BLTs and red wine

It's been a long week for me but mostly for my husband, so he asked me to pick up a bottle of red wine if I went out today. This morning I went on a walk downtown to go to the library and grocery store. On my way, I smelled the wonderful aroma of bacon. It made me want to go out for breakfast. I texted my hubby to tell him that, and he came up with the idea to have BLTs for dinner. Mmmm...I never pass up a meal that's centered around bacon.

The key to a great BLT is thick white bread (I like it toasted), mayo, thick bacon (and a lot of it), iceberg lettuce, and a thick slice of tomato.

We also like BLTs with a fried egg on them and maybe even a slice of cheese. Our friend made them for us with Monterey Jack cheese and a fried egg...we called them BLECTs. The name's not the most appetizing, but they are SO good.

Tonight, however, we decided to stick with the basics and pair it with red wine. Yum! Perfect Friday night dinner. And the leftover bread and bacon can be French toast and bacon tomorrow morning.

Happy long weekend!

Eat your beets



Beet chips



A few years ago, my husband and I bought beets nearly every week at the farmers' market. He would usually cook them - roasting them in the oven on their own or in a bath of heavy cream (so good!). We ate golden beets, candy-stripe beets, and red beets. We ate beets so often, I didn't even want to look at a beet until this summer. Finally we were ready to buy some at the market and my mom has shared some of her crop with us as well. I thought I would try a few new ways of cooking them...hopefully I won't overdo it this time and have to wait years before even thinking about a beet.

First, beet chips. You wouldn't think that beets would be addictive, but I literally had to take these away from my husband because he would have eaten all of them. You just peel them, slice them as thin as possible (I used a mandolin and cut my finger, so be careful!), salt and oil them, and roast them for about 30 minutes. The result is a salty and sweet crispy "chip" that's good for you!

Roasted beet salad

Second, a roasted beet salad. I once had a salad at a restaurant that consisted of beets that were perfectly cooked, goat cheese, and arugula. I figured out that they must have roasted the beets - it keeps their flavor but gives them a nice soft texture. They are roasted in their own skins wrapped in foil, then cooled, peeled, and sliced. My salad was just the beets with a simple vinaigrette, but I would have added goat cheese and arugula if I had them. The vinaigrette is tangy and salty which is a nice complement to the sweet beets.

I used candy-stripe and white beets to make the beet salad, but a mixture of any type of beets would be great.

Beet Chips

4-5 beets

Olive oil

Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel beets using a vegetable peeler. Your hands will turn pink. Slice beets as thin as possible using a knife or mandolin. Place in a bowl and toss with a few tablespoons olive oil and salt. Spread in one layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until crispy. You may want to remove the smaller beets from the oven before the time is up, otherwise they will burn. Let cool a little, and enjoy!

Roasted Beet Salad

5-6 small beets

About 1 Tbl olive oil

1-2 cups arugula

2-3 ounces Goat cheese (chevre)

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 Tbl red wine vinegar

2-3 Tbl olive oil

1 tsp honey

Salt and pepper



Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the tops and bottoms off the beets. Place on a large piece of foil on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil. Wrap in foil, then bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the size of the beets. A knife should easily pierce the beets when they are finished. Let cool, then peel by rubbing the outside with a paper towel. Slice or cut into wedges and place in a bowl.



Before cooking



After cooking



While the beets are cooling, make the vinaigrette by whisking together Dijon, vinegar, oil, honey and salt and pepper to taste. Add more oil if it's too acidic. Make sure the vinaigrette is salty enough. Check for seasonings by tasting it with a slice of the cooked beets.

Toss the beets and arugula with the vinaigrette. Top with crumbled goat cheese.

 



Beets dressed in vinaigrette



Peeled beets



Fresh Dungeness crab? I can find something to make with that!

We spent the weekend on Guemes Island, a tiny island that's part of the San Juans and only accessible by a small ferry carrying about 25 cars. The island has about 500 residents, and many people have vacation homes there. It is quiet, peaceful, and exactly how island life should be. While there, by brother-in-law, hubby, and dad caught four Dungeness crabs. We got to take 1 1/2 of them home...we were so excited! We don't usually buy Dungeness crab because it can be expensive, so getting some fresh from the Puget Sound was a treat.

We had just watched a show on the best sandwiches across the country, one being a lobster roll from Maine. It was so simple yet looked amazing. When you have fresh lobster (or crab in our case), you don't need to do much to it to end up with a gourmet meal. We decided to try to recreate the lobster rolls we had seen with the Dungeness crab from Guemes.



Guemes Island ferry dock



Basically, a lobster roll is lobster mixed with mayo, lemon juice, and some fresh herbs piled high in a buttered and toasted hot dog bun. Sometimes butter lettuce is included as well. I found a recipe on Epicurious that I used to get an idea, and I lucked out because I happened to have dill from the farmers' market and chives growing outside on our deck. The only thing I really changed was adding a little grated fresh garlic to the mix (my hubby's idea), which made all the difference. We didn't have hot dog buns, but we happened to have hamburger buns in the freezer so we used those instead. The bun is really just a vehicle for the delicious crab mixture.



The mayo-crab mixture consisted of mayo, lemon juice, lemon zest, dill, chives, garlic, salt, and pepper. Stir that together and then stir in the crab meat. Toast and butter the buns. Plop the crab mixture on the buns. Enjoy!

We didn't measure exactly, so these quantities are approximate. The most important thing is to taste it for seasoning. We split the crab mixture between the two of us, but this could easily serve 3 or 4.

Crab Rolls (adapted from Epicurious)

Crab meat from 1 1/2 crabs

1/4 cup mayonaise

Zest and juice of half a lemon

1/2 teaspoon chopped chives

1 teaspoon chopped dill

1/2 of a small clove of garlic, grated on a microplane or box grater

Salt and pepper to taste

3-4 hamburger or hot dog buns

Butter for buns

(Optional: butter lettuce)

Mix all ingredients (except buns and butter), tasting for seasoning and adding more salt and lemon juice as necessary. Toast and butter hamburger or hot dog buns. Split the crab mixture among the buns and serve. 



Freshly cooked Dungeness crab

 

Mix mayo, lemon juice, zest, dill, chives, salt, pepper, and grated garlic.



Put it on a bun!

Summer squash & arugula salad

Last Saturday we had our first family outing to the farmer's market in Issaquah, something my hubby and I used to do nearly every Saturday before Otto was born. This time of year the farmer's markets are full of delicious-looking produce. After wanting to buy everything, but realizing I don't have as much time to cook anymore, we ended up with beets, nectarines, summer squash, dill, radishes, and carrots. And that's not buying everything that looked good!

To eat alongside our leftover pasta tonight, I decided to make a salad out of the summer squash. I am always looking for new ways to cook summer squash and zucchini, since they are readily available and usually very inexpensive. I've put them on the grill, roasted them in the oven, and made bread out of zucchini, but since it's warm out today (finally!), I wanted something fresh and light. I found a recipe on Epicurious that uses summer squash, arugula, fresh lemon juice, and almonds. I had almonds, so I just had to buy some arugula and a lemon.

The squash is shaved using a vegetable peeler, then tossed with the arugula and a simple vinaigrette made up of lemon, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Chopped almonds top the whole thing, and that's it! It's a very easy and fast refreshing way to use summer squash. It would be delicious served with grilled chicken or steak with bread on the side for a nice summer meal.

Summer squash & arugula salad (slightly adapted from Epicurious.com)

3 tablespoons whole almonds

1 pound summer squash (a mix of green and yellow)

2 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 minced garlic clove

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Big handful baby arugula

Pecorino or Parmesan cheese (optional)

In a dry saute pan, toast almonds over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, or until lightly toasted. Cool and coarsely chop. Trim the ends off summer squash. Using a vegetable peeler, thinly slice the squash lengthwise into strips and transfer to a large bowl.

In a small bowl, whisk together extra-virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice, minced garlic clove, and kosher salt to taste. If it tastes too acidic, add more salt - that balances out the acidity. If it's still too acidic, add more olive oil. Pour dressing over squash. Let stand for a few minutes, then add a few handfuls of baby arugula. If desired, shave a little Pecorino or Parmesan over the squash and toss. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Garnish with the chopped almonds.