Oil and Salt: summer vitals

In the sweat of summer, the body needs hydration and lubrication. So Mother Nature revs up watery offerings like berries, melons, peaches, plums, tomatoes, summer squashes including zucchini and cucumbers as well as fish. Mediterranean cultures indulge in what they call "olive oil foods" and lots of salty ingredients like capers, anchovies, olives and other salt cured foods including feta cheese. Oily foods lube the muscles, salty foods help retain body water. In Asia, chili is natural air conditioning: it makes the body sweat, which means you are dehumidifying yourself the way an air conditioner does a room.  So hot, salty, watery and oily should be the summer eating bases to touch.
Here's watery food:

Fruit soup
There are many versions of melon soup. I just had watermelon habanero featured as the night's special at a local restaurant. This version, which I included in Veggiyana, the Dharma of Cooking, combines melon with other watery fruits.

Serves 5-6

1 banana, peeled

1 apple, cored, peeled and quartered

1 peach, peeled and quartered

½ cantaloupe, peeled and chunked

2-3 tbsp. honey or real maple syrup

1cup plain yogurt

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

handful fresh mint leaves

1 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice

1¼ cup unsweetened apple juice or, if you prefer, orange juice

Optional garnish: fresh blueberries

Combine everything but the apple juice in a blender or food processor. Start to puree and after a few seconds pour the apple juice in as a steady stream to make a soup. It should be thick enough to eat with a spoon but not too thick to pour.Chill.

Serve garnished with fresh blueberries. 

Sesame Cucumber Salad
This is a Himalayan recipe for a cooling salad often served with fiery food. That makes it fine for a fiery day.

  Serves 4-6

2 ripe med slicing cucumbers, peeled, split and seeded or 4 Persian cucumbers

1 tsp coarse including kosher salt

1 tbsp (heaping) sesame seeds (if you can find roasted that speeds this up)

½ tsp ground turmeric

1 large lemon, juice only

1 sm green chili, seeded and minced

1 tbsp mustard oil or 1 tbsp veg oil with 1/8 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp fenugreek seeds

optional garnish: a handful of chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Dry roast the sesame seeds in a small nonstick frying pan if they are not already roasted. Cool slightly and grind them to powder (a coffee grinder is perfect) or smash them in a mortar.

Cut the cucumbers into 2” lengths, then slice off thin strips into a medium bowl. Blend in ½ tsp salt and let the cucumbers stand for 15 minutes. Drain off any water that’s accumulated and pat the cucumbers dry. Blend in the ground sesame, turmeric, lemon juice, minced chili, and the remaining ½ tsp salt.

Heat the oil in a small pan. Fry the fenugreek seeds about 30 seconds until they start to color. Pour the oily seeds over the cucumbers. Optionally garnish with the cilantro and serve.

Melon feta salad

The popular version of this Greek/Turkish summer salad is made with watermelon but you can use honeydew or cantaloupe or Tuscan/Gaia melons as easily.  So I'm calling this melon salad.
serves 4

1 sm seedless watermelon or med/lg cantaloupe/honeydew/etc
12 Kalamata olives (pitted are easier to deal with)
 4-5 oz best quality feta cheese
handful fresh mint leaves
1/2 lemon, juice only
2 tbsp best quality olive oil
Sea salt to your taste

Halve the melon and remove the rinds and any seeds. Chop the flesh into large bite-sized pieces. Put them in a large serving bowl. Add the olives. Crumble the feta into large chunks and add it. Chop the mint leaves and add to the bowl. Blend everything. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Whisk together the lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl. Pour on the salad when ready to serve. Season with salt.
 
Raita (Indian cucumber yogurt with mint) 

The Greek version of this is tzatsiki, the Turkish is caçik. The Greeks use dill instead of mint, the Turks use both or either, so you can do what you like best. The Greeks and Turks often serve this with fritters. The Indians serve raita with fiery curries and juicy kabobs. 
 makes 1 cup

1/2 c plain yogurt

1/2 c chopped seeded English hothouse cucumber

2 tbsp chopped fresh dill

2 tsp chopped green onions

1/4 tsp ground cumin

Mix all ingredients in medium bowl. Season to taste with salt. Chill covered, until ready to serve.

 
Additional watery food you may already know
*Watermelon agua fresca (recipe is in How to Fix a Leek....the book)
*German cucumber salad (recipe also in How to Fix a Leek...the book)
*Berry compote
*Greek Salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, Kalamata olives, green bell pepper, feta cheese, optional red onion)
*Tomato Pie (posted a recipe in summer 2018)

Here's olive oil food
Armenian green beans

This recipe is in Veggiyana, the Dharma of Cooking, which made it very popular. You can use the same preparation for okra, zucchini or eggplant. The idea is the same in Persian and Turkish cooking: simmer a summer vegetable in a lot of olive oil with tomato for the watery effect.

  serves 6-8

2 lbs green beans (e.g. Kentucky wonder, Blue lake), ends off

1 cup olive oil

1 lg red onion, sliced in thin rings

5 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1 tsp dried oregano leaves

2 tsps dried thyme leaves

3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley leaves

1 tsp coarse or freshly ground black pepper

1/8 tsp salt

3 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1/3 cup chopped fresh dill

Cut the beans into a seemingly uniform length, between 3 and 4 inches long. Try to keep them in one direction.

Heat the olive oil in a heavy gauge casserole. Add the garlic, then onion rings and sauté over medium heat until the onion is soft but not yet browning. Add the beans. Add the rest of the ingredients except dill. Cover, lower heat to simmer and cook 20-30 minutes until the beans are tender. Remove from heat. Stir in dill and cool uncovered.

 Serve at room temperature.  (You can store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. This lasts several days.)

Ratatouille 

This is the Provencal (French) version of summer olive oil food, the veggies of summer--zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, bell peppers--bathed in olive oil and the herb of summer, basil. You can make it the traditional way or you can alter the color scheme and taste by using yellow squash instead of zucchini, smoky poblano instead of green bell pepper and purple onion instead of yellow and for a taste change cilantro in lieu of basil. You have choices. Here's the more unusual version.

Serves 6-8

1 lb firm eggplant (any kind will work except the small Thai egg-like eggplant)

1 lg Poblano or pasilla pepper, roasted* and skinned

3 lg tomatillos, roasted*

½ cup olive oil

1 tsp cracked or freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp dried oregano

1 bay leaf

Optional: pinch ground chipotle pepper (for smoky flavor)

1 lg red onion peeled and cut into thin disks

4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced into thin strips

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp ground coriander

2/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

¾ lb yellow or crookneck squash, cut into ¼” thick disks

1¼ cup chopped tomatoes with juices (boxed is okay)

*Roasting here means in a toaster or regular oven at 450 degrees for 5-8 minutes (less time in the smaller toaster oven) until the skin cracks and starts to char.

Wash the eggplant.  Slice it into thin disks and if the disks are much larger in diameter than 1”, which they will be from the common bulbous eggplant, cut the disks in half.  Place on a baking sheet, sprinkle lightly with ¼ tsp salt and 2 tbsp olive oil. Cover and roast at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.

Seed the pepper and cut into thin strips. Cut extra long strips into 2” lengths.

In a medium heavy gauge casserole or large saucepan, heat the remaining olive oil over medium heat.  Add black pepper, ½ tsp oregano, optional ground chipotle and bay leaf. Sauté 30 seconds.

 Add onion disks in a layer and top with garlic, poblano and red peppers. Do not stir. Continue to sauté 3-5 minutes until onions are soft. Sprinkle 1 tbsp chopped cilantro on top. Lower heat to simmer. Add eggplant as a layer. (Pieces might be two deep if the pot is not wide.) Sprinkle on ½ tsp oregano, ground coriander and ¼ tsp salt. Add 2 tbsp chopped cilantro. Cover pot and simmer 2-3 minutes.

Imam bayaldi

This is a traditional Turkish olive oil dish called "the imam fainted." It's because of all the expensive olive oil served to him.

For 8

4 small eggplants, the large Japanese work fine (about 1½-1 3/4 lbs)

Salt

¼ cup olive oil

¼ cup plus 2 tbsp best quality extra virgin, first cold pressed olive oil

2 med onions, peeled, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

6 lg garlic cloves, peeled and minced

2 ripe tomatoes, peeled* and chopped

¼ cup (about 1/3 bunch) parsley leaves, chopped

2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

juice of ½ lemon

½ -3/4 cup water

Cut stems off eggplants and peel strips of skin off at 1” intervals, for a striping effect.  Cut each eggplant in half lengthwise. Make a deep slit lengthwise through the fleshy side of the eggplant (the non-skin side), being careful not to cut all the way through and puncture the skin. If any of the halves do not lie perfectly flat on the skin side, slice off a tiny, thin piece so they do. Salt the exposed flesh, turn upside down and put on paper towels for 30 minutes to drain out the bitter juice. Rinse and dry.

In a very large skillet, heat the ordinary olive oil over high heat until it’s crackling or smoking. Put in the eggplants, flesh side down, and fry until golden brown, about 4-6 minutes depending on heat capacity, burner size and size of pan. Remove and drain on paper towels. Lightly salt.

In the same skillet, heat ¼ cup quality olive oil over medium high heat. Add onions and garlic. Sauté until the onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir frequently so nothing burns. Pour the contents of the skillet into a medium-size bowl. Add tomatoes, parsley, dill, pepper, pinch of salt and 1 tbsp quality olive oil.  Blend well.

Arrange eggplant halves slit side up in the skillet. Carefully stuff each slit with as much onion mixture as you can and then cover all exposed eggplant with it. Sprinkle lemon juice over all eggplants.

Put 1 tbsp quality olive oil into the skillet. Add ½ -3/4 cup water, enough to cover the entire bottom so nothing will burn.

 Cover the skillet (use foil or a cookie sheet if you have no lid) and simmer over low heat until eggplants are soft, about 50-65 minutes, again depending on how big the burner is relative to the skillet. Check every 10-15 minutes to see if you should add water because there’s no juice in the bottom. 

Cool to room temperature. Pour any remaining skillet juices over the eggplants to serve. 

Taramasalata (also salty food)
This is one of the multitude of Mediterranean olive oil heavy pureés. The most famous is "hummus": chickpeas with olive oil and tahini. In southern Italy the puree is fava bean, which is served with chicory or any other bitter green. In Iran (Persia) it's red bell peppers pureed with walnuts into muhamarra. In the Levant it's eggplant and the result is baba ganoush. This Greek version also qualifies as salty food: tarama is cod roe.

not my photo

2 med red potatoes, boiled and peeled
4 oz fish roe
1 c best olive oil
1 1/2 lemons, juice only
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp water
1 sm onion, grated

In a mixer bowl, combine the roe and potatoes and beat until smooth. Gradually with the motor running, pour in the olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar and water to make a fluffy mixture. Fold in the onions. Optionally garnish with flat leaf parsley,
 Serve chilled with olives and pita or spread on crostini.

Other olive oil food you may already know
pesto
hummus
stuffed grape leaves
 

Here's salty food
Portuguese salt cod and chickpea salad

serves 4

3 cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1/2 lb dry salt cod, soaked in various changes of cold water for 16 to 24 hours in the refrigerator

1 small sweet onion, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)

1 large garlic clove, finely chopped

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp cider vinegar

1 1/2 tbsp finely chopped parsley or cilantro

1 tsp coarse salt or to taste

hard-boiled eggs, chopped or cut in wedges for garnish

1/2 tsp paprika

Remove the fish from the soaking water and rinse. In a medium pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Turn off the heat and add the cod. Cover for 15 to 20 minutes, then drain. Set aside until it is cool enough to handle. Hand-shred the cod, discarding any skin or bones, and place in a serving bowl together with the chickpeas, onion, and garlic.

In a small bowl, whisk the oil with the vinegar. Mix in the parsley and salt, if needed. Pour the dressing over the chickpeas and toss softly.

Garnish with the chopped eggs and a sprinkling of paprika. This dish can be served hot, cold, or at room temperature.

Sicilian pasta with anchovies and lemon

not my photo

Serves 4
1 sm onion
1 sm garlic clove
1 lg lemon
½ c extra virgin olive oil, plus more for toasting the breadcrumbs
2 oz. anchovy fillets
1/4c breadcrumbs
Salt
1 lb pasta (penne, mezze maniche, linguine, spaghetti)

1 tbsp flat leaf parsley chopped

Peel the onion and garlic. Cut the onion into eighths, and the garlic clove in half. Use a peeler to take off two strips of lemon. Put the olive oil, anchovies, onion, garlic and lemon in a frying pan and warm over a very low flame until the anchovies have disintegrated into the oil. Take off the heat and let sit.

Fry the breadcrumbs gently over a low-medium flame in a little olive oil, with a pinch of salt, until they are just starting to turn golden. Immediately remove from the heat.

Bring a pan of water to the boil, add salt, then the pasta and cook until al dente. Meanwhile, with a slotted spoon lift the onion, garlic and lemon from the oil.

In the last minute of pasta cooking time, gently warm the oil and anchovies. Once the pasta is ready, drain it, then mix with the oil, either in the frying pan, or if you have used a small pan, a bowl. Add the juice of half a lemon and toss vigorously to emulsify the oil and lemon juice into a cream. Divide between plates, and top each serving with crumbs, parsley and a little grated lemon.

Spanish cauliflower with capers
(Serves 4 as a tapa)
1 large cauliflower, broken into florets, leaves reserved
Pinch of salt
1 c milk
Extra-virgin olive oil, for frying
5 garlic cloves, sliced
5 tbsp drained capers
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp sweet smoked paprika
3½ tbsp sherry or other white vinegar
Place the cauliflower florets in a large pan, cover with water. Add salt and the milk (this will make the cauliflower whiter and prevent odors). Cook over a high heat until al dente – about 8 minutes. Drain and refresh under cold running water, then set aside.
Pour a good drizzle of oil into a cold frying pan, add the reserved cauliflower leaves, garlic, capers and cumin seeds, then turn the heat to high. When the garlic turns golden, add the paprika and the sherry vinegar. Reduce the liquid for 30 seconds, then add the cauliflower to the pan. Make sure the ingredients are well mixed and serve.


Other salty foods you may already know
Italian salsa verde (posted last week)
potato chips


Next post: more salty food plus spicy food.