Quick and Easy Summer Squash Salad

   This last weekend was one of those crazy weekends. House guests visiting from LA. They were on a work trip to Skywalker Ranch when their car had a meltdown. After repairs and getting their work done at the Ranch, it was on to our house where things did not exactly get better. It was up in Sonoma that their car finally decided to die.

   This is everyones' my worst nightmare. To be trapped 500 miles from home with a thousand pounds of equipment and a dead vehicle. After a hurried consult with mechanics, it was decided that the cars' best days were long gone and it was time for a new whip. So the weekend became a search for a way back to LA.
 
   With all the stresses of work, travel and then car buying, one wants life to be a little simple and it seemed that the easiest and simplest thing I could do for everyone was to just cook. It was also a warm weekend here in NorCal, so cooling, soothing foods were wanted. Plus easy, 'cause when a trip to the dealership is in order, who knows when anyone is coming home and what kind of mood they're going to be in.

  A couple of Indian, spice-rubbed chickens was my go-to entree, along with black eyed peas and mushrooms,  fresh corn has just shown up at the market, so my favorite easy spinach and corn dish, and of course a nice, cooling summer salad made with what used to be the most hated vegetable my mom ever served us, Summer Squash, aka Patty Pan squash, aka The Devil.
 
   Every kid has a most hated list of foods and I was a weird kid. I loved most of the stuff my friends hated. I don't know whether I was like that just to be contrary, or because I didn't want to give my parents the satisfaction of being able to torture me with vegetables. Either way, I loved the green stuff. Except for that round, flat UFO-looking squash that had a tendency to turn all watery and grey once it was on the plate. YUCK. Even now, I really don't care for it. However this time of the year, it seems to be everywhere and it's really, really, really cheap. So in the interest of frugality, I started to experiment with it and sure enough, the Indian Kitchen had a way of making the unplatable (to me) desirable. Mixed with fresh mint and spices, and wrapped in good quality yogurt, all of a sudden I was eating this stuff again and liking it. The hated hot squash had become a cool summery Indian salad.

 

Indian Summer Squash Salad

Here's What You Need:
 
1 and 1/4 cups of steamed, mashed, cooled summer squash
1 tsp of cumin seeds
2 tsp of chopped fresh mint
1/8 tsp of paprika
1/3 tsp of salt
1 cup of good quality plain yogurt
2 Tbs of sour cream

Here's What To Do:

Wash, quarter and steam the squash until it's tender (about 15 minutes or so).
Let it cool, drain any excess water away from it and mash it up.
Dry roast the cumin seeds in a small pan and grind them up.
Mix the ground cumin with the squash.
Add in the chopped fresh mint

Pour the yogurt into a bowl. I like to use an local organic yogurt.

Add in the sour cream and blend it together well.
Add the squash mixture to the yogurt sour cream blend.
When everything is well mixed together, decorate with a bit of chopped mint.
Check for seasoning and serve it up.

   This is one of the easiest summer salads to make. It works well with both Indian and Western dishes.The important thing to remember in making this dish is excess water. You want to keep any excess water out of it or you will wind up with a soup. Also, this is a dish which needs to be blended together at the last  minute and served immediately. Trust me. It turns grey if it's not, and there will be all sorts of traumatic childhood memories either formed or reawakened.  Who wants the therapy bills getting over squash? Save the money for the really big stuff.
  
   Coming up next, the weather is turning warm here in Wine Country and I'm putting on my cool cooking shoes. Fast salads, and quick breads for company meals. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori

A Fast, Fresh Salad For the Top Of Tomato Season

    Tomatoes are easy. They're everywhere, in every shape and color this time of year. Finding a great tomato however, is not easy. Summer does not  a tomato make, even though it's supposed to. Here in Sonoma we have a big field called The Patch.

 
   The patch is one driveway down from where we used to live. In fact that house with the tine roof visible though the trees is where our little yellow farmhouse used to be. So we've moved farther up a steeper hill but The Patch hasn't changed one bit. It's still a traditional community favorite, still attended by Leo The Patch Guy, and payment is still stuffed in a tin box on the honor system, something this long time city dweller had a long time wrapping her brain around. If you ever get up Sonoma way, make sure you make it a stop on your tour around the town and bring back some Sonoma goodness.
   The Patch by far, has some of the best tomatoes I've ever eaten. On occasion I've gotten a little carried away and been afraid I was getting a gouty toe and so, I had to dial it back on the love apples for awhile. But what's one supposed to do when that dizzy, crazy tomato season rolls around again except break out the mozzarella and start plucking basil, like a tweaking rabbit.
   Well hold on there sugar pop, there are other ways to go with one's tomatoes. One that I especially go for this time of year is wrapping them in a creamy fresh yogurt with a spicy chaunk.
This tomato raita recipe is crazy easy which is another great thing because how much time do you want to spend in a hot kitchen at the height of tomato season aka Summer? If you're like me, not much. This dish whips up fast and easy, and like a lot of these simple salads, goes just as well with Western dishes as it does with an Indian feast.

Tomato Raita

Here's what to do:
 Whip 2 cups of plain yogurt until smooth and creamy

  Add in 3/4 tsp of salt
 Grind in a couple of twists of white pepper
 Cut about 3 fresh ripe tomatoes into 1/2 pieces, or you can halve small cherry tomatoes.
 Drop them into the yogurt, but Don't Stir them in !!!!

 First comes The Chaunk!
Heat 1 Tbs of vegetable oil in a small pan or skillet.
 when the oil is hot add in:
  1 tsp of black mustard seeds
  1 fresh serrano chili seeded and finely chopped
 When the mustard seeds start to pop, mix it all into  the yogurt.

   Stir everything together carefully, sprinkle a bit of chopped fresh cilantro across the top and serve it up right away! This is not something you want to leave sitting around. Serve it fresh, cool and fast.

   On another topic I've been deeply involved with goat lately...I know that doesn't quiet sound right. I've just got a bad "goat jones" ever since I became involved with the Goaterie Gang. This last weekend I went in search of goat ribs for a tandoor experiment. How did it work out? Take a look.

   Marinated for 24 hours then slow cooked on the grill, it was amazing. The only thing that wasn't so amazing was the caveman-like behavior required to eat it. I didn't have the butcher crack the ribs so there was much tearing and gnashing. I was so glad that it was just the two of us since I wouldn't want to have any civilized people have to see me eating like that...truly greasy with goat meat. I loved the marinade and I am planning on cooking this again and giving the recipe. In the future I will be inviting guests and cutting the meat ahead of time and cooking it on long skewers to be more managable.
  One other great discovery with all this food was this:

   Fragrant and fruity, it did not go head to head with the goat. If you're looking for it, be quick. They've ripped out the vines to make room for a more popular grape, so it is as they say...leaving the planet.
  Coming up next, bottle gourd, the zucchini of India, I do some cooking from the Peko Peko Cookbook and I go all gluten free with dessert! Follow along on Twitter @kathygori