthier if I had used meat, but even without the meat, it had a bit of fat in it. I guess that's what happens when you deep fry green beans.

I know, deep-fried green beans? I was a little hesitant, but I was wanting a green bean stir fry for supper and this recipe looked the best of what I found in my little search. Turns out, it is really, really good. The green beans were incredible (but according to Curtis, most foods are incredible when fried--I would disagree with him there). The seasonings were minimal, but did the trick. My only problem was frying the cashews--I briefly forgot about them and they ended up a little too fried. We ate most of them anyway.

This will serve 4 - 6 people.

Twice Fried Green Beans with Cashews
adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

neutral oil like grapeseed, corn or canola for frying
1 1/2 lbs green beans (or however much you have--I didn't measure mine, I just used what I had), trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 - 2 inch lengths
salt
1/2 c cashews
1 lb tofu, drained and cut into 1/2" cubes
1 - 2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c mild onion or scallions, chopped
1 t fresh chile (Jalapeno or Thai), optional (we didn't use it, but I suspect many would like this)
1 T sugar
2 T soy sauce
cooked rice or thin noodles (Udon, rice noodles, etc--I like the rice though since the green beans are kinda long)

Heat a enough of a neutral oil (I used canola) to be about 1 - 2 inches deep in a heavy black skillet or deep fryer (I probably used only about 1 - 1 1/2 inches of oil). Bring to 350 degrees (you can measure this with a candy thermometer--a meat thermometer won't get hot enough). Add the beans all at once and cook, stirring occasionally until they begin to brown, 5 - 10 minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon, drain on paper towels, and sprinkle with salt. Add the cashews to the hot oil and fry until golden brown. Watch carefully to prevent the cashews from burning. Drain and sprinkle with salt. Set aside.

Let the oil cool a few minutes then pour off oil to containers to either reuse or dispose of in the trashcan (my husband's a plumber, he'd like for you to put in down the drain so you can give your friendly plumber some work). Keep 2 T of oil in the pan (or a separate pan, which I used because I didn't have enough patience to let the oil cool). Turn the heat up to high, and stir fry the tofu until it is golden brown. Add the garlic and onion and stir fry for a few minutes, until the onion softens (you can also use scallions, in which case only stir fry for about 30 seconds). Add the green beans and cook for 2 minutes. Add the sugar and soy sauce, stir, and remove from heat.

Serve over rice or noodles. Top with fried cashews.

Turkish Lamb and Vegetable Stew

I stay pretty busy. Six days of the week, I do countless loads of laundry, feed our family, pick kids up at schools, keep our house semi-clean, do errands, and the list goes on and on. I am sure your list seems endless sometimes too. Whose doesn't? Needless to say, I am trying to carve out one day a week where I stop a little and take a nap/read/write (just for me--not for any blog), putting aside my mile long to do list for the day. One way I accomplish this without racking up huge eating out bills is to get out the slow cooker. I turn it on the morning, wash all the dishes and then am done for the day in the kitchen. The challenge is finding slow cooker recipes I like that don't turn into a "open up a can" fest. I want recipes that match our summer season and use some of the produce have around.

I found this recipe and was excited. It used eggplant and zucchini (not your normal slow cooker ingredients) in addition to potatoes. All three things I got in my CSA box and had languishing in my crisper (well, not the potatoes).

We all enjoyed it. My only complaint was the amount of work that went into it. I prefer my slow cooker recipes to need not a lot of prep work, but this one took a little longer with browning the lamb and sauteing onions. It also was a shorter cook time than some. However, we had no problem polishing off the leftovers throughout the week, not that we had a large amount of leftovers. It was a hit with all of us. This would be good served with rice or another grain like couscous. If you don't like the gamey lamb flavor, either substitute another stew meat or roast or trim the fat off of the lamb very well.

This makes 6 - 8 servings.

Turkish Lamb and Vegetable Stew
from Eating Well Magazine

1 1/2 lbs boneless leg of lamb, trimmed and cut into 1 1/4" pieces (or other stew meat/roast)
1 1/4 t salt
black pepper, to taste
1 1/2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 lg onions, thinly slices
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t dried oregano
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes
1 lg potato (or 3 -4 small ones, in my case), sliced 3/8" thick
1/2 lb green beans, trimmed and snapped into 1 - 2" pieces (frozen green beans work fine)
1 sm eggplant, sliced 3/8" thick
1 med zucchini or summer squash, sliced 3/8" thick
6 bay leaves
3 T fresh parsley, chopped

Season lamb with 1/4 t salt and pepper to taste. Heat 1/2 T olive oil in lg skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add half the lamb and brown, 2 - 4 minutes, turning to brown all sides. Set aside and repeat with remaining lamb, adding another 1/2 T olive oil to skillet. Add to slow cooker (and all accumulated juices). Add remaining 1/2 T oil to skillet and reduce heat to medium. Add onions and cook until softened, 3 - 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic and oregano and cook for an additional minute. Add tomatoes and bring to a simmer, mashing with a potato masher or fork. Remove from heat.

Spoon half of tomato mixture over lamb. Arrange potatoes over top, followed by green beans, eggplant, and zucchini, seasoning each layer with a little salt and pepper. Spread remaining tomato mixture over top of vegetables. Top with bay leaves. Cover and cook on high about 4 hours or until lamb and vegetables are very tender. Discard bay leaves and serve hot, garnished with parsley.

Sesame Green Beans

Curtis and I loved these. The kids didn't. I didn't expect them to. I was just fine with that too.

Sesame Green Beans
adapted from Williams-Sonoma Cooking from the Farmer's Market

1 1/2 T sesame seeds, toasted
1 lb green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 - 2" lengths
1 1/2 T canola oil
2 T ginger, peeled and minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 serrano chile, minced (optional)
1 t sesame oil
1/3 c fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)


Cook the green beans in a large pan of boiling water for 5 minutes, or until tender. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside. In large frying pan over medium high heat, heat oil. Add ginger, garlic, and serrano (if using) and saute for 30 seconds. Add the bean and salt to taste, toss to coat, and cook until heated through. Stir in toasted sesame seeds. Remove from heat and add sesame oil and cilantro. Serve.

Pasta with Easy Summer Sauce

This is another of my tried and true Moosewood recipes. Thanks to green beans in our CSA box a couple of weeks ago, this recipe was resurrected. I then remembered it is also a very good recipe, even if you omit the green beans.

We all enjoyed this. M had to put the ingredients all into separate piles to eat, but she did eat two big servings.

Pasta with Easy Summer Sauce
from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics

1 c quartered grape or cherry tomatoes
2 T fresh parsley, minced
1 T fresh basil, minced
1/4 c red onions, minced
1 small garlic clove, minced
2 T black olives, sliced or chopped
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1/2 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
1 t balsamic vinegar
1/2 lb farfalle or other chunky pasta
1 c green beans, cut into 2" pieces
1/4 c feta cheese, crumbled (or more, to taste)

Bring a large pot of slated water to boil. When the water boils, stir in the pasta, cover, and cook for 2 - 3 minutes. When the water returns to a boil, add the green beans and cook for 8 - 10 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente and the beans are just tender. Drain well.

While the pasta and green beans cook, combine the tomatoes, parsley, basil, onions, garlic, black olives, olive oil, salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar. Add the tomato mixture to the cooked pasta and green beans. Gently combine. Top with feta cheese. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Trenette al Pesto

After looking for new recipes for quite a while now, I am finding myself going back to some tried and true recipes that I discovered years ago. Many of these are from Moosewood Restaurant's New Classics. This is one of these.

This recipe is a little funny because it has not just one, but two starches in it. I consider it a complete meal, with maybe just some sliced tomatoes (and fresh mozzarella) as a side.

All but M enjoyed this. For some reason, M is in her, "foods can't be mixed" stage again. Little I loved it. Even with just 1/2 lb of pasta, this still easily serves 4 - 6 people.

Trennete al Pesto
adapted from Moosewood Restaurant's New Classics

Pesto
1 clove garlic
1 c packed fresh basil
2 T pine nuts, toasted
1/4 c Parmesan cheese
1/4 t salt, or to taste
3 - 4 T extra virgin olive oil

2 medium potatoes, peeled, cut lengthwise into quarters and sliced 1/4" thick (about 2 c)
1/2 lb green beans, trimmed and cut into 2" lengths (about 4 c)
1/2 lb pasta (trenette or linguini)

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the potatoes and pasta. Stir well and cover. After about 2 minutes, add the green beans, stir and cover. When the pasta is al dente (after 5 more minutes), drain, reserving 1 c of cooking liquid.

While pasta cooks, make pesto. Combine all pesto ingredients in a food processor and puree until it is a rough paste, scraping down sides as necessary. (This makes about 1/2 c).

In a large bowl toss the pasta mixture with the pesto and 1/2 c reserved cooking water. Add more cooking water as necessary to coat the pasta with a moist sauce. Serve immediately

Salade Nicoise

Happy Birthday Julia Child!! To celebrate, find some old episodes of the French Chef from PBS and learn the difference between the types of chickens. (Man, could she ever throw around a chicken. Curtis and I laughed so hard at the chicken episode a couple of weeks ago...). Then, once you've been motivated, make this Salade Nicoise for dinner. It's not too complicated and a wonderful summer salad. It features summer vegetables--tomatoes, potatoes, green beans--and is very refreshing on a hot summer's day. For the kids, put the toppings on a plate on the side if they won't eat lettuce. M and J had a wonderful meal of deviled eggs, tomatoes, black olives, tuna, green beans, and potato salad. (a picture of their plate is included)

The most time consuming aspect is blending the oil into the dressings. This needs to be done very slowly (either a very slow stream or in droplets) so the oil emulsifies and creates a creamy dressing that doesn't quickly separate. Before putting the salad together, have the eggs hard boiled, potato salad made, and green beans blanched. Then the salad goes together in a snap. (You could even do these things hours before you were going to serve the salad). Don't be scared of the anchovies. The saltiness adds a nice flavor to the salad. I chopped the anchovies so they weren't too overwhelming (especially since I am just starting to cook with anchovies).

This recipe serves 6 - 8 people---however, as a meal, Curtis and I ate half a recipe all by ourselves.

Salade Nicoise
from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child

French Potato Salad
1 lb boiling potatoes
2 T dry white wine
1 T wine vinegar
1/2 t prepared mustard
dash of salt
3 T olive oil
1 T parsley, chopped

Cook potatoes in boiling salted water to cover, and boil until the potatoes are jsut tender when pierced with a sharp knife. Drain. When cool enough to handle, peel and cut into slices 1/8" thick. Place in mixing bowl. Pour wine over warm potato slices and toss very gently. Set aside a few minutes until the potatoes have absorbed the liquids. Beat the vinegar, mustard, and salt in a small bowl until the salt has dissolved. Beat in the oil by droplets. Season to taste. Pour dressing over potatoes and gently toss to blend. Sprinkle parsley over top. Yields 3 cups.

French Dressing
4 T (1/4 c) wine vinegar (or a mixture of white vinegar and lemon juice)
dash of salt
12 T (3/4 c) olive oil

Beat the vinegar in a bowl with the salt until the salt is dissolved. Beat in the oil by droplets and season with pepper. (Alternatively, place all ingredients in a screw-top jar and shake vigorously for at least 30 seconds to blend thoroughly. This method worked great for me). Yields 1 c

The Salad
3 c cold, blanched green beans
3 or 4 quartered tomatoes
1 c French Dressing (see above)
1 head Boston Lettuce (I actually used mixed spring greens--I am not sure how much)
3 c cold French Potato Salad (see above)
1 c canned tuna chunks, drained
1/2 c pitted black olives (preferably Nicoise olives)
2 - 3 hard boiled eggs, cold, peeled and quartered
6 - 12 canned anchovy fillets, drained
2 - 3 T fresh green herbs (thyme, parsley, etc), minced

Just before serving, season the beans and tomatoes with several spoonfuls of vinaigrette. Toss the lettuce leaves in a salad bowl with 1/4 c vinaigrette and place the leaves around the edge of the bowl. Arrange the potatoes in the bottom of the bowl. Decorate with the beans and tomatoes, interspersing them with a design of tuna chunks, olives, eggs, and anchovies. Pour the remaining dressing over the salad, sprinkle with herbs, and serve.