We’re flirxting with summer. By the way, “flirxting” is a technical term.

I’m so ready to do a canon ball in a pool; definitely not ready to be in a bathing suit in front of other humans. Ugh.

I’m looking forward to old movies in the cemetery whilst eatin’ cool snacks; not ready to need air-conditioning.

I can’t wait to bake up elaborate pies with fresh berries; not ready for fruit flies. They loooove my kitchen in the summer.

I’m excited for crazy salads (I can’t believe I’m saying that!), but when it’s hot outside all I want to eat are piles upon piles of grilled vegetables. I’m so not ready to sweat. There’s nothing adorable about the act of sweating, am I right?

I haven’t completely warmed up to the idea of summer but I’m attempting a full on embrace by drinking fruity drinks.

I’m staring with this strawberry cucumber-spiked agua fresca.

I recommend this to be placed in your summer arsenal.

If you’re invited to BBQs in the next upcoming months–which you will be because everyone likes you and you’re cool–I advise you to turn to this on occasion.

It takes about 15 minutes to throw together. It’s not expensivo. And everyone likes drinking pink, refreshing things.

Also, it’s awesome with a lil’ vodka thrown in.

And P.S.:

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mamas out there! We all appreciate you.

Strawberry Cucumber Agua Fresca

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2 pounds of strawberries, hulled and halved
Water
6 tablespoons sugar
4 smallish English cucumbers, peeled, chopped
Juice from 2 limes

1. In a blender, add the strawberries, 2 cups of water and sugar. Blend for a minute, until mixture is smooth. Transfer strawberry mixture to a sieve which is lined with a few layers of fine cheesecloth. Let the mixture drain for 10 minutes, stirring the puree every few minutes to coax it along. Gather the ends of the cheesecloth and gently squeeze it to expel any remaining juice. Meanwhile, add the cucumber with 1/2 cup water to the blender (no need to clean it!) and blend until combined. Repeat straining process with cucumber puree.

2. Add the cucumber juice and lime juice to the strained strawberry mixture, along with 1 1/2 cups of water. Adjust sugar to taste. Transfer bowl to refrigerator and chill for an hour. Serve over ice.

Yields 4 cups

Something happened when I started this food blog…all my (boy) friends (a.k.a. friends who happen to be boys) started texting/calling me with their cooking questions.

I’m not sure what it was per se that piqued their interest in cooking since most of them didn’t care a few years ago.  I kinda think it had to do with growing tired of their typical take-out and fast food options..but mostly…it was to cook for girls.

I couln’t really blame them? I mean…boys cooking = cuteness.

I’d get calls like, “hey, I have two eggs, one sweet potato and garlic in the fridge…what can I cook?” They’d call with questions about roasting vegetables, how to cook bacon, what roasting actually means, etc…and then they got the hang of it…and umm…it’s really cute. Now, I get texts (all of the time!) of pictures of what they’ve cooked.

1. The first pic of filet wrapped bacon with a side of potatoes au gratin.  This is a huge step for my friend Ian. One time he told me he was giving up fast food and then opened up his freezer to show me all the Lean Cuisines and Stoeffers meals. He wanted approval. Umm…

2. Second picture is total show-off city. My friend Ryan got all fancy with his omelet and Sriracha. He’s a cooking pro (sort of) and makes some of my fav guacamole ever. His secret: crushed cumin seeds, which he pronounces in another way to be crude. I laugh every time…mainly because deep down I’m four years old.

3. Third picture is my friend Justin bragging…his girl makes him vegetarian chili.  Girls cooking for boys is equally cute.

4. And then, after four (separate) calls on how to make sweet potato fries, Justin got all crazy and put ‘em in some fish tacos. Kind of genius. Let’s be nice and just ignore the burnt ones.

5. & 6. Travis eats super healthy.  He sends me pictures of healthy food made delicious. Some sauteed shrimp with peas and carrots. And the other picture is a tofu patty he made with rosemary carrot fries?

Can I be honest? I don’t even like carrots. And boiled carrots? #vom

But I wanted to give them a try.

I thought them in a spicy variety would be delicious. Curry, cumin powder, a little cayenne and salt.

I peeled them and cut them into batons.

Transfered them to a bowl and added a few tablespoons of olive oil and spices.

Toss. Tumble.

Baking sheet. Spread ‘em out evenly.

I made a tzatziki sauce, which I have to google every time to get the spelling down.

Pretty standard: dill, greek yogurt, lemon, cucumber and sour cream. Delicious and refreshing.

Perfect combination with the spicy, curriness from the fries.

#boom!

Spicy Carrot Fries with Tzaziki Sauce

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Yields enough for 8 people

Spicy Carrot Fries:

6-8 small carrots, peeled and cut into batons

3 tablespoons of olive oil

2 teaspoon of curry powder (if you’re adverse to heat, scale back to 1 teaspoon)

1/2 teaspoon of cayenne

1 teaspoon of salt

1 1/2 teaspoon of cumin powder

Tzatziki Sauce:

1 cucumber, peeled and diced

1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice (or juice from 1/2 lemon)

7 ounces of whole greek yogurt (one small container of Fage)

2 tablespoons of dill

3 tablespoons of sour cream

1 teaspoon of salt

Pre-heat oven to 425F.

In a large bowl, toss carrots with olive oil, curry powder, cayenne, salt and cumin powder. Evenly spread out on a baking sheet being sure that the carrots don’t overlap. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown.

For the tzatziki sauce add all of the ingredients to a food processor and blend until thoroughly incorporated. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

My wedding dress and I are in a staring contest. See, my wedding is less than a month away and I have to fit. Seriously, if it means that I don’t exhale the entire evening, then that’s a sacrifice that must be made.

Just to bring you up to speed, I’m not wearing your average wedding dress. I’ve actually altered my grandmother’s dress that she wore in 1946.  Here’s what it looked like then:

Dude, isn’t my grandmother a fox? Is it weird to think that about your grandmother? It is? Yeah, just ignore that then.

Here’s something you should know about me and my grandmother. We are not the same dress size. At all. Basically, she’s just over 5’ tall, and was skinny as a rail when she got married, whereas I am 5’10” and have hips. So yeah, although the dress was altered to fit me (and to look a little more modern), it’s a snug fit. By “snug” I mean that I need to lose a couple pounds if I hope to breath at any point during the day.

Thus begins my month of dieting. But knowing myself, there’s no way I’m going to stay on a diet if I’m only eating dull, boring food. Thank goodness for recipes like this scallion noodle bowl. The noodles are coated in a light but flavorful sauce of ginger and scallions, and then topped with super easy-to-make pickled cucumbers for some tang, and some crisp sautéed cauliflower.  This might not sound super exciting, but my meat-lover fiancé loved this dish. Not that he needs to lose weight; I have to admit to you that he’s actually skinnier than me. That is totally lame.

To kick off my “fit into wedding dress” plan I was gifted a lovely bottle of rice wine vinegar from Nakano. I was surprised when it ended up being flavored with basil and oregano, but I’ve always loved rice wine vinegar because of it’s light and slightly sweet taste, and the added flavors are pretty tasty. Even cooler than that, as a gift our lovely readers, they want to give one of you some vinegar as well, PLUS a $25 American Express gift card (lucky!).

Here’s the deal: check out their website, and then leave a comment posting a link to your favorite recipe, or leave me a comment with your own suggestions for ways to use this stuff (I do have a whole bottle, after all). Please submit all comments by noon on Wednesday (Pacific time) and I’ll announce the winner shortly after that.

Update: Congrats to Janna M. for winning the giveaway!

“The Vegetable Pastry Purses are calling to me.
http://mizkan.com/Recipes/?action=view&recipeID=369258124447
Congratulations on your wedding! I love your blog and especially the way you word your captions on foodgawker and Tastespotting.”

Thanks everyone for the sweet comments; you guys are awesome!

Momofuku’s Ginger Scallion Noodle Bowl

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Adapted from Momofuku Cookbook via Amateur Gourmet

To make the pickled cucumbers, you’re basically just adding salt and sugar, marinating, and then adjusting to taste. I gave you an approximate amount to what I used, but I would recommend adding a little of each and then adjusting as you go. I added more soy sauce and vinegar than what the recipe called for and have adjusted it here. Nakano sent me a basil & oregano flavored vinegar, which was surprising but actually tasted pretty good. I would experiment with plain vinegar or using a different flavor as well.

1 medium sized cucumber – approx 1 cup of sliced cucumber
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
2 ½ cups thinly sliced scallions
½ cup minced ginger
¼ cup grapeseed oil
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ large head of cauliflower, cut into florets
1 lb noodles – ramen, soba, or lo mein

Thinly slice the cucumber. In a small bowl toss the cucumber with the salt and sugar. Allow to sit for a few minutes and then taste one of the slices. Adjust the salt and sugar as necessary.

In a bowl combine the scallions, ginger, grapeseed oil, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar. Allow to sit and marinate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil on high in a skillet and add the cauliflower florets. Cook on high until they begin to turn crispy and brown. While those are cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook your noodles. Drain, and toss the hot noodles in the scallion sauce. Disperse into bowls and top with cauliflower and cucumbers.

Don’t think of these as popsicles, think of them as the perfect summer afternoon snack. Here’s my issue with snacks: they totally fill me up. To the point that I’m not hungry at dinnertime. Yeah, sometimes I think it would be a good thing if I still had my mother around to remind me not to spoil my dinner. I’m not so good at it on my own.

Since my mom lives on the East coast, this is my antidote to the spoiled-dinner conundrum. These pops are refreshing and packed with flavor. But when you get right down to it, they’re mostly water, with just a little juice and sugar added. Definitely not enough to ruin your dinner, but enough to keep you full for an hour or so.

Oh yeah, and they are perfect for a hot summer day. Which LA hasn’t had many of this year, but that won’t stop me from eating these every day this weekend.

BTW – I totally squeeze my limes with a lemon juicer. Don’t judge.

Cucumber-Basil Limeade Popsicles

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This recipe is very easy to adjust based on your own taste. Feel free to play around with the amounts of each ingredient.

2 cups water
2 stalks basil (stems & leaves)
¼ cup sugar
2-3 limes
½ English cucumber, seeded

In a saucepan combine the water, basil and sugar and bring to a boil. Stir frequently until the sugar has dissolved and then remove from heat. Allow to cool slightly and then place entire mixture in an air-tight container and chill, at least 2 hours. (overnight is best)

Meanwhile, grate the cucumber and juice the limes. Remove the basil from the chilled syrup, and slowly add in the lime juice, tasting often.

Fill the popsicle molds ¾ of the way and chill uncovered for about an hour, until they become slushy but are not completely frozen. Top each mold with the grated cucumber and use a knife to distribute it evenly throughout the pop. Add in the popsicle stick and freeze the molds completely.

I don’t know who decided that cucumbers were especially cool vegetables, but I suspect he/she may have coined the phrase “cool as a cucumber” after drinking some cucumber juice. This stuff is by far the best way to eat a cucumber. Granted, it takes a little more effort than just dunking slices in salad dressing, but the extra work most definitely pays off.  And over ice, this drink finally gives meaning to the expression “cool as a cucumber.”

While we’re finding meaning in expressions, can I discuss a few others with you?

Dollars to Donuts – I heard this for the first time about a week ago, and I am already looking for every opportunity available to work it into conversation. Is it bad that I might actually be happier winning donuts instead of dollars? I wonder in that case if I can still use the phrase…

The Bees Knees – this makes no sense. Absolutely none whatsoever. I don’t even know if bees have knees, or if they do, what could possibly be so great about them. I can tell you right now that if I had wings and could make honey on a whim, I wouldn’t be pointing out my knees as my best feature.

The Cat’s Pajamas – If I ever own a cat again I’m buying it the coolest pajamas you’ve ever seen. And taking at least a million photos.

Brownie Points – I think of s’mores, knot tying and campfire songs when I hear this saying. Does anyone else remember being in the Brownies in Girl Scouts? Anyone?

And from now on, when I hear “cool as a cucumber” I will think of sipping this awesomely green juice. Give it a try, cause seriously, this stuff is the bee’s knees.

Cucumber Juice

Recipe adapted from Sunny Anderson

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The only complaint I had about this juice is that it was a little sweet for my taste, so I cut way back on the sugar. Chase also had a great idea – make this without the sugar and freeze into ice cubes. Pour water over the frozen juice and you have some instant cucumber water.

2 English cucumbers
½ cup sugar
2 cups water

Peel the cucumbers, saving the peel. Chop the cucumbers into small pieces. In a medium saucepan, bring the sugar and the water to a boil. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the chopped cucumber flesh and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add in the peels. Blend everything together until smooth, using either an immersion blender or regular blender.

Line a bowl with a cheesecloth. Pour the mixture into the bowl and gather the cheesecloth in one hand to squeeze out all the excess juice. Chill the juice until cool, about 1 hour, and then serve over ice.

LA is notorious for fabulous 70 degree weather year around, but this week the weather gods decided to strike us with blistering 105 degree temperatures, which has put much of the valley up in flames.  With smokey cloudy air and sweltering temperatures, the last thing on earth I feel like doing is turning on a stove or, gosh forbid, an oven; really the only effort I feel like exerting is trying to find a creative way to keep cool.

I came across this jewel of a recipe a few months ago when I was recovering from two back-to-back flu attacks, and figured it might be a good time to cool it with all of the white sugar and white flour I was constantly consuming.  I turned to a cleanse I saw on Gwenyth Paltrow’s blog, GOOP.  She’s received a ton of criticism about the blog, mainly because people say it’s targeted for the rich, but how many of us can say our personal friend is Mario Batali?  It’s actually kinda fun hearing about what he cooks for private dinners with her and Emeril Lagassee.

Anyway, the cleanse on her blog was designed by her doctor in place of the very popular Master Cleanse, which I bravely tried a few years ago and on the ninth hour, gave up and madly drove to the nearest Chipotle where I stuffed my weak little body with chips and guacamole.  When I took a look at the cleanse’s menu I was pleasantly surprised that I could actually eat! When I delved into the experience I quickly dismissed most of the recipes and basically ate this soup for a week straight.  It’s so creamy, rich and tart, while still feeling like you’re eating real food.  After the cleanse was over I continued to eat this soup.  And when yesterday’s dreadful weather set in I decided to introduce the two ingredients together once again.  Mr. Cucumber, please meet my dear friend, Mr. Avocado. You guys have a really bright future together…Maybe even a really cool soup.  A soup that will keep even the sweatiest, overheated person as cool as a cucumber.

Cucumber and Avocado Soup

Recipe from Gwyenth Paltrow’s blog, Goop

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Zest from 1/2 lime
Juice from 2 limes
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cucumber peeled and seeded, roughly chopped
1/2 avocado, peeled and roughly chopped

Blend everything together until totally creamy and smooth.  I added a dollop of creme fraiche just to add a little creaminess, but you’re totally welcome to leave it out.