savor — guide to food & dining on the azalea coast
Concert Al Fresco Recipes
Pasta Primavera Salad with
Artichoke Pesto
SERVES 4
This crunchy, lemony salad is the per-fect
must on a hot summer day — and
no mayonnaise to spoil in the heat!
1 pound Israeli couscous pearl
pasta or orzo, cooked al dente,
drained, and chilled
3 stalks bok choy, rinsed and diced
3 scallions, sliced thin
½ cup artichoke hearts, diced
1 orange or yellow bell pepper,
seeded and diced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 large banana pepper, seeded
and
diced small
Zest of one lemon
For the Artichoke Pesto:
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 generous handful of flat leaf
parsley leaves
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
½ cup artichoke hearts
3 tablespoons pine nuts (optional)
¼ cup freshly grated parmesan
cheese
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
¾ cup (+/-) olive oil
Combine all the pesto ingredients
except the oil in a blender or food
processor. Pulse until well com-bined.
With machine running, driz-zle
in the oil until a smooth and
thick, but pourable, consistency
develops. Set aside.
Prepare the salad ingredients.
Combine all the prepared salad
ingredients in a large bowl and
toss with the pesto. Pack into
portable containers and chill until
ready to eat. If not serving the
same day, keep the salad ingredi-ents
and pesto separately in the
refrigerator. Warm the pesto to
room temperature before tossing
with salad.
Chunky Gazpacho with
Grilled Chicken and
Cilantro Oil Garnish
SERVES 4
1 hothouse cucumber, halved
and seeded, but not peeled
2 red bell peppers, cored and
seeded
4 Roma tomatoes
1 red onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
23 ounces tomato juice
¼ cup white wine vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black
pepper
Roughly chop the cucumbers,
bell peppers, tomatoes, and red
onions into one-inch cubes. Put
each vegetable separately into a
food processor fitted with a steel
blade and pulse until it is coarsely
chopped. Do not over process.
After each vegetable is processed,
combine them in a large bowl
and add the garlic, tomato juice,
vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Mix well and chill before serv-ing.
The longer gazpacho sits,
the more the flavors develop.
Diced avocado also makes a great
garnish.
For the Grilled Chicken:
¼ cup lemon juice
½ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons cracked black pepper
2 chicken breast or 4 chicken
thighs (boneless, skinless)
Combine all ingredients except
the chicken in a wide, shallow
bowl. Marinate the chicken
breasts or thighs in the refrigera-tor
in the lemon juice combina-tion
for two hours or overnight.
Grill the chicken until cooked
through, about four minutes per
side. Cool and dice. Refrigerate
until ready to use.
For the Cilantro Oil Garnish:
1 bunch cilantro leaves
(about 1 ½ loose cups)
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 ¼ cups olive oil
Place the cilantro, salt and
pepper in a blender or food
processor. Add ¼ cup olive oil
and pulse to combine. With
the machine running, drizzle
in additional oil until a smooth
sauce is formed.
Transfer to a squirt bottle for
easy use and refrigerate. Let
stand at room temperature for
an hour before serving.
Lemon Poppy Seed Summer Squash Muffins
4 tablespoons unsalted
butter, melted, plus 1 table-spoon,
softened
1 cup cake flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 large egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon
zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 small or 1 large yellow summer
squash, seeded and finely diced
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Line eight- or nine-well muffin tin
with paper liners and spray with
nonstick cooking spray to ease
removal from the paper (this is not
essential, just a nice touch).
In a large bowl, sift together cake
flour, flour, baking powder, baking
soda, salt and poppy seeds.
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In a medium bowl, combine the
egg and sugar and beat with an
electric mixer on high speed until
light and fluffy, about two min-utes.
Reduce the mixer speed to
medium and beat in the yogurt,
milk, remaining four tablespoons
of butter, lemon juice, zest and
vanilla until well incorporated,
about 30 seconds. Fold the wet
ingredients and the squash into
the dry mixture until moistened,
careful not to over-mix.
Divide the batter among the muf-fin
cups, filling each halfway.
Bake until the muffins are set
and golden brown and a tester
comes out clean, 16 to 18 minutes.
Remove from the oven and cool
for 10 minutes in the tin and then
transfer to a wire rack to cool
completely.
Makes about eight full-sized muf-fins
or 24 mini muffins. If making
mini muffins, reduce bake time to
13 to 15 minutes or until a tooth-pick
inserted in the center comes
out clean.
For more recipes go to wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com