Category Archives: July 2011

Tomato season just started and if you’re not already out in the markets buying the season’s best local varieties, well it’s about time you got going!

I grabbed these beautiful bright guys at a local market in New Jersey, and grew the fresh herbs at home. You can add your favorite fruit to this tomato salad or simply eat it as it. Either way, it’s a refreshing starter to any weekday dinner.

Recipe: Rina Oh

Summer Tomato Salad
Yields 4 servings as an appetizer
Prep time: approximately 10 minutes

Ingredients
8 ounces plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons of pureed apricot
1 tablespoon lime juice
salt and pepper to taste
½ teaspoon fresh mint, chopped
½ teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped
½ teaspoon fresh basil, chopped
1 pound of fresh cherry tomatoes
1 cup mango, diced
Mint leaves and fresh oregano for garnish

Directions
1. In a medium size mixing bowl, combine yogurt with apricot puree and fresh herbs. Add lime juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.

2. Lay yogurt mixture on plate and top with fresh tomatoes, mango dice and finish with fresh herbs.

The most memorable cold soba dishes I’ve come across have played off the juxtaposition of varied textures and flavors.Top them with sweet, fresh fruit for example, and you’ve added a whole new dimension. Top them with sweet, pickled fruit though and you’ve really spiced things up.

Today’s recipe pits spicy chili paste against the sweet and sour jolt of pickled plums, and pairs soft buckwheat noodles with crunchy cucumber slices. The range of ingredients may sound a tad foreign, but that’s no reason to be discouraged, especially not when the result is as tasty as this. Go ahead, give it a try — it’s the perfect balance to these otherwise insufferablly hot summer days.

Pickled plums in cold buckwheat noodles

Yields 2 servings

Ingredients

For the pickled plums

2 cups rice wine vinegar

2 cups water

1 cup pomegranate juice

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup kosher salt

Peel of an orange

8 plums, halved with pit removed

For the cold buckwheat noodles:

4 ounces dry buckwheat noodles

1 tablespoon red chilli paste

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teapoon sugar

1 cup pickled plums, thinly sliced

1 cup seedless cucumber, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Place vinegar, water, sugar, salt and juice in a medium saucepot and bring to a roiling boil on the stovetop. Place plums and orange peel in a large container and pour the liquid over fruit. Allow to cool at room temperature, about 2 hours and then refrigerate.

2. Cook buckwheat noodles as per package directions in boiling water and rinse in cold water immediately when they are tender.

3. Bring all sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and lightly whisk together.

4. Dress noodles with spicy sauce and stir in sliced plums and cucumbers.

Preparation time: 10 minutes 
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Treat your grill like an outdoor kitchen and you’ll be conjuring up home made recipes with the best seasonal fruits and vegetables in no time. Fruit can go well beyond the cold and raw recipes we’ve all grown accustomed to. It just takes is a bit of experimentation.

In this recipe, I used green tomatoes and cactus for the salsa verde and Chamelon Gaya melon, watermelon and oven roasted beets for the salad.

Recipe: Rina Oh

Sexy Grilled Fruit Salad
Yields 2 servings as an entrée or 4 servings as an appetizer 

Ingredients
1 pound of beets, oven roasted and carved into melon balls
1 Chamelon Gaya melon, seeded and carved into melon balls
1/4 watermelon, carved into melon balls
3.5 ounces of plain goat cheese
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh basil, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

For the salsa verde
2 pounds green tomatoes, peeled and finely diced
3 cactus leaves, peeled and finely diced
1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Roast beets in the oven at 350 degrees for approximately one hour or until tender. Remove from heat, peel skin and set aside.

Place Gaya and watermelon on skewers and drizzle a few drops of olive oil. Repeat steps with beets.

Coarsely chop remaining beets, add basil, olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.

Form goat cheese into balls.

For the salsa verde, bring all ingredients together in a mixing bowl and place inside a medium skillet over the stovetop on low heat for about twenty minutes, stirring occasionally. Salsa is finished when all the liquid evaporates and tomatoes are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.