Tomato & Tomatillo Gazpacho, by Melinda

Tomato/Tomatillo Gazpacho, from Gourmet (source)

If you're willing to go pick your own tomatillos in the Upick field, you can have this quite delicious, super-easy soup! Celebrate both of these warm-weather crops while you can!  Btw, to prepare tomatillos, remove the papery husks and wash the tomatillos to get the slightly sticky coating they sport off the skin. Tomatillos can be eaten green, yellow, or purple! (For more on tomatillos, click here.) As well, because tomatillos have a husk, it's PERFECTLY OK to pick them up off the ground. That's often where the best ones are found, both the biggest and the ripest.

Tomato and Tomatillo Gazpacho--a chilled soup, though I happen to like it warmed too. Serves 6 as a starter course.

• 1/2 lb fresh tomatillos, husked, washed, and quartered
• 1 & 1/2 lbs tomatoes, chopped & divided into 3/4 lb piles
• 1/2 cup white onion, chopped & divided into 1/4 cup amounts
• 1 fresh serrano chile, coarsely chopped, including seeds [serranos are VERY hot chile peppers; if you don't like very hot food, substitute a milder pepper, and/or remove the seeds, wearing plastic gloves if you do]
• 1 clove garlic, quartered
• 2 tbsp red-wine vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Puree the tomatillos, half the tomatoes, half the onion, chile, garlic, vinegar, & 1 & 1/4 tsp salt [or to taste] in a blender till smooth. Force through a medium-mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding solids. [Personally, I wouldn't do that sieving--I think you lose too many nutrients from the discarded bits of skins & seeds.] Stir in remaining tomatoes and onions, water, oil, & cilantro. Chill until cold, at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours before serving. (This is from Gourmet, 9/2009, click here.)

Turkey & Zucchini Burgers with Green Onion & Cumin, by Melinda

I made these last night, and the burgers, together with the sour cream sauce--while neither low calorie nor low cholesterol--were absolutely spectacular!  This is my first foray into middle-eastern cooking (and spices!), so I was thrilled with the outcome. My inspiration was Jerusalem: a Cookbook, by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi (I can't recommend the book highly enough--it's beautiful visually, the recipes are fabulous yet simple, and they have another cookbook called Plenty which is all vegetarian!)

(source)

Turkey Burgers--makes ~18 meatballs or about 10 small burgers. Vegetarians can substitute tofu for the turkey, while vegans can do that and also replace the egg and sour cream with vegan substitutes.

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 large zucchini, coarsely grated (a scant 2 cups)
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 large, free-range egg
• 2 tbsp chopped mint (from the farm!)
• 2 tbsp chopped cilantro (ditto!)
• 2 cloves of garlic crushed (I used a couple of our "fresh garlic" cloves)
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 1/2 tsp fresh-ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)
• canola or sunflower oil for frying

Sour Cream & Sumac Sauce--While sumac powder may be unfamiliar to you, trust me--it lends a delightfully tart taste to the sauce. Many grocery stores now carry it; as well, you can purchase it online (e.g., click here).

• scant 1/2 cup sour cream
• scant 2/3 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 small garlic clove, crushed
• 1 & 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp sumac powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Make the sour-cream sauce first by putting all the ingredients in a small bowl or jar. Stir well & set aside or refrigerate. Ottolenghi makes his turkey mix into smallish meatballs which are seared first for ~4 minutes in a fry pan in canola oil, then baked in a 425 oven for 5 to 7 min. However, as noted above, I made mine into about 10 small burgers & then sauteed them on both sides in canola oil till they were browned and cooked through. So I'll give you those directions.

In a large bowl, mix together all the meat ingredients except the canola oil.  Mash it all together with your hands, mush, mush, mush. (If you use tofu, I'd recommend a soft tofu.) Store in fridge if you're not making the dish right away.

Pour enough oil into a large frying pan to make about 1/16th inch of oil. Heat on medium till hot, then add burgers that you've shaped with your hands from the mix (we got 10 from this recipe). Cook till  browned on one side, then flip with a spatula and brown the other side. To be certain the burgers are cooked through, cover the pan with a lid for ~5 min. Cut into a burger to be sure there's no pinkness left. Use a spatula to remove them from the pan and lay them on a few layers of toweling to soak off the extraneous oil. Serve warm or at room temp, with the sauce spooned over or on the side.  Bliss!!!!

Available in stores or online

Swiss Chard Fritters

A recipe from this past week's NYT Dining Section, adapted from the new cookbook Jerusalem, by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi (a simply wonderful cookbook, by the way).  Check out their blog in our blog list.
Swiss Chard Fritters--makes ~14 fritters, 4 appetizer servings

• 14 oz Swiss chard leaves, stems removed
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill 
• 1 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 large eggs
• 3 oz crumbled feta cheese (about 1/2 cup)
• olive oil



Swiss chard fritters topped with beet spread

• lemon wedges, for serving

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add chard, and simmer 5 min. Remove from pot and drain well, patting leaves dry with a paper or kitchen towel. Place chard in food processor with herbs, nutmeg, sugar, flour, garlic, and eggs. Pulse till well blended. Fold in feta by hand. Heat 1 tbsp oil in large saute pan on medium-high heat. When oil is hot, spoon in 1 heaping tbsp of the mixture for each fritter (you should be able to fit 3 fritters per batch). Press down gently on fritter to flatten. Cook 1 to 2 min. per side, until golden brown. Transfer to a baking sheet [or large plate?] lined with toweling. Add another tbsp oil to the pan and repeat. Serve warm with lemon wedges (optional).  In the photo, the fritters are topped with a garlicky beet spread (see post above for the recipe; photo credit)