Heirloom Tomatoes, Basil, and Ricotta Sandwich

Um, yeah, so, I started eating and then took this photo. Hope you're not grossed out! I was really hungry. This is what I ate for lunch yesterday, in the courtyard outside my building. Read the following as a diagram, not a list:

bread
olive oil
tomatoes
salt + pepper
ricotta
bread

Meals; for Facebook

Meals; for Moderns is on Facebook now. It's about time! Blogging is so behind the times, I should change the name of this thing to Meals; for Modernism.

You can Facebook-fan Meals here.

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Arugula, Garlic, and Brown Butter

A simple Summer dinner. I'm leaving the proportions off this one since it's really really flexible. If you like a lot of butter, add a lot of butter. If you want to skip the butter and use olive oil, do that. If you want some butter, but not that much, use more pasta water.

spaghetti
butter
garlic, finely chopped
arugula
salt + pepepr
parmesan, grated

Boil some spaghetti, reserving the cooking water. Meanwhile, brown some butter, and toss the garlic in for the last minute or so. Remove from heat and pour this into the bottom of your serving dish (I don't bother straining out the solids for a rustic dish like this). Throw in the arugula. Drop the pasta in. Toss. If dry, add some pasta water. Season to taste and garnish with cheese.

Peach Citrus Muffins

1 tablespoon melted butter
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1 1/4 cups sour cream
1 tablespoon lime juice
zest of two oranges
2 peaches, peeled, pitted, chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and grease or paper 12 muffin tins.

Mix dry ingredients together. Beat egg with the sour cream, melted butter, lime juice, and orange zest. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir/fold gently until just combined. Fold in the peaches.

Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted.

(Adapted from here, unsurprisingly)

Summer Squash Linguine

When I lived in Spain I hung around with a roving cast of young, wild, world-hoppers. Also known as freelance ESL teachers. One of these women returned to Seville from a days-long hippy festival in Portugal and recounted to my friends and I that, while there, she'd eaten her first flower. Given the context, I'd assumed the flower was either some unknown drug, or some unknown drug slang, and was too self-consciously un-world-hoppy to do anything but act as if flower eating was a completely familiar phenomenon. But as the conversation progressed, someone more self-assured than I dared to ask what kind of flower this was. And it was just a flower. Just a regular flower. Hallucinations not included.

I've learned since that eating flowers isn't so uncommon. And though I think my friend ate a more traditionally flowery flower, this dish uses two "flowers:" capers, which are pickled flower buds, and squash blossoms. So if you've not eaten your first flower, now's your chance.

(the recipe below was inspired by this)

2 1/2 pounds small yellow and green (zucchini) summer squash, washed and unpeeled
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon capers
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1 pound whole wheat linguine
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup Ricotta cheese
salt + pepper
3/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
1/2 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
4 squash blossoms, thinly sliced

Using a vegetable peeler, shave the squash into ribbons. Place these in a strainer over a bowl and toss with the salt. Set aside.

Meanwhile, place the garlic, capers, and red pepper in a mortar and use a pestle to crush them into a paste. Transfer this to the bottom of a large serving bowl.

Cook the pasta until al dente and, using tongs, transfer it to the serving bowl, reserving the pasta water. Return to the squash and, using your hands, squeeze as much water from it as possible. Once wrung, add the squash ribbons to the pasta. Add the olive oil and ricotta, and toss until well combined. If dry, add a 1/2 cup or so of the pasta water. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Top with basil, Romano, and squash blossoms.

Potato Salad

The farmer's market in the little town in Michigan had these tiny "red, white, and blue" potatoes for sale Friday morning. Obviously, I had to buy them. And eat them. Patriotism can be delicious.

Though the winding path of this recipe actually leads to Germany. Or at least to my German grandmother-in-law and mother-in-law who were in Wisconsin when we called for these instructions. Next time, I think I'll use more vinegar, and make sure to soak this overnight. I soaked this for about 6 hours, and it wasn't quite intense enough, though my wonderful family made sure every last bit got eaten. Anyway, here's what I did:

6 cups boiled "red, white, and blue" potatoes, with their skins on (the skins-on part is breaking with tradition, but I liked their color so much!)
1 onion, chopped
enough boiling water to cover the potatoes
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon salt (this could also be increased)
1 teaspoon black pepper (my mother-in-law had said more pepper than salt, but it seemed so unnatural that I just couldn't do it. Next time, I'll heed her advice and see what happens)
1 teaspoon sugar
about a quarter cup total of dill, parsley, and garlic chives
2 tablespoons mayonnaise

Cut the cooked potatoes into small chunks and mix them with the chopped onion. Pour the boiling water over the mixture, then stir in the vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar. Cover, and let soak overnight in the refrigerator. The next day, drain the water and stir in the herbs and mayonnaise.

Salted Fingerling Potatoes with Fava Bean and Garlic Scape Dip

Potatoes courtesy of Bitten, but skipping their dipping sauce, I made a dressed-up fava bean paste and also dipped the little potatoes in mustard. So good.

cooked, mashed fava beans (about a cup or cup and a half once mashed*)
1 garlic scape, chopped**
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon sour cream
2 tablespoons milk (or more, depending on desired thickness)
salt + pepper to taste (keep in mind the potatoes are quite salty)

Put these ingredients in the blender. Blend. Dip potatoes in, or spread the paste on toast. Best ever.

*I realize it's hard to tell how much fava bean you'll end up with when you're holding those giant pods in your hands at the grocery store. So, cook them up first, then adjust the other ingredients accordingly. The link above recommends buying one pound of beans-in-pods per person.

**Garlic scapes rule.