Delightful! Roasted Summer Squash with Roasted Garlic and Fennel

 Wow. That's all I can say. This summer squash with roasted garlic and fennel salad blew me away.

(yes, I know I came up with it and that's not a really modest thing to say, but I'm just being honest).

The taste of fennel brings me directly back to Gran Fran and Joe's house. We eat fennel raw, like it's celery. I didn't realize this was not the way normal people ate fennel. I was surprised to find it cooked in a dish at a restaurant and everyone at the table looked at me like I was crazy.

When we were kids, I remember once we told one of the neighbor kids that it was gum, but I have no idea why we decided to trick this kid. I happened to have some fennel in my mouth that I'd been chewing for a long time, so it had become a kind of a paste. I guess the kid believed us, not sure, I remember just following along what one of my older sisters told me to do and ended up chewing that fennel for a very long time.

But I digress. The short story here is that I came up with a perfect combination in this recipe (no modesty again). The crunch and anise of the fennel against the soft sweetness of the roasted squash is just right. By adding in some mellow roasted garlic and a bit of vinegar, the dish comes together perfectly. If you eat cheese (which I can't), make sure to have some nice grated Parmigiano Reggiano on hand to sprinkle over top.

 as featured on The Fruit Guys website

Roasted Summer Squash with Fennel and Roasted Garlic

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup summer squash of your choice, cut into chunks
  • 3/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/8 cup red vinegar
  • 1 bulb fennel shaved
  • 4 cloves roasted garlic (recipe here)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and place an empty jelly roll pan in to heat up at the same time.
  2. Once the oven has preheated, carefully remove the tray from the oven, pour 1/4 cup of the olive oil onto the tray and place the summer squash on top.
  3. Turn the squash chunks over several times to coat in the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  4. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the pieces have browned and softened.
  5. In a large salad bowl, mix the roasted summer squash with the shaved fennel, roasted garlic and the remaining oil and vinegar.

Serves 4. Prep time, 5 minutes; cook time, 20 minutes.

Cook’s note: Serve alongside a frittata or a pizza.

Memorial Day Salads: Salmon Salad, Grilled Radicchio Salad, Avocado and Tomato Salad

Happy Memorial Day Weekend, everyone. If you haven't already planned out all of your dishes for the many BBQ's you will be attending this weekend, consider one (or all) of these three salads. The components for each can be put together in moments, and complement grilled meats and veggies ever so well. I realized I maybe a little late in sharing my Memorial Day ideas, but here they are. There maybe a few posts today, so I can be sure to share as many ideas for your weekend entertaining as possible. Hope you enjoy and that you are able to spend some quality time with your friends and family.

Salmon Salad

Ingredients

  • 1 pound salmon, skin on
  • 1/2 cup leftover mashed potatoes (method here, dairy free option included)
  • 1/2 cup steamed cauliflower (or any other nice veggies you have around)
  • 1 cup mache salad greens (any greens will do here, esp. something peppery like arugula or mache)
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Method

  1. Heat BBQ grill until super hot, but not smoking.
  2. Place the salmon, skin side down, on the BBQ grill.
  3. Cook for four minutes, or until you see the edges of the salmon turning light pink.
  4. Flip the salmon over and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
  5. Put the mache on a platter, add the mashed potatoes in dollops over the salad and distribute the cauliflower around the platter.
  6. Place the salmon on top and finish by drizzling the olive oil and lemon juice on top.

Grilled Radicchio Salad

Ingredients:

  • 1 head Radicchio
  • 1 large Shallot, minced
  • 2 ears Corn
  • 1 large Heirloom Tomato, chopped
  • 1 bunch Frisee, shredded
  • 1/3 cup Olive Oil
  • Salt and Pepper to Taste

Method:

  1. Heat BBQ grill until super hot, but not smoking.
  2. Cut up radicchio into chunks.
  3. Pour olive oil over radicchio on toss to coat.
  4. Place radicchio chunks on grill, grill on one side for two minutes, making sure flames don’t get too high.
  5. Turn radicchio over, pouring remaining oil onto it. Cook for two more minutes, or until soft.
  6. Remove from heat, and chop into smaller pieces.
  7. Take corn off the cobs, placing the loose kernels into a large bowl.
  8. Add tomatoes, shallots and grilled radicchio to bowl. Toss, gently pulling the radicchio leaves apart.
  9. Sprinkle shredded frisee on top of mix.
  10. Finish with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

Avocado and Tomato Salad

Ingredients:

  • 2 large avocados, cut into chunks, skin and pit removed
  • 4 tomatoes (I used Roma, but love Heirlooms the best)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

  1. In a large bowl, combine tomatoes and avocados with salt and pepper.
  2. Whisk together the oil and lemon juice in a small bowl.
  3. Pour the dressing over the tomatoes and avocados, stir gently to coat all ingredients and add a final grind of fresh black pepper on top.

Greek Sandwich Salad Style

Recently, I went to dinner with my uncle (known as Uncle), who is Gran Fran's brother. For the most part, I'm a lettuce with olive oil and salt kind of salad girl. Uncle ordered just this as his salad, which floored me. I hadn't realized there maybe a family connection to my style of salad. He told me that he has always eaten his salad this way, and that he thought it did come from his parents. Who knew?!

Warm weather has arrived in San Francisco. You never know how long this nice patch of weather will be in town, so it's fun to pretend like we have seasons and cook like it's going to stay warm for a few months.

This weather puts me in the mood for a good salad. I made a nice roast pork with Greek flavor a few weeks ago, reminiscent of a the Greek sandwich I had in Paris.  Since I have salad on my mind, I decided to take all the Greek sandwich fixings and make a huge salad.

Seeing as I don't usually make fancy salads (except for my salad nicoise) , I really had to think about how to layer everything in. Some special dressing, which includes Za'atar, a Middle Eastern spice, added a nice extra kick. It's earthy, sour, salty and just interesting. You can just use oregano here, but I love the unexpected flavor.

You don't have to follow my ingredients exactly, but do put the roast pork, red onions and fried potatoes in the salad as these are the keys to the Greek sandwich-ness of the salad.

Greek Sandwich Salad Style

Ingredients

serves 2

  • 1 heart of romaine lettuce, cut into pieces
  • 2 potatoes, oven fried (recipe here)
  • 8 slices of Greek roast pork (recipe here)
  • 1/2 red onion, sliced thinly
  • 1 red bell pepper, sliced into chunks
  • 8 to 10 small tomatoes cut in half
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon Za'atar spice blend or dried oregano
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Method

  • Lay the romaine on a platter, making a mound in the center.
  • Layer on top the red onions, potatoes, tomatoes and red bell peppers, with the pork on top.
  • Put the mayonnaise, olive oil, Za'atar (or oregano) and salt and pepper into a bowl and mix until combined.
  • Drizzle dressing over the salad and serve.

You can put some nice warm pitas out on the table to serve with this great salad.