Now that summer is in full swing, we’ve been grilling at least a couple times a week.  I love how little preparation this often requires, and even more how little cleanup there is afterwards!  We have a charcoal grill, which does mean it takes a bit longer to “preheat” than when I cook inside.  Even if I wanted to spend the money though, I wouldn’t give up my charcoal grill for a gas one — I love the flavor that the charcoal smoke gives to the food, and it’s just never the same on a gas grill.  Yes, I know that smokiness is probably giving me cancer, but really, what doesn’t?  And it sure does taste good!

These grilled vegetables are a great easy side for some kind of grilled meat.  In this case we served them with the sausage left over from the sausage ravioli we made a couple weeks ago.  (No, they didn’t sit in our fridge two weeks before we ate them.  I’m just a little behind on posting…)  They take less than five minutes of preparation (other than the grilling), and what can taste more like summer than zucchini and squash, eaten al fresco?

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I don’t know about you, but I am loving the vegetables available right now.  The only problem is I sometimes bring home a bit more than I know quite what to do with.  A couple weeks ago I bought a couple heads of that crazy, brilliantly colored cauliflower, one green and one yellowish orange.  They languished in our fridge for about a week before I decided I’d better do something about them, so I made this gratin with the cauliflower and some zucchini and squash that I picked up the next week.

It turned out delicious but just a tad soggy.  I’m used to making a gratin with potatoes, which tend to soak up the milk, but these vegetables didn’t need nearly so much liquid.  That did make it a little better reheated though since it didn’t dry out.  Definitely made an easy and delicious side with very minimal prep time.  I’m sure I’ll be coming back to this one!

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It’s getting to be zucchini season — that time when, if you’re lucky enough to have a garden, you’ll have more zucchini than you can fit into dozens of loaves of bread.  We don’t have room for much of a garden, so we buy our zucchini at the farmer’s market.  Either way, these fritters are an easy, fast, and delicious way to use it.  The same batter can be used with lots of other vegetables too.  I keep meaning to try it with mushrooms.  The baking powder helps it puff up a bit; they’re also good without it, but a slightly different texture … maybe a little denser but crispier, too.  I love making them as an appetizer since they come together so quickly, but they’re also a fun side. Just eat ‘em while they’re good and hot!

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I know we’re late to join the bandwagon, but we enjoyed this salad all through last summer, and now that watermelon and tomatoes are starting back in season, it seemed like it was about time to share this with you.  My parents lived in Atlanta very briefly at the beginning of last summer.  It didn’t work out so well, but they say at least one good thing came out of it — they went to a restaurant that served this salad.  I’m not even a big tomato fan, but when it’s combined with watermelon and feta cheese, as has become popular lately, it becomes something wonderful.  And the way my parents serve this salad is all about the presentation.  It’s simple and quick, but elegant and a bit “dressed up” looking at the same time.  It’s especially nice with both yellow and red tomatoes, as shown here.

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The Daring Bakers recipe this month, hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks was strudel, and while the original recipe was apple, we were allowed to fill it however we wanted.  I decided to do a savory version, based on a filling from a mushroom barley pie from Smitten Kitchen.  It turned out pretty well, although the filling could use a little more oomph.  Matt suggested it needed sausage, which I think would be a good idea.

The strudel dough was actually easier to make than I was expecting.  You just mix flour and salt, water, oil, and a bit of vinegar.  The dough has a very nice feel and is easy to knead — not sticky at all.  However, stretching it was a little harder.  I pretty easily got it out to about a foot by a foot.  But, as I continued to stretch it, it started to get holes, especially on the edges, and I never was able to get it as big as the 2 foot by 3 foot recommendation.  This may partly have been because the directions suggest stretching it on a floured tablecloth, but I don’t have any tablecloths, so I just used my kitchen counter.  At any rate, it was still tasty, but I think it would’ve been better if it had been thinner.

I’m not sure it’s quite worth the trouble of making the dough again, but I did like the concept and the filling, so I think I might try it again sometime, but take the easy way out and just use pre-made phyllo dough or even puff pastry.

It was definitely a fun challenge, and thanks again to Linda and Courtney for hosting!

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers. (more…)