Gazpacho yogurt cheese

Have you ever made yogurt cheese?  In an effort to branch out from only using hummus to dip my raw veggies in, I came up with this YUMMY recipe yesterday using yogurt cheese.  Yogurt cheese is what you get when you strain the whey from yogurt.  The longer you strain it, the more creamy and dense it becomes.  I strained my yogurt cheese for about 18 hours and it had a consistency between cream cheese and sour cream.  It tasted really decadent with much less fat than cream cheese.

I have a special yogurt cheese strainer which I bought for about $18 from Amazon, it does make the process easier, the container is small enough to fit into a packed fridge and clean up is really easy, but if you don't want to pay for a special strainer, you can recreate a yogurt strainer by lining a colander with several layers of cheesecloth, placing the yogurt in the cheesecloth, and then putting the colander in a bowl to catch the drips.  However you do it, you need to find space in your refrigerator for whatever contraption you use.  I filled my yogurt strainer with about 2 1/2 c. yogurt and got about 1 1/2 c. yogurt cheese.  You can then use your yogurt cheese just like cream cheese.  Enjoy the recipe!

Gazpacho Flavored Yogurt Cheese by Joie de vivre
Yeilds:  about 2 1/2 c.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. yogurt cheese
1 c. seeded tomato, chopped finely
1 green onion, white and green parts, chopped finely
1 cucumber, seeded and peeled, chopped finely
1/8 c. red pepper, chopped finely
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Directions:

1.  Place all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix together.
2.  Eat as a vegetable or a cracker dip.

Tomato wanderings

My feelings on food could probably be summed up with the idea that food picked at the height of ripeness in the right season does not need a lot of "messing around" with it to make it taste amazing.  Hence, my current preoccupation with tomatoes.  Here in eastern Washington, we have such a short tomato season, and must endure pasty, flavorless, shelf stable tomatoes for so long in the year, that I just want to gorge on them when they are at their best.  This week, along with the tomato soup from the previous entry, I made two simple tomato salads of note.  Make sure you use the most flavorful tomatoes you can find.  Enjoy!

Tomato and Basil Salad with Lavender Salt by Joie de vivre (pictured above)

(earlier in the season when lavender was in bloom, I dehydrated some and added the blossoms one to one with course salt.)

1-2 Tomatoes

10-12 Basil leaves

Olive Oil

Lavender salt.

Cut your tomatoes into slices and arrange nicely.  Top with basil leaves, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with lavender salt.  Voila!  Instant summer goodness.

Tomato, Melon, Cucumber Salad by Joie de vivre

2 Tomatoes

Watermelon

1 Cucumber

4 oz. Soft goat cheese

3 Tbs. Red Wine Vinegar

1 Tbs. Olive oil

Pinch of sugar

Salt 

Pepper

Peel cucumber, cut in half, remove the seeds and slice.  Slice tomatoes and watermelon (remove rind).   Toss together in a bowl.  Make a dressing by whisking together 3 Tbs. red wine vinegar, 1 Tbs. olive oil, pinch of sugar, salt and pepper to taste.  Pour dressing over salad and toss.  Sprinkle with goat cheese and eat immediately.

Summer abundance

My family and I belong to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).  Basically, one buys into a farm at the beginning of the season thereby taking on some of the risk of the farmer and supporting the local guy.  In turn, you get a box of produce every week throughout the growing season.  August is always the time of year that we struggle to use all of the produce as the abundance is almost embarrassing.  For example, this week's box contained the following:

Peaches

Onions (both bulb and green)

string beans

kale

eggplant

purple potatoes

red cabbage

hot peppers

bell peppers

squash

cucumbers

tomatillos

tomatoes

2 melons

sweet corn

carrots

We are not talking just one of each either.  There were 6 ears of corn, 4 huge cucumbers, a plethora of eggplant, a huge bunch of kale, you get my point.  In order to tackle this bounty, I have gotten in the habit of making my weekly menu and shopping list after I know what is coming in the box.  I thought I'd share my dinners this week with you.  Last night was a very simple melon and shrimp salad, a cucumber dill salad, and some chocolate pudding chocolate chip cookies.  Enjoy the recipes and stay tuned for more recipes from this week!

Shrimp and Melon Salad adapted from The French Market:  More Recipes from a French Kitchen by Joanne Harris and Fran Warde

Serves 6

1 ripe melon

1 lb. shrimp cooked (I used baby shrimp)

A bunch of dill, chopped (probably about 2 tsp)

2 Tbls. olive oil

Juice from 1 lemon

Slice the top and bottom off of a melon so that it stands flat on your cutting board.  Carefully cut away all of the rind.  Cut the melon in half, scoop out the seeds, then cut melon into serving sized slices.  Arrange melon slices on a fancy plate or plate individually.  Top with shrimp and dill.  Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice.  Serve immediately.

Cucumber Salad  taken from The French Market:  More recipes from a French Kitchen by Joanne Harris and Fran Warde. 

Serves 6

2 large cucumbers

A bunch of dill, chopped (probably 2 tsp)

1/4 cup olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

Sea salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Peel the cucumbers and slice in half lengthwise.  Run the tip of a teaspoon down the middle of the cucumber halves to remove the seeds.  Slice the cucumbers finely at an angle and place in a bowl.  Add the dill, olive oil, and lemon juice.  Season with salt and pepper.  Toss well and leave to marinate for 30 minutes.

Chocolate Pudding chocolate chip cookies by Joie de vivre!

Made a lot....not sure, but at least 4 dozen

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 c. butter

1 30z. package instant chocolate fudge pudding

2 eggs

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. chocolate chips

2 1/4 c. flour

1 c. walnut pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Soften the butter and mix well with the brown sugar.  Add each ingredient in order, mixing well before adding another ingredient.  Roll into walnut sized balls and place on cookie sheet.  Flatten cookies with spatula or fingers (they do not spread much)  Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees.  (Mine baked in exactly 9 minutes)

Enjoy and stay tuned for more recipes using this week's produce!