This cold curried- rice salad is great to serve year-round
as a side dish. It’s perfect to serve
with Chicken Cutlets (video), or quiche
(video), and asparagus for brunch, lunch or dinner. And it’s great on a buffet table!
Start by cooking the rice (video) according to the directions on the box of rice.
It is important that the rice be cold when you mix
everything together otherwise the rice will clump together. If you spread the cooked rice out on a plate
it will cool down faster.
Next make the
dressing by combining:
- 1/3 cup of vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup of white vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon of sugar
- 2 Teaspoons of curry powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1/8 teaspoon of black pepper
I have used the same measuring cup for the oil and vinegar
and I am going to mix the dressing ingredients together in my measuring cup.
It will look like this (below) when it is all blended
together.
Set the dressing aside while you prepare the remaining
ingredients.
You will need:
Shred the cheese and the
carrot.
Dice a red (or green) pepper by first removing the core and
seeds. (There is a wonderful
illustration of this in my Vegetable and Dip video).
Then cut the pepper into strips and
start dicing.
For the apple, remove the core (video) and dice that as well.
Remove the stems from the parsley and chop it up.
Now all the ingredients have been prepared.
Put everything in a large bowl and...
... mix everything together.
Be sure to refrigerate this rice salad until you are ready
to eat it. Enjoy!
You can view and print this recipe here.
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It happens each year around the same time. Summer heat arrives and then – bam! –
a bushel of zucchini lands on your doorstep, courtesy of a neighbor trying to
offload their backyard bounty.
Or, maybe zucchini is just one of those vegetables
you have no idea how to cook.
Well, the good news is, you don’t even have to cook it; it’s great raw
in many dishes. And because it kind of has a split personality, you can use it
in everything from stir-fries to cupcakes.
Is Zucchini a Fruit or a Vegetable?
Bright green zucchini squash is part of the gourd family. Along with its yellow
cousin, the summer squash, it is considered both a fruit and a vegetable. The fact that zucchini
contains seeds makes it a fruit, but it is used as a vegetable in most recipes.
How to Buy and Prepare Zucchini
Look for zucchini that’s about 4-6 inches long, and looks firm
and shiny with no breaks or cracks. Large, older fruit will be tough
and bitter; the best way to use very large zucchini is in zucchini bread.
It can be kept in the fridge for up to one week. When you’re ready to use it, wash
the zucchini, then slice both ends off. If the skin of the zucchini has been
waxed (to extend its shelf-life), peel the skin, but leave the skin on if it’s
unwaxed. Larger zucchini should be peeled first because the skin can be bitter.
Golden
zucchini blossoms, the flowers on the zucchini plant (pictured below), are also edible. They
can be battered and deep-fried, baked, stuffed or used as a garnish for
high-class dining!
Zucchini is Good For You, Too!
Zucchini is a great source of vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber. It’s high in
water content, has only 20 calories per cup and is low in saturated
fat and cholesterol.
Try Zucchini Raw or in These Recipes
-
Shred or grate raw zucchini into salads, or cut it into spears for vegetable platters.
- Grill it: Slice zucchini lengthwise, brush it with olive
oil, sprinkle both sides with whatever fresh or dried herbs suit your
fancy and some salt and pepper to taste. Grill outside on your barbecue or
indoors on a grill pan for about 5 minutes on each side until crisp-tender.
- Chilled
Zucchini Soup is the perfect starter for a hot summer night or an
afternoon brunch. Make it ahead of time and dish it up right before serving.
- The Italian version of an omelet, this Zucchini Frittata is simple to
prepare and versatile. It can be eaten hot or cold, taken to picnics, packed
for lunches or served as an appetizer at your next brunch.
- Here's a super side dish: Sauteed Zucchini with Spinach and Basil Pesto. Whether you make or buy pesto, it’s great on just about any summer
vegetable. This is also a good idea for your South Beach Diet friends! This
link has lots of other recipe ideas for zucchini.
-
Here's a kid-friendly recipe for Broiled Zucchini with Cheese. It’s got only three
ingredients, and it will use up a lot of extra zucchini!
-
A staff favorite from Food & Wine, Farfalle with Yogurt and Zucchini calls for just 5
ingredients, plus nutmeg. This fast bow tie pasta meal is made with yogurt, instead of
cream, for a unique taste sensation.
-
Remember the movie Ratatouille, where Chef Gusteau says, "Anyone can
cook"? Well you can, too! One-Pan Ratatouille is as easy as it sounds!
Bursting with flavor and color, this dish gets its beauty from both
green and yellow squash, red, yellow and orange peppers, red tomatoes and
green basil. Serve over pasta, tear open a loaf of rustic Italian bread and
serve with a bottle of Chianti. Your company will love it!
- This Zucchini Bread Recipe makes two large loaves or 24 muffins to eat
or freeze. You can't get much
easier than this, and your kitchen will smell sweet and spicy!
- Chocolate
Zucchini Cupcakes are so moist, you don't need frosting. Scatter a few
chocolate chips on top or dust them with powdered sugar and you're ready for a
party! These cupcakes are so easy to make, you can put your heavy mixer away!
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One of my favorite vegetables, fresh corn on the cob, is in
season in the USA
from May to September.
When buying corn, the husks (outer green covering) should be
bright green and fit snugly around the ear of corn. The kernels should be in
tight rows right to the tip of the ear of corn, and be plump and milky (if you
accidently pop one!).
While in the grocery store, it is perfectly acceptable to
peel back the outer green husk to check and see if the corn looks OK.
You should peel the husk off the corn just before you cook it. To do so, peel back the husk,
hold the peeled ear of corn in one hand, the husk and stalk in the other and then
snap off the stalk.
To remove the “silk” (the white hairy threads just under the
husk) wet a paper towel and wipe down the corn – from the tip to the stalk end.
Be sure to totally remove all the silk
as it is really not pleasant to serve corn on the cob with the silky threads
still attached.
Once the husk and silk have been removed from the corn, it
is officially “shucked”.
I am going to show you three ways to cook corn on the cob:
- In the
microwave
- On the
stove top starting with cold water
- On the
stove top starting with boiling water
You can also cook corn in a pressure cooker which is quick
and (many people tell me) quite simple to do, but I still have yet to buy a pressure
cooker.
Note:
Be sure to have a look in the comment section below as many experienced cooks have added some great suggestions on how they cook corn.
Method 1: Cooking Corn in the Microwave
Cooking corn in the microwave is my preferred method. I am not too fond of pots of boiling water
heating up my kitchen on a hot summer day.
This method is good when you are cooking only 2 or 3 ears of
corn. If you are cooking more, you should choose one of the other cooking
methods or do it in batches in the microwave.
Place the corn in a microwave safe dish and add about 2
Tablespoons of water to the dish.
Cover the dish with plastic wrap, making sure to leave a small
opening (a steam vent) in the corner to let the steam escape.
Microwave the corn on high for 4-to-6 minutes - depending on
the strength of your microwave.
Carefully remove the plastic wrap from the corn. There will be a lot of very hot steam
escaping, so you probably should use a pair of tongs to remove the plastic
wrap.
Method 2: Cooking Corn on the Stovetop Starting with Cold Water
Place the shucked corn in a large pot. Cover it with COLD tap water. Cover the
pot and set it on the stove. Bring the
pot to a boil. Once the pot has reached
a boil, the corn is cooked.
Method 3: Cooking Corn on the Stovetop Starting with Boiling Water
Fill a large pot half way with COLD water. There should be enough water in the pot so
that when you add the corn, it is covered with water but not overflowing.
Bring the pot of COLD water to a boil. Using a pair of tongs, carefully drop each
ear of corn into the pot.
Cover the pot and return the water to a boil.
Boil the corn for 5-7 minutes or until done.
Cooking Corn Do’s
and Don’t’s:
How do I know when
it’s cooked?
The cooking times listed above are general cooking
times. Some people eat corn raw, and
some dunk it in boiling water for 30 seconds to just heat it slightly. The simplest answer is to taste the corn to
see if it cooked to your liking. Over-cooked corn does become really tough and it is also pretty rough on the digestive
track!
Should I add Salt or
Sugar to the cooking water?
Corn is naturally sweet.
Some people add 1-2 teaspoons of sugar to the cooking water to sweeten it even
more. That’s totally up to you!
Salt, on the other hand, should not be added to the cooking
water as it will toughen the corn. Sprinkle it on after the corn is cooked.
Ice Bath:
When blanching vegetables, like asparagus, you plunge the partially cooked asparagus into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.
If you are cooking the corn for other uses than eating it
off the cob, you may be tempted to submerge it in a bowl of icy water to cool
it off. Don't! It will cool the corn off BUT it
will also turn your corn very soggy.
Storage:
Cook and eat corn on the cob the same day as you buy it.
To freeze fresh corn on the cob you must remove the corn
from the cob first. It can be cooked or
uncooked when you remove it from the cob to freeze. To remove the corn from the cob, a serrated
knife works best.
Corn can be frozen for up to six months.
Corn Holders:
I really like these things!
They do come in all shapes and sizes.
You just jam them in either end of the corn cob. If the corn is really hot, they protect your
fingers. They also have other uses. I
actually used the big ones in the photo below to help peel a mango!
Buttering Corn:
One way to butter corn is to slide the corn in a circular
motion over a stick of butter. Alas, the
whole family really has to agree to this method!
Or you could butter a piece of bread and roll the corn in
the slice of bread. (Does anyone
remember the movie Breaking Away when the father buttered his corn this way at the dinner table?)
Or, you can of course just dab a bit of butter on each piece
with your dinner knife and then sprinkle on some salt and...
Enjoy!
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