Banh Mi Salad with Grilled Mahi Mahi and Spicy Peanut Dressing

Seriously, I love me some summer. I mean, there just isn't anything I don't like about it. I'm even one of those weird people that love that feeling that you get when you walk outside in the blazing humid heat and feel like you can't breathe because the air is so thick and heavy. I wait for that feeling every year.

This summer is even better because we're enjoying our yard for the first full season and everything that comes along with it. My DVR'd tv shows are happily piling up, due to the fact that we spend almost every free minute we can outside in the garden, either working, reading, eating dinner, or just relaxing.

This recipe sort of came together when I was looking for something to do with some mahi mahi filets. I also had just picked some snow peas from the garden and really wanted some sort of salad to include them. As I kicked around some ideas, I remembered the Banh Mi sandwich, which is a traditional sandwich with some sort of protein, carrots, herbs, and other pickled vegetables. I also thought about how much I love that little spicy sauce that comes along with my favorite noodle bowl from the local Vietnamese restaurant. I pulled a few ideas together and shazam - here we are.

Although the salad doesn't contain all the ingredients found on a Banh Mi, you can really add to or subtract whatever you want from it. This one contains slivered carrots and cucumbers, sliced red bell pepper, fresh snow peas, and chopped scallions. I then topped it with fresh cilantro and mint for a real flavor explosion.

Then came the mahi mahi. I liberally slathered it with red curry paste, let it sit in the fridge for a few hours, and then grilled it. Although I used fish, you could easily substitute chicken breast and prepare it the same way if you're one of those meat-eatin' folks. (funny story about curry paste - I have a weird thing with it. Every time I see it in the store, I have to buy a can of it, regardless of how many I have at home. Sort of like that "Catcher in the Rye" obsession Mel Gibson has in Conspiracy Theory. Good thing I love it.)

And that's it. Assemble the salad and go. It's delicious and easy and the flavors are AMAZING. There's some heat from the curry paste and then the cooling flavors of the fresh vegetables and peanut dressing. So go ahead and give this recipe a try. I promise it won't disappoint.

Banh Mi Salad with Grilled Mahi Mahi and Spicy Peanut Dressing
Serves 4

4 mahi mahi filets (thawed if using frozen)
1 can red curry paste

Dressing
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp Asian garlic chili sauce (or sriracha)
2 tbsp natural peanut butter
1 tsp agave

Salad
1 head romaine, torn into pieces
Few handfuls of snow peas
2 Carrots, cut into slivers
1 Cucumber, cut into slivers
3 baby red peppers, sliced
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup mint, chopped

Rub red curry paste into fish and allow to marinate in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.
In a small food processor, add all dressing ingredients and process until creamy and well combined.
Preheat grill to medium high and grill fish until cooked. (My mahi mahi filets took about 4 minutes each side) Assemble salad ingredients on a plate and drizzle with dressing. Place cooked fish on top and enjoy!

Strawberry Rosemary White Wine Sangria

There is nothing like a glass of cold sangria on a hot summer day. And although I love the recipes that have plenty of fruit and other ingredients and take a few hours to blend flavors, sometimes you just need something quick.

I love this recipe. Not only did it make good use of the absolutely delicious strawberries we picked last week, but I was also able to use some of the gorgeous rosemary growing in my herb garden. And not only is this tasty, it's extremely quick to make! So now you have the perfect quick little drink to offer guests this summer.

You can make this recipe with whatever white wine tickles your fancy. Here I used Pinot Grigio, but you can also use Sauvignon Blanc or Moscato if sweet is your thing.

Strawberry Rosemary Sangria
Makes 1 drink

5-7 strawberries
1" sprig of fresh rosemary
2 tsp St. Germaine liquer
4 ounces Pinot Grigio
Club soda & ice

Muddle 5-7 strawberries and the rosemary in the bottom of a cocktail glass. Add St. Germaine to the muddled mixture. Fill glass with ice and pour Pinot Grigio into glass. Top up with club soda. If you're feeling fancy, garnish with another sprig of rosemary and sliced strawberries. Serve and enjoy!

Garden Update

Well, the garden is in full swing and things have gotten busy around here. It is literally bursting with fresh produce and we are having so much fun devising new ways to use it, as well as enjoying sharing it with friends and family.

We had a few very hot days last week, which were great for some things and not so good for otrahers. Our broccoli raab bolted, but we harvested almost 2 pounds of raab before it did. But some of the other plants loved the hot weather.

This past weekend was all about strawberries. The local berry farm finally opened for the Pick-Your-Own at $1.45/pound. We picked a little over 22 pounds for under $30. You just can't beat that - not only in the price, but in the delicious taste! They are the reason why I can't bring myself to purchase strawberries from the grocery store in the winter. And I'm a very bad blogger - not a picture to be had of the fresh berries. But what if I promise you a strawberry recipe this weekend???

And speaking of strawberries, check out how cute the little blossoms are on our cinder block berries!

Ready for some more garden pictures?? How neat are these radishes? We planted watermelon radishes this year, which are white on the outside and red on the inside. These are still growing and will become a deeper red on the inside, but aren't they already gorgeous?? I just wish I liked them. Thankfully my husband is a huge fan, so this radish harvest is all him.

Our peas are doing wonderfully well. Tonight I'm hoping to pick them and will freeze a good portion so we can enjoy these all winter. I'll have to save some for eating now, though, since they are so amazingly delicious. We've literally just been eating them straight off the plant.

Our carrots and onions are also doing very well. I'm going to dig up a carrot soon to see how they are growing.

 

We've also had quite the good kale and lettuce harvest. Our butter crunch lettuce is wonderfully delicious and tender. I just wish there was a way to enjoy it all year long. It's so good. Our eggplants and pepper plants are also doing well. This is my first time growing eggplant (and we did it from seed!) so I can't wait to see how this harvest turns out. The plants are looking good though.

 

 

 

And our cauliflower and broccoli finally started to make an appearance. Isn't this cheddar cauliflower just the cutest little thing?

 

 

The rest of the garden is looking great too. Our potatoes continue to do well in their baskets, and our raspberry plants are looking really good. We started zucchini and cucumber plants form seeds and they are growing quickly. Can't wait for those to start producing.

 

I'll leave you with pictures of the flowers. They are doing so well and I love the color they add to our little backyard farm. Happy Thursday, y'all!

 

 

 







Perfect Recipes for Spring and Summer Produce

One of the things that I love about summer is the overabundance of fresh vegetables and fruit. And not only is it abundant, but prices are super cheap at local Farmer's markets and roadside stands. This year, I'm also excited about my own garden, which is steadily churning out an abundance of fresh veggies.

I thought I'd start highlighting a few recipes from the 28 Cooks archives that are perfect for using up that spring and summer produce. I'll do this every other week or so, so be sure to check back often for other great recipes. And without further ado, on to the recipes.

Sofrito is such a wonderful flavor base for almost any Mexican or Indian recipe. The combination of peppers, onion, and cilantro makes a wonderful addition to guacamole, dips (Black Bean Dip, anyone??), and sauces. Plus, it'll rapidly use up those fresh peppers and herbs that are soon to be coming from your garden.

 

 

We are loving ourselves some asparagus this season. I can't believe I didn't even like it as a kid, as I can't get enough of it now. This asparagus pesto is a great way to use up some of the bounty this spring. Use it as a sauce for pasta, or it's even better as a dip for raw vegetables.

 

 



Cilantro Zucchini Hummus anyone?? I had completely forgotten about this recipe until I started digging through my archives looking for recipes to highligh. This is one tasty and fresh recipe - plus, it's raw and vegan, which makes it even healthier. I guarantee you'll want to keep this recipe around this summer!

And finally, this is a great pickling recipe that can be adapted to almost any vegetable you have in the house. Plus, it's super easy! None of that tricky canning stuff here!

 

 



Well that's all for today, folks! I'll be back later this week with some recipes that are making good use of our rapidly expanding garden.

Grilled Broccoli Raab

So guess what we did with our broccoli raab? We grilled it! =)

Yes, I know. This is rapidly becoming a "grill only" blog. But it's the season for it. And seriously, I haven't turned my stove on since the middle of May. I will grill almost anything.

I have only had broccoli raab a handful of times, mostly on sandwiches. I was pleasantly surprised to taste it on its own - it's broccoli-esque, but also has an almost asparagus taste to it too.

After I cut the heads off, I put it in a bowl of cold water for about 10 minutes. Then I simply shook most of the water off, drizzled on some olive oil, salt, pepper, and some Italian seasoning, and then threw it on the grill.

It was quick and easy to grill and came out quite deliciously. The ends got nice and crispy and almost had a Kale Chip flavor to them. (which seriously, if you have yet to try kale chips - please please PLEASE make them now. Like, right now. Then come back and tell me how much you love them).

And here is the grilled raab in all of its glory.

 

 

Well, that's all for today, folks! Happy Memorial Day weekend!

Garden Update and Our First Harvest

Well the weather has been positively wonderful for the garden lately. It literally seems to sprout up overnight and every morning when I come out with the dog, it's completely different than the night before.

This is our first year doing the Square Foot Gardening method, and I admit I was a little worried that it wouldn't work out. I had read horror stories on the Internet about how if you don't mix the soil exactly so, the entire garden would be ruined and nothing would grow. We were a little haphazard with our soil mixing, but we figured we'd give it a try and see what happened. Surprisingly, everything has taken off and is looking phenomenal! Next year, I just may have to add another bed somewhere. (I have no idea where though - we've pretty much planted the entire yard except for a small patch of grass)

We were even able to make our first harvests yesterday! Broccoli Raab was our first vegetable that we harvested, and you'll have to check back tomorrow to see how we used it. But suffice it to say - we were quite pleased with it!

We also harvested some of our buttercrunch and romaine lettuce last night. Man, there is nothing like lettuce fresh from the garden. It was so tender and flavorful and so far from that organic romaine that we've been getting from Costco. It's going to be hard to go back to that when winter comes around again.

So far, our garden harvest tally is just a little over a pound! I can't wait to see what the final tally will be by summer's end.

Our peas have totally taken off. The tomato cage trellis has worked quite well. I was worried that some of the plants in the corners of the boxes wouldn't reach, but they certainly did and the plants are now almost as tall as I am! We planted golden snow peas and the plants have the neatest little purple flowers.

And just to show you how quickly the peas have grown, I took that picture last night and this morning, I came out and there were about 20 peas that had popped out overnight! Check out how cute they are!

The rest of the garden is also taking off. I'd show you our broccoli/cauliflower beds, and the turnip/kohlrabi/cabbage beds, but they're pretty boring. How about a picture of one of the flower beds??

And here's the rest of the large garden area. We finally planted our eggplant, pepper, zucchini, and squash seedlings, as well as more mesclun lettuce mix, but you can see that our kale and other lettuces are doing just fine. And if you squint your eyes, you can see the new herb garden at the top left of the picture.

Well that's it for today, folks! Be sure to check back tomorrow to find out what we did with our broccoli raab.

Quinoa Broccoli Salad with Mango, Red Onion, and Indian Vinaigrette

So you know how it happens, right? A friend invites you to their BBQ/Cookout that they are having at their house and you ask, "what can I bring?" Your friend replies, "oh, I don't know. Maybe some sort of side?" And then you're stuck, trying to think what you should bring. I mean, don't get me wrong - I love the old standby potato or macaroni salad, but sometimes, you want to bring something to really "wow" people. You want people to taste it and say "this is amazing! Can you bring this to my house too?"

But secretly, you want it to be an easy recipe. Something you can just throw together and can make ahead of time but will still deliver on some serious flavor. Well here you go! This recipe is delicious. And yes, I know I say that about most of my creations, but this is really really good. And easy. And you can make it ahead of time and keep it in the fridge until you need it. And seriously - just describing it gets the tastebuds going.

You know we love quinoa, right? So we threw some cooked quinoa in the bowl and added some cooked broccoli to it. You can steam, boil, roast, bake, or grill it however you want. (We simply grilled ours with olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper) Then you add some diced up mango, red onion, fresh cilantro, and then some olive oil and spices. That's it. It couldn't be easier, right?

But seriously, the flavor?? Amazing. The mango adds just a nice little pop of sweetness that is the perfect companion for the Indian flavors. This is definitely one of those salads that will be the star of any upcoming summer get-together!

 

 

Quinoa Broccoli Salad with Mango, Red Onion, and Indian Vinaigrette

Serves 4-6

 

1 cup quinoa

1 tbsp cumin seed

1 tbsp coriander seed

4 cups cooked broccoli

1 cup diced red onion

2 cups diced mango (this was about 2 whole mangos)

2 tbsp fresh lime juice

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 tbsp garam masala

1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil

 

Add quinoa, cumin seed, and coriander seed to pot or rice cooker and cook as directed on the package instructions. Place in a large bowl and allow to cool for a few minutes. Add remaining ingredients and stir well. Allow to chill for an hour or so to give flavors a chance to get all friendly like. Serve and enjoy!!