Summer Lettuces

The best tasting salads are made with the freshest farm stand ingredients in the summer. Living in the Hamptons for two months, I frequented the farmer's markets as often as I could. This became the ultimate lunch in our house. Served over crispy, warm bread topped with smashed avocado and red chili flakes. It has all of the elements for a perfectly light meal. 

serves 2

heirloom lettuces, torn into bite-sized pieces

handful heirloom cherry tomatoes, halved 

1 corn, grilled and cut off the cob

2 pieces fresh multi-grain bread, toasted 

1 avocado, halved and pitted

red chili pepper olive oil

Maldon sea salt

fresh black pepper

juice, from a lemon

extra virgin olive oil

crushed red pepper flakes

sliced almonds, toasted

Toss the lettuces, corn, tomatoes with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, squeeze of a lemon, salt and pepper. Smash the avocado onto the toast with a fork and spread evenly. Drizzle with red chili pepper olive oil, lemon juice and sprinkle with Maldon sea salt and red pepper flakes. Place toast on center of plate and top with the tossed lettuce mixture. Drizzle more red chili pepper olive oil and sprinkle toasted almond slivers.  Serve immediately.

Arugula, Avocado + Citrus Salad

This is a wonderful and simple winter salad right when citrus is at its peak. The almonds add a nice crunch and the olives a good salty bite that pairs well with the creamy avocado. 

Arugula, Avocado + Citrus Salad

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 bunch baby arugula, washed and dried

1 clementine, peeled, separated into segments and cut into bite-sized pieces

1 avocado, pitted and diced

black kalamata olives, sliced

slivered almonds, toasted

4 Tbsp, or more, extra virgin olive oil

juice from 1/2 lemon

1 tsp dijon mustard

sea salt and black pepper, to taste

To make the dressing, combine the dijon mustard and the lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk in the olive oil until it emulsifies. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Place the arugula, avocado and olives in a bowl. Toss with dressing and top with toasted almonds. Serve immediately.

Heirloom Tomato Avocado and Basil Salad

Walking through our local farmers market last Saturday in the West Village I came across an incredibly colorful table of heirloom tomatoes that I absolutely could not resist. Their wonderful colors and odd shapes immediately draws me. This salad is simple (I thought almost not worth blogging about) but after tasting, I had to share! You can use any juicy, ripe tomatoes but during this high season, if you can get your hands on the heirloom variety, I highly recommend. I added avocado because I had a perfectly ripe one at home, but the simpler the better so feel free to omit. Also, I still have some really sweet good-quality balsamic on hand (from our honeymoon in Italy) but if you don't have one I recommend creating a balsamic reduction by heating on low heat for an hour or so, until it reduces by three-fourths and becomes a thick sweet syrup.

Heirloom Tomato Avocado and Basil Salad

Serves 2

1 large heirloom tomato, chopped into small pieces
1 avocado, pitted and diced
good sweet balsamic vinegar, for drizzle
extra virgin olive oil, for drizzle
sea salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
fresh basil leaves, chopped

In a small bowl, combine the tomatoes and avocado chunks, drizzle some olive oil and a pinch of salt and gently combine. Plate half on each plate. Drizzle balsamic vinegar and grind fresh black pepper and top with fresh basil. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Summer Test Kitchen!

In the kitch testing some new recipes last week, my girls and I came up with some fun creations...not much to say just yet but I thought I'd share some pics. Think of this post as a "food for thought" blog. Made with all natural ingredients, these cutie-pie cupcakes are vegan, gluten-free and sugar-free! Perhaps a recipe will be soon to come? One hint: the icing base is made with avocados! Yep, and sweet coconut lime cakes packed with nutrition!

Eat your Guac!

While farmer's markets in our area are struggling to offer much variety in the winter, we can all be rest assured that spring marks the beginning of avocado season in California! Avocado is probably my favorite food- fruit that is. Yes, it's a fruit. And did you know that the fat in avocados is monounsaturated? That means the good kind that actually helps to lower bad cholesterol and prevents your blood from clumping. This kind of fat also keeps you feelin' full, which results in eatin' less. They provide lots of vitamin C and E, calcium, iron, and tons o' fiber. So have your guac and eat it too.

I always have avocados hanging around my kitchen. If they're not crazy ripe yet in the store, I'll bring them home and wait for them to ripen. Try smashed avocados on your next turkey sandy instead of mayonnaise. You'll save tons of calories and fat. And trust me, it's goooood.

My "go-to" snack (literally just ate this) is Avocado Toast, inspired by one of my fav places in Nolita, Cafe Gitane. Man! I could eat this at every meal!

Avocado Toast

1/2 ripe avocado

2 pieces good seven grain bread

course salt

red pepper flakes

olive oil

Toast the seven grain bread to your liking. Half and pit the avocado. Using a fork, scoop out one half of the avocado and spread evenly on the two pieces of toast. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and red pepper flakes.