Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Tomato and Black Bean Salad

Its super seasonal, and I'm lucky enough to have a neighbor who over planted heirloom tomatoes so I've been reaping the bounty the last few days. Tonight's side dish was stupid easy for prep and quite tasty too.

Tomato and Black Bean Salad
3 tomatoes - diced
1 can black beans - drained
1/2 red onion - small dice
3 T red wine vinegar
6 T olive oil
1 T chopped parsley
1 T chopped cilantro
salt
pepper

Add all the ingredients to serving bowl. Toss lightly until evenly distributed. Add Salt and Pepper to taste. Cover and marinate in refrigerator at least 2 hours before serving. Serve chilled or at room temp.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Individual Peach Crisps

Sometimes I know instinctively what to do when someone says "bring dessert for brunch" other times I agonize not knowing what to bring. Its fresh fruit season so it made sense to do something seasonal and simple since it is summer. I thought about it for a few days and then inspiration wishes from a friend told me what to do. Take the bounty of fresh peaches at the farmers market and turn them into "Individual Peach Crisps". Hence this recipe idea was born.

You'll note I have the individual crisps on a baking sheet to catch any potential boil over and spare myself some oven cleaning. I highly recommend you do the same.

Individual Peach Crisp

Ingredients:
3 pounds fresh peaches, peeled, pitted
2 T corn starch
1/2 c sugar
2/3 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/3 c old fashioned oats
1 cup brown sugar lightly packed
1/2 teaspoon salt - divided
1 teaspoon cinnamon - divided
1/2 cup soft unsalted butter
Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375°.
Place slice peeled, pitted peaches into mixing bowl. Add sugar, corn starch, 1/4 t salt, 1/2 t cinnamon. Toss until well coated. Put aside while mixing topping.

Mix together the flour, oat meal, brown sugar, 1/4 t salt and and 1/2 t cinnamon into a medium bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Divide peaches among 8 ramekins. Divide topping and sprinkle crumbs evenly over peaches. Place ramekins on a baking sheet to catch boil over.Bake at 375° for 40-45 minutes, until topping is golden brown and peaches are tender. Serve peach crisp warm with cream or whipped topping.

Seriously, try to divide your peaches evenly as possible. You certainly don't want your guests to suffer dessert envy now do we?