eat yer greens, grilled

A beautiful day to lounge in the backyard
while cooking and sipping wine.

 I don't know what possessed me. Perhaps it was the bubbly wine getting to my head, but with the grill fired up and ready to go I had a notion to try cooking a head of iceberg lettuce. Iceberg is a rarity in my house to begin with. I have long ago given it up for more interestingly flavored varieties of greens. But for a burst of watery crunch, with a resilient body that holds up to dressings, iceberg can't be beat.

I also happened to have a wedge of Napa cabbage bumming around my fridge so I decided to grill that too. What the heck.

To round out this spontaneous mish-mash of ingredients I rummaged around for a few mangoes to get the singe treatment as well.

I did not want to over cook the two greens (pale, pale greens I might add,) I just wanted to get a few gentle grill marks and capture some smokey flavor.  Keeping the greens in large chunks made them easier to manipulate with tongs over a hot grill. The mangoes got sliced, with the skin still on, along the line of the pit.

Hot off the grill I decided to chop everything up into a large one inch dice and make a tossed salad with the pieces. I don't know what I was expecting, but I was very pleasantly pleased with the results. The iceberg took on a depth of flavor I never would have imagined. It tasted more like escarole, but with a fresh watery texture.

I finished the salad off with a toss of fresh herbs from the garden and a sprinkle of chive blossoms. For dressing - a splash of good sherry vinegar and extra virgin olive oil will more than suffice. I was really surprised and pleased at this improvised experiment. The salad had a complexity of texture and taste with the subtle smokiness I was looking for. The mango's sweetness perfectly combined with the mild bitterness of the greens. So there you go iceberg, you can hold your own!

a springtime Caprese

Deborah
How laughable that not even a month ago we were bemoaning the cold rainy weather. It feels like August in Key West right now, here in Queens, NY and we have barely brushed the surface of June.  It is already too hot to cook, so I am offering up a version of a deep summer recipe that would suit a steamy day like today.

 Lemon Balm has taken over my herb bed.  It is time to be ruthless and tear some out.

My herb garden has already become so overgrown it needs serious cutting back. A fresh herb pesto, made with a mix of the tenderest of spring herb leaves, is great to have on hand in the fridge. This pesto becomes a perfect addition to salads, soups, as a starter for a vinaigrette or a topping for grilled vegetables. Add some mayonnaise to it and use it as a sandwich spread.

With Caribbean mangoes now very visible in the markets what a great time to give this fruit a shot on the grill! For best results look for a firm, ripe mango that is not too mushy. The heat and smoke will intensify the flavor and leave really pretty grill marks on the flesh.

Gather up the ingredients for a simple summer salad.

With all this new-found abundance a grilled salad of Mango and mozzarella cheese with fresh herb pesto becomes a simple meal that can come together in minutes, which is about all the time you would want to spend cooking in this heat. The recipe is a play on the traditional Caprese Salad of fresh mozzarella cheese and garden fresh tomatoes served with basil and olive oil. We still have several weeks before any good tomatoes will be available, so consider this alternative for a springtime take on this classic.

Grilled Mango and Mozzarella Salad with Herb Pesto
oil for grilling
1 mango, peeled and sliced into slabs
1 lb. fresh mozerella, sliced into 1/2' slabs
6-8 large lettuce leaves
1/2 cup fresh herb pesto- see recipe below

Lightly oil a hot grill and cook the mangos about three minutes per side, till warmed through with visible grill marks, but not too cooked that they fall apart. Remove from heat. Add the sliced mozerella on the grill for barely one minute to warm the chesse, but don't let it melt into the grill.
Arrange the slices of cheese and the mango on a bed of the lettuce leaves and dress with the herb pesto.

Fresh Herb Pesto
-for this recipe mix and match herbs as you like. It could be just one herb, like the classic basil or a mix of two or more.  If you are mixing different herbs from the garden, choose the youngest, most tender leaves- any of these would work well: parsley, mint, tarragon, cilantro, sage, oregano, lemon balm, chives, basil, dill, chervil, lovage, thyme.

2 cups chopped fresh herbs
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons walnuts
1 tablespoon capers
1 teaspoon salt
2 cloves garlic
Put all ingredients in a food processor and blend till the consistensy is thick, adding more oil as needed.
Makes about one cup. Store in the fridge for up to two weeks.

For another grilled mango recipe, one that includes shrimp and a spicy BBQ, sauce check out my post on the Edible Queens Blog.

Amanda
Deb, you should consider a career in cookbook photography. As if your schedule isn't full enough! But honestly, your pictures are beautiful!  The salad looks gorgeous.

For those of you red wine lovers...sorry, but this time of year I'm mostly about white, especially with all of these wonderful light salads. That being said, I'm a big believer in simply choosing whatever wine you desire, to complement the foods you love. So, if it's red your craving, that's what you should drink. Just be sure to try and match the body of the wine with the weight of the meal. You don't want one to overpower the other. For example, you wouldn't go with a big heavy Cab here. Look for something on the lighter side like a Beaujolais perhaps.

For me, typically I would go with something light, dry and crisp. But here I'm going to be adventurous and go for a Moscato d'Asti. Often enjoyed as a dessert wine, it is sweet and low in alcohol (which makes it perfect for an afternoon brunch). This slightly sparkling (frizzante) white comes from the region of Asti in Piedmont, in northwest Italy. Moscato Bianco is the grape. Flavors of peach and pear are dominant in this crowd-pleasing wine. It's particularly delicious with fresh fruit (hence my choice for this recipe)! Deb's summery salad and a glass of Moscato are a perfect combination this time of year.

Moscato's are also very reasonably priced - there are so many outstanding examples in the $15 price range. La Spinetta is one of my favorite producers. Their Moscato d'Asti Bricco Quaglia is sublime...and affordable at $15.99. These wines are not meant to be aged so try to find the youngest vintage you can. Right now, the 2010's are what you should be looking for.

Mmmmm. I know what I'm making this weekend!

peaches and herbs

"Any sort of salad mixed without some enticing herb flavours can be a comparatively dull thing."

 -Audrey Wynne Hatfield, Pleasures of Herbs

Deborah
When I think about cooking with fresh herbs I put them into two categories: the tender herbs that I feel free to combine in any proportion and use interchangeably versus the hardy wood stemmed herbs that have more pronounced essential oils and a dominant flavor.
The tender herbs are ones I would put in a salad, a salsa or a pesto. The hardy herbs work great in a braise, on the grill, in a soup, a stew or a stuffing. To put the flavor of these hardy herbs in a salad consider infusing them in vinegar or olive oil to extract the flavor with out the chewy texture of the actual leaves.
These are not hardened rules, just a guideline for easy cooking. It is fun to experiment with combinations and I urge everyone to do so as the pleasures of herbs are infinite. Some of the hardy herbs when young can be used as tender herbs, for example there are some varieties of thyme that seem to retain their tender stem. Also not to be overlooked are the blossoms from herb plants. These delicate flowers make a picturesque addition to salads and vegetable dishes and are flavorful too.

Basil and mint are tender herbs from the same family. The tiny leaves of globe basil on the left can be tossed whole into salads.

Tender Herbs 
-use whole or chopped in any combination in salads
cilantro
basil
parsley
tarragon
dill
mint
lemon balm
chervil
sorrel
chives
fennel
verbena

Oregano and thyme are herbs I use more sparingly in salads.

Hardy Herbs
-use sparingly in salads when leaves are young
rosemary
thyme
sage
savory
lavender
oregano
marjoram
bay

The chive blossom is composed of a cluster of tiny flowers. I snip them apart with a scissor at the base of the stem and toss them over a salad. These pretty purple sage blossoms have a lovely, fragrant sage-y flavor.

Edible Flowers from Herbs
chives
lavender
borage
arugula
rosemary
sage

Rose petals are edible and beautiful.

Composed Salad of Mango, Peaches, Goat Cheese and Herbs

The fruit is dressed with mint, rose petals, globe basil and sage blossoms. Crumble some goat cheese on top (not pictured)  and then lightly drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and a splash of balsamic or sherry vinegar.

Amanda

Deb does a great job of breaking down the herbs into two groups, and summing up in a concise way the best ways to utilize nature's flavor enhancers. Her "rules" make it very easy for novices like myself to allow our own "inner chefs" to confidently make our own, creative choices. That is what I love about her posts, and particularly this one.

As for wine, there are no steadfast rules to follow when it comes to herbs. There are so many different factors that come into play. I would, however, tend to pair reds with the heartier herbs like thyme, oregano, rosemary and marjoram. But still, there are other things to consider. You really have to consider the whole sauce, marinade or dressing. For example, you could have a light, herbal vinaigrette that would call for something lively, like Gruner Veltliner or Sauvignon Blanc perhaps. These wines typically have herbal characteristics themselves. But you could also have a creamy dressing or sauce which might be wonderful with a fuller bodied white like a Chardonnay. Always consider the texture and the acidity of the dressing or sauce.

Red wine often works better, in my opinion, with tomato-based sauces. So a typical spaghetti sauce with fresh herbs would work well with a Chianti, for example. And stews which utilize heartier herbs like thyme, marjoram, and rosemary will taste better paired with a similarly hearty red. It will also be important to consider the spices in a wine, and the heat they give off.

For Deb's salad in this recipe, as in our last post, I would once again choose a Moscato. Fruit salad just screams for this slightly sweet, frizzante dessert wine. (which also works beautifully as an aperitif).

still grilling

Deborah

The pleasures of the season are coming hard and fast. To spend as much time outdoors as possible I am grilling in my back yard at least two or three times a week. This weekend I came up with a dish which will be my go-to recipe for the summer: a grilled vegetable salad with mango. The addition of grilled mango to the vegetables added a perfect sweet-tart-fruity and refreshing zing. I am going to experiment with grilled peaches and pineapple as variations on this theme.

Grilled fruit on its own is delicious and paired with grilled vegetables, SUBLIME!

Vegetables and fruit are cut into flat wedges to go on the grill.

Threading cherry tomatoes on to a skewer will keep them from rolling around the grill when cooking. I want to try this with grapes. I wonder how they would taste grilled?

Sometimes I cut peppers up before grilling, sometimes I just throw them on whole.

Grilled Vegetable Salad with Mango

Fruit and Vegetables for the grill:

1/4 cup Olive oil or vegetable oil 

2 Bell peppers- left whole

1 sweet onion- sliced into wedges with the root still attached

3 carrots- cut into diagonal wedges

1 zucchini- cut into diagonal wedges

1 pint cherry tomatoes- threaded onto wooden skewers

1 mango, peeled and sliced into flat wedges

Lightly brush all everything with some olive oil. Cook each of the vegetables and fruit over a hot coal fire for about 8 minutes on each side. For the whole bell peppers, allow them to blacken on all sides, then remove from the grill and let them cool under a dish towel to capture the steam. When the peppers are cool to the touch, peel off the blackened skin and cut the flesh into two inch wide strips, discarding the stem, inner membranes and seeds. Place all cooked vegetables and fruit in a large bowl and toss together.

Vinaigrette:

1 clove garlic, finely minced

1 teaspoon dried mustard

3 Tbs. red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 Tbs. chopped fresh herbs (a single herb or any combination of: parsley, basil, chives, tarragon, dill, mint)

Combine first five ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, whisking as you go to make an emulsion. Add the fresh herbs and taste to adjust seasonings. Pour vinaigrette over the grilled vegetables and fruit. Cover and refrigerate. Serve cold or at room temp.

Serves four.

Amanda
This recipe has "summertime" written all over it. Therefore, an equally "summery" wine would be an ideal match! Commonly known as a light dessert wine, Moscato d'Asti would be perfect here. I can't think of a better choice for Deb's Grilled Vegetable and Mango salad. Even if a wine has a particular "label" associated with it, like "dessert wine", don't be afraid to experiment with it by trying it with different foods.

Moscato d'Asti hails from Piedmont, Italy. Slightly "frizzante" with a low alcohol content (typically about 5%), this sparkler has lush, rich, fresh fruit flavors of peach, apricot and honey. Made from white Moscato grapes, the wine gives off a wonderfully fragrant bouquet. Simply delicious! The sweetness and refreshing characteristics of the mango bring out the best in Deb's dish, and will really make a nice connection with the Moscato. My mouth waters just thinking about it!

One of the most talented makers of Moscato d'Asti is Stephano Perrone, whose formidable reputation rests on the production of his two Moscatos: Sourgal and Clarte. Both are exquisite - summertime in a glass! The Clarte has even been rated Italy's finest Moscato! Moscatos typically range from $15-$20. Another fine producer is La Spinetta. If you have not yet had the extreme pleasure of sipping Moscato on a hot summer's day, and would like to try one, both of these producers are worth seeking out.