Monthly Archives: July 2011

Meatless Monday: Summer Tomato Salad

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.

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Meatless Monday: Cold Buckwheat Noodles with Pickled Plums

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

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Meatless Monday: Spiced Tofu and Kimchi Tacos

As far as summertime bites go, few other foods hold a candle to tacos. They’re light and airy, and the perfect complement to otherwise hot and heavy afternoons, and depending on your mood you can fill them with anything from fresh avocado and lime to sauteed vegetables and hot sauce. But as satisfying as a duo of stuffed corn tortillas can be (especially when paired with tangy margarita, or two), their most redeeming quality may just be how easy they are to prepare.

When making tacos, I try to pair flavors that accentuate one another. Since tofu benefits from it’s amazing ability to lap up anything it’s cooked with (in this case, a hodge-podge of spices), and kimchi works wonderfully in balancing out puingent spices like cumin and oregano, I brought them together along with creamy avocado and a hint of tangy lime juice, and it was such a satisfying mouthful I had to share.

Recipe: Rina Oh

Spiced Tofu and Kimchi tacos
Yields 12 tacos

Ingredients
1 package of fresh corn tortillas
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 pound extra firm tofu, crumbled
4 jalepeno, diced
1 cup cherry tomato, sliced
2 scallions, sliced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 avocado, diced
1/2 cup Napa cabbage kimchi chopped
Fresh lime juice (optional)

Directions
1. In a medium skillet, heat olive oil and add tofu and jalapeño in a medium heat. Cook for about 5 minutes stirring frequently until jalepeno is tender. Add herbs and spices and cherry tomatoes. Cook for an additional 3 minutes and add soy sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.

2. Toast corn tortillas and assemble tacos by adding tofu, topped with avocado and kimchi.

This recipe takes less than 15 minutes in preparation and cooking time!

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Filed under Food2, July 2011, Korean Food at Home, Meatless Mondays, Rina's Food2 recipes

Meatless Monday: Sexy Grilled Fruit Salad

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.

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Filed under Food2, July 2011, Meatless Mondays, Rina's Food2 recipes