tomatoes

potato and tomato salad with gremolata dressing

by Eva on May 2, 2013

Once upon a time I wished I were a princess. No never the queen, ladies with this job description have kind of a bad reputation. I guess there had been too much Grimm’s fairy stories in my early youth where the queen tent to be evil and demanding the princess’ heart. Lucky me becoming a princess never turned out… Growing up I also wished for white Christmas and I wished for endless ice cream. Then I wished for becoming a famous rock star but cancelled that early on due to my stage fright.

My childhood wishes sound pretty much unrealistic and hard to become true, but that’s also the problem with my grown up wish: finally becoming organized. Last week had been challenging. Isn’t it always the case just before leaving for vacation? I thought I had it all figured out, but my schedule had been turned upside down due to some switched appointments and I had been running all day to get everything done. It’s a mystery but working Eva is so much different, organized, accurate and dead on time. I am living proof for two extremes in one person, my inner organized genius being in conflict with my chaotic other half of the brain. So please tooth fairy, genie in a bottle or Santa Claus in future make me finish the laundry in time, so I can stuff my favorite shirt in my suitcase, make me buy deodorant (it makes all the difference) and let me go to the post office earlier, so they don’t close the door in front of my nose. And please make me pack my bag in time, so I don’t have to do it just before leaving and forget my toothbrush again. Thanks. That’s all for now.

This potato salad was the last meal I made at home before leaving for our road trip to Washington DC. The salad holds up very well until the next day. Actually that was my plan, taking the leftovers with me on the trip, but there was nothing left. It’s so much different from a German potato salad I grew up on and still love so much. But it is also much healthier, less work, easier and faster. This is a great potato salad for picnics, BBQ parties and office lunches, no mayonnaise therefor no problem if not being stored in a fridge for a long while. Actually it tastes best eaten at room temperature, marinated for some time.

potato and tomato salad with gremolata dressing

ingredients

1 pound potatoes (Fingerling or Yukon gold)
3-6 tomatoes (depending on size and you liking)
for the gremolata dressing:
1 small or ½ garlic clove
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
grated zest of 1/2 lemon
2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
salt and black pepper to taste

instructions

Boil or steam potatoes.
While potatoes are cooking, cut tomatoes in chunks and transfer to your salad bowl.
Peel the garlic clove, chop roughly, sprinkle some salt on it, and use a fork to press it firmly into the board. Go back and forth over it, pressing until the garlic is a mashed paste. …or use a garlic press.
Mix all ingredients for the dressing except the olive oil. Drizzle in oil while constantly whisking until emulsified.
Drain and cut the potatoes in bite size pieces if necessary. Add everything to a salad bowl and stir gently to combine.

variations

optional you can add one of those or all of them:

about 15 black olives (preferable Kalamata olives)

2 Tbsp. capers

60 g / 2.1 oz. feta or goat cheese, crumbled

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roasted bell pepper salad

by Eva on November 30, 2011

How could I seriously mention not to be completely in the whole Thanksgiving holiday celebration thing? Was it just because I am a newbie? Or because of my aversion to sweet potatoes with marshmallows? I herewith change my statement from my last week post and I have to tell you I am totally convinced Thanksgiving is one of the best holidays you can be happy to attend.
Mr F and I had been invited to our friend’s friend’s house in Chicago and it was a great party with very good food (best juicy turkey ever and I never had a better tiramisu not even in Italy!) and most important this place was packed with a lot of nice people. Usually for me the worst days of the year are birthdays and holidays, it is the time I miss my family in Germany most. Surrounded by lovely people Thanksgiving run by too fast and I am thankful for great talks and outstanding hospitality.

Recently days are too short, they end just after they started and the fact that the sun is gone before the clock says 5 pm makes it even worst. Right after Thanksgiving back home from Chicago, we started to get prepared for our move from Illinois to Tennessee and I am not kidding from Germantown Hills to Germantown. Right now I am sitting on the stairs while three big guys carrying everything we own out of the front door. Fingers crossed we get our stuff back at the end of this week.

This salad was one of the last dishes I made in the old house. I was craving for something fresh, trying to detox, after all this (delicious) sugar and fat… However salad is the first thing on my mind and this is me trying to winterize one of my favorite summer salads. I used red bell pepper and roasted them, they added a nice sweetness to the dish. The anchovies in the dressing are packed with healthy fat, they came with flavor and a nice saltiness. The yellow tomatoes are just to bring some color on the plate, red ones are also absolute great. I added an egg sunny-side up for proteins and some bread and got a whole meal.

roasted bell pepper salad

Be careful with salt, this dressing might already be on the salty side, but some fresh ground pepper sprinkled over the salad is a good idea. Use any bell pepper you like but I like the red ones for roasting.
This salad can be prepared hours in advanced without loosing any flavor. I like it when the roasted bell peppers are still warm.
serves 4 as a side dish and 2 as a main entree

4 large bell pepper
1 minced garlic clove
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 can (55 g / 2 oz.) anchovies, rinsed
1/4 teaspoon sugar
3 fresh mint leaves
3 fresh basil leaves (more for decoration)
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 medium tomatoes
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed

Preheat the broiler in your oven. Quarter the bell pepper lengthwise and remove the seeds and membranes.
Put them on a baking sheet skin side up and broil until blistered and blackened. Still hot place them in a sealed plastic bag and let the skin sweat off for about 20 minutes (or use a bowl covered with plastic wrap).
Meanwhile prepare the dressing, put garlic, lime juice, vinegar, anchovies, sugar, mint and basil leaves in a beaker and mix well using your hand blender. Add oil in a slow and steady stream while your blender is running until thick and creamy.
Dice the tomatoes, peel the bell peppers and cut into 1 cm / 1/2 inch strips.
Arrange the bell pepper strips on a plate, top with tomatoes and the dressing, sprinkle with the capers and decorate with some basil leaves.

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tomato red pepper soup

by Eva on November 3, 2011

This is my highest blog post so far, I am writing from above the clouds. The screen in front of me shows 11.887 km / 7.386 miles and we are somewhere over the Atlantic ocean, the Island of Newfoundland just behind us. Assuming that I will survive the just served pasta (why am I punished by this airline?), I will publish after I arrived at my parents house, who still got no clue I am on my way to Germany right now. I am excited like a little kid in front of a fully loaded christmas tree.

There are only two emotions in a plane: boredom and terror. ~Orson Welles
I couldn’t have said this better by myself. Although I love to travel but this flight seams to take like forever. A little girl next to me is sleeping and her head is lying on my shoulder, later she will complain about not haven’t been able to sleep.at.all! While her dad will look over and smile at me. The next thing she mentioned was her grandma’s soup. She must have been very much looking forward to this and repeatedly talked about this soup: “Hope Oma didn’t forget about my soup.” “Mama do you think Oma already made the soup?” “Yes I think she got her big pot already on her stove.”
Soup, soup, soup…! Her Oma’s soup let me think about my soup, the one I made the day before I left. It was more one of these ‘what I found in my fridge soup’ but it came out very delicious. Luckily I took some photos just to practice. I immediately changed my blog topic and twisted my mind to remember the recipe.

This is a medium hot soup, I used one chipotle pepper in adobo sauce and later added one or two teaspoons of the sauce for some seasoning. If you don’t have them on hand, a chili pepper will be great too. Chipotle powder or smoked paprika powder as a seasoning would be great too, you got the idea… You can add beans, chicken or rice for a more filling soup.

tomato red pepper soup

with ricotta topping
serves 2

1 big (or 2 small) red bell pepper
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 can (400 g / 14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (canned)
1 teaspoon honey or sugar
salt and some adobo sauce to taste

Wash and dry the bell pepper, remove the seeds and cut into chunks.
Preheat your pan over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and the bell pepper and sear until you get some black spots but don’t burn them completely.

Let cool for a moment and put them into your blender with the diced tomatoes and chipotle pepper (food processor or hand blender) and puree until very smooth. Pour everything into a medium pot and cook for about 10 minutes. Add salt and honey to taste.

for the ricotta topping:

6 tablespoon ricotta cheese
4 green onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt to taste
olive oil for the pan

In a small pan with a little olive oil slightly brown the green onions and the garlic (optional). Put everything in a beaker and blend the ingredients together using a hand blender.

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tomato-poached eggs

by Eva on June 24, 2011

Our moving from Kansas City, MO to Peoria,IL started on Monday last week and is still not over yet. Monday had been the packing and wrapping day, Tuesday the truck had been loaded by a moving company and we filled up a small U-haul trailer with a bed, a table, two chairs, only the very needed kitchen stuff and two foldable lawn chairs. That’s all we would need until Friday, that was what we thought, little did we know…
As soon the moving guys had loaded our belongings, I said farewell to the house that had been our home for the last year and headed north east to our new home. We arrived in the middle of the night and after unloading everything we felt asleep right away.
The next morning came earlier than expected, a thunderstorm reduced my sleeping time from short to just a nap. All I needed was a strong coffee and smart-me I packed my French press – but forgot my mug. Sleep-deprived I was thinking about drinking the coffee right out of the coffee maker but luckily I found a few bowls. I spend my first morning in my new home sitting outside in the morning sun, slurping my coffee out of my muesli bowl and felt a little French. Not that bad!
Our stuff didn’t arrive as expected on the following Friday and nope not on Monday, but on Wednesday the moving company finally showed off. Boxes had been everywhere!
Today the overall situation is still a little chaotic but glimmers of hope are a nearly finished kitchen and I unpacked all my cookbooks. We are making progress but measured in baby steps.

All I needed was some comfort food to feel a little more “home” and I really love tomato-poached eggs, it is my go to lunch if I need something quick. This is the Indian version which I adapted from Anjum Anand “Anjum’ s New Indian”.

tomato-poached eggs

serves 3 for lunch and 4-6 for brunch

You can change the whole meal by only adjusting some spices: make an Italian version with basil, oregano and olive oil. This is Marco Canora’s version from his cookbook “Salt to taste” .Combinations are endless: how about cumin, feta, parsley and paprika powder.

Anjum Anand recipe calls for 1 medium onion, I like to use fresh green onions, I used red chili flakes instead of pure red chile powder and instead of 6 fresh tomatoes I used more and canned tomatoes. This is getting hot, if you don’t like it spicy use less cayenne pepper and red pepper flakes, you can still add more later.

3 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 large cloves of garlic
3-4 fresh green onions
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamon
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3/4 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 teaspoon sugar
salt to taste
1/2 green bell pepper
2 cans diced tomatoes (400 g / 14.5 oz. each)
2 teaspoon white wine vinegar
6 eggs

Chop the garlic, cut the green onions and separate the green and the white part. In a small bowl measure and mix the spices and the sugar. Wash, core and slice the green bell pepper.
Heat the oil in your skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, green bell pepper and the white parts of the green onion, cook stirring for 1-2 minutes. Add the spice mix and cook for 30 seconds.
Pour in the tomatoes, stir well and cook for 10 minutes, add the vinegar and the rest of the green onions and stir. Form 6 small hollows with your spoon, crack the eggs and let slide into the hollows. Continue cooking until the eggs are how you want them.

Serve with bread.

Take a bite:
Beautiful pictures and nice stories: beyond the plate

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tomato garlic butter

by Eva on May 28, 2011

A couple of years ago my younger sister came up with this tomato garlic butter and she hit the spot. Since then she had made a lot of this kind of butter, all in all she turned a mountain of boring butter into something interesting and I ate a lot of this every time. I like to put it on grilled meat, fresh bread (yummy roasted on the grill), panini, veggies, soup (adds great flavor), ok this list might become long… especially putting tomato garlic butter on something hot and watching it melting and spreading its flavor is fun. I am not a friend of butter, I don’t even like it on my sandwich, but I won’t ever let this tomato garlic butter pass my plate.

Since our move from Germany and some thousand miles away from my family (and my buttery sister), I am in charge to make this smeary treat and accidentally I make a new version every time. You can say it is a matter of time, if I got enough time, I like to slow-roast the tomatoes in my oven. If I am not in the mood for that, I use sun dried tomatoes and if I am in a hurry I just use tomato paste and it is still very good.

tomato garlic butter

This is enough for a bbq party, I usually make just the half of the recipe.
Make this a few hours in advance and let rest to develop more flavor.
I like to substitute 2 tablespoon of butter with margarine, you won’t taste it but it makes the tomato garlic butter softer and spreadable even if I forgot to remove it from the refrigerator in time.

250 g / 2 sticks + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
250 g sun dried tomatoes (pat well with paper towels to remove the olive oil)
4 teaspoon tomato paste (optional mainly for the color)
3 garlic cloves (peeled and roughly chopped)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika powder
2 teaspoon white wine vinegar
a dash of sugar
salt to taste
2 handful italian parsley

Take out your butter and let sit at room temperature to become soft (a few turns in the microwave oven may also work but don’t let it become liquid).
Put everything in your food processor with the metal blade or in a beaker if you use a hand blender and process until smooth and creamy.
If you don’t have any of this appliances on hand, make sure the butter is really soft, mince the garlic, tomatoes (easier if you use just tomato paste) and the parsley and put everything in a bowl, roll up your sleeves and give it a good stir by using your arm muscles power (you are allowed to skip your workout today). )

This recipe is more a help to get the idea, adjust the spices (try curry powder), add a small onion, substitute the white wine vinegar with some lemon juice or balsamic vinegar, tabasco is great (green and red), use fresh basil instead of parsley… you got the idea!

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potato and tomato salad with gremolata dressing