A Perfect Summer Salad

I had this salad at a restaurant in Cambridge last year and it is delicious in any variation. Salty, sweet, crunchy, sour... It has something for every taste bud. Some recipes recommend red onion or shallots, which would be great. One recipe I saw included chilis. Those are all yours. I think the one that I had included chopped mint leaves, but we didn't have any in the house tonight. As usual, I like this recipe because it's quick and flexible.

Chunks of watermelon
Chunks of feta
Spinach or arugula leaves
Chopped red onion or shallots
Chopped chilis (optional)

Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme or mint or basil
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)

This was so delicious and refreshing that it's all I had for dinner!

Chinese Tea Eggs and Soba Noodles

This is a beautiful, crunchy, salty vegetarian dish full of protein. The Chinese tea eggs are beautifully marbled. They're just hard-boiled eggs I made them over Passover and while they were tasty, they weren't very marbled. This time? Well, see for yourself! Gorgeous. I think the biggest improvement this time was throwing in 2 whole tea bags instead of just two tablespoons of tea.

2 bundles soba noodles (buckwheat, found in Japanese groceries and Whole Foods)
6-8 Chinese tea eggs (requires 2 hours prep- make ahead of time!)
2 scallions, chopped
1 carrot, shredded
oil
rice vinegar
lime juice

Make Chinese tea eggs and let cool. Boil noodles and pour on a teaspoon of oil, a splash of vinegar, and lime juice so they don't get sticky. Put noodles in a bowl and top with sliced egg, scallion, and carrot. Enjoy!

Mango Mousse

Mango Mousse

This is the easiest, classiest looking dessert. We recently layered it with the blackberry mousse and graham cracker crumbs for a barbecue party on Memorial Day. Above, we tried to make a mold and then invert it. That didn't work. The raspberries are on it to hide the gooey melted mango mess. So, serve this in a bowl or dole it out into martini glasses before it sets and don't try to make a mango mousse mold. Trust me.

1 can (28 oz) mango pulp
1 container cool whip
one package jello

Mix thawed cool whip and mango pulp. Combine jello and 1/4 cup water and heat until gelatin dissolves. Mix into mango and cool whip mixture and let set 3 hours or overnight for best results.

Blackberry Mousse

Blackberry Mousse

I'm really into classy-looking desserts with un-classy ingredients. See Lime Jello Mold. The newest addition to this dubious club is a mousse made of Goya frozen fruit puree and Cool Whip.

It all started when I bought a bunch of frozen Goya fruit purees at the Hi-Lo Market in Jamaica Plain. There were so many amazing choices, but I settled on Blackberry and Tamarind. I haven't figured out what to make with the Tamarind yet, but improvisation will follow.

Not content to make smoothies, I created this blackberry mousse recipe. As I write this, my husband and I are anxiously waiting for it to set so we can dig in. I licked the beaters, the spatula, and almost ate it all in its semi-solid form. Self control, Erica; self control. But you will see what I mean and why I almost couldn't resist... Next for this wonderful recipe: a parfait with this and my mango mousse... or with my lime/sour cream jello...

1/2 package Goya blackberry pulp (1 cup)
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp almond extract (optional)
1 package gelatin
1 package cool whip

mint/plain cool whip/blackberries for garnish (optional)

Thaw cool whip until soft. Bring pulp and lemon juice to a boil. Add gelatin and dissolve a few minutes. Lower heat and add sugar. Stir until dissolved. With beaters, whip in cool whip. Transfer to serving bowl or (classier) martini glasses. Let set for 1-2 hours.