Scenes From Cafe Juanita’s Alfresco Pig Roast

Hold on, the headline says pig roast. Why am I looking at soup? Because a pig roast, while delicious, is ugly gorgeous. As the sunny season winds down at Cafe Juanita in Kirkland, Washington, this soup is one of the things I've been looking forward to all summer. Pappa al pomodoro. You know this soup? Tomatoes, hand crushed. Garlic, basil, cayenne, olive oil, balsamic, sherry vinegar, bread. Served at room temp, it is the essence of summer. At Sunday night's Pig Roast, pappa al pomodoro was a pre-dinner summer sipper. This is perhaps the one Cafe Juanita recipe that gets shared the most, but I've never actually made it. Why? It's a destination dish. I'll just say, it's worked out really well that we got married in late summer. If I plan it right, I can have it at the restaurant. If you can't, the recipe is here. So what about that pig roast?

ByMichelleSeptember 14, 20121Comment

Summer Wind Down w/ a Green Bean & Cherry Tomato Salad

Some long weekends I go into overdrive on cooking projects, but over this past Labor Day weekend, I felt compelled to do almost nothing. I hit the farmers market Saturday morning after having missed the two previous weeks and bought a ridiculous amount of Roma tomatoes and nectarines to stave off that nagging (read: desperate) feeling that summer is slipping away. But I didn’t have anything really in mind for them. OJ is embarking on a new diet and exercise regimen, which puts some real food limitations on half our household, so a nectarine buckle was out of the question and I didn’t feel motivated enough to make tomato paste. So despite our larder being more than full, this weekend was about simplicity. It was also about baseball games, braving the crowds at Pike Place and stocking up on this and that at Cost Plus, but mostly, it was about simplicity.

ByMichelleSeptember 4, 20120Comments

Main Course Recipes Side Dishes

Cool Off a Hot Summer Night: Edamame Hummus

We’re in the dog days of summer, finally. Days so hot all you want to do is sit in front of an oscillating fan and sip a cool glass of iced tea. Days so hot nothing is getting cooked, except you in your car on the commute home. I’ve got something for you. It’s cool, crisp and refreshing. It’s….a sandwich. Well, a dip and a sandwich. Break out the food processor, we’re making edamame hummus, which you can do as dip for dinner with veg and pita chips, or as a great spread on sandwiches for the “Damn, could it get any hotter?” nights ahead.

ByMichelleAugust 15, 20122Comments

Cooking Recipes Side Dishes

Israeli Couscous with Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette

As a cook, my grandma was a product of her generation. Raising kids in the 50s and 60s, she cooked both from scratch and from boxes and packets as convenience foods came on the scene -- say chicken and dumplings, with Bisquick dumplings. Some days when I was a kid, she'd start dinner at 2 pm and other days she'd whip together a one-skillet meal in half an hour. Green beans and tomatoes always remind me one of her one-pan dinners served over rice. She’d sauté chunks of onion with garlic and either chicken or pork in a little oil, then add canned tomatoes and some green beans, cooking until the beans were tender. Salt and pepper was the only seasoning. It was simple, and it cemented green beans and tomatoes for me. This Israeli couscous salad takes inspiration from that dish with just cooked green beans and a roasted tomato vinaigrette, brightened with a trio of herbs.

ByMichelleJuly 17, 20125Comments