It’s been ages since I’ve done an Ingredient of the Week series, mostly because it’s been ages since we’ve had any hint of life in our garden. But even though the garden is several weeks behind where it was last year, thanks to the weirdly cold spring we had, it’s finally starting to move out of that frustrating stage where everything’s tiny and you use all your time weeding and waiting, into that lush, productive stage I dream about during the depths of winter.

The first crop to really come into its own this year was the strawberries. We planted 75 little plants last spring, and although it was torture to pick off the blossoms last summer, allowing the plants to establish themselves but forgoing the chance of fruit, we’ve been rewarded several times over for our patience, with pounds of fruit ripening on an almost daily basis this summer. In just a little over a week we’ve already picked over 8 pounds of gorgeous berries, which is a lot for just two people. I’ve done a little canning, a little baking, and a little drink-making, but we still have a lot of berries to work through, so we’re going to do strawberry week – i.e. I’ll be posting new strawberry recipes here every day this week, until you all are completely sick of hearing about them.

Although strawberries are usually recognized for their sweetness, we’re kicking things off with a savory recipe. Strawberry gazpacho is not a new idea, but it is certainly a good one, as the balance of acid and sweetness in fresh strawberries  is actually pretty similar to the balance in a very ripe tomato. I did a little research on strawberry gazpacho recipes, but ultimately decided that none of the recipes out there had quite the mix of flavors I was looking for, so I came up with my own. Fortunately, I was really pleased with how well it turned out. It has a little bit of everything red in it – strawberries, tomatoes, red pepper, red onion and red chilies, plus a bit of cucumber, garlic, and basil (not red, but very necessary). Marinated in olive oil and champagne vinegar, then pureed into a smooth and frothy soup, it’s well-balanced and refreshing.  I topped it with red grapes, for sweetness, a goat cheese cream, for richness, and a handful of toasted pine nuts. I liked it so much I had some for breakfast yesterday – it definitely meets my serving of fresh fruit or veggies at every meal requirement, so that’s an added bonus. It’s also super easy, so I imagine we’ll be blending up several more batches of this before the summer is over.

Past Ingredients of the Week

Rhubarb: Rhubarb-Prosecco Spritzer; Rhubarb Custard Fool; Rhubarb Recipe Round-Up; Persian Rhubarb and Beef with Rice; Rhubarb-Ginger Bars

English Peas: Smashed Pea, Dill, and Feta Crostini; Green Pea Fritters with Herbed Creme Fraiche; English Pea Recipe Round-Up; Green Pea Rum Cooler; A Salad of Bacon, Peas, and Fennel

Carrots: Savory Carrot, Feta, and Almond Baklava; Carrot Cake Crepe Cake; Carrot, Grapefruit, and Mango Smoothie; Moroccan Carrot Panini with Olive Tapenade

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Strawberry Gazpacho with Grapes and Goat Cheese

A Katie at the Kitchen Door original recipe. Serves 4-6.

• 3/4 lb. fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced (about 2 1/2 c. sliced)
• 1/2 medium red onion, chopped (about 3/4 c. chopped)
• 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped (about 2 c. chopped)
• 1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 1 large heirloom tomato, cored and roughly chopped (about 3/4 lb.)
• 2 medium cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1-3 tsp red fresno chili, seeded and finely chopped (taste for heat and adjust amount accordingly)
• 1/2 c. packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 c. olive oil
• 1/4 c. champagne vinegar
• 1 TBS sea salt
• 2 oz. goat cheese
• 1/4 c. heavy cream
• 1 small bunch grapes
• 2 TBS pine nuts, lightly toasted in a dry skillet

1. Combine first 11 ingredients (strawberries through salt) in a large bowl and stir to coat all ingredients with the oil and vinegar. Cover and let marinate at room temperature for three hours. Transfer to a blender and blend on high until smooth and frothy. Serve at room temperature or chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
2. Just before serving, whisk together the goat cheese and heavy cream until smooth. Pour the gazpacho into bowls and top each with a swirl of the goat cheese cream, a handful of grapes, and a few toasted pine nuts. Serve with crusty bread.

The post Ingredient of the Week: Strawberries // Strawberry Gazpacho with Grapes and Goat Cheese appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

The Book: Even before I got to the recipe section of Anya Kassoff’s new book, The Vibrant Table, I knew I would like it. Discussing her healthy eating philosophy in the introduction, Anya writes that she creates “recipes that utilize the most nourishing ingredients in the tastiest ways possible… without feeling confined or making too many rules.” I sometimes struggle with my feelings about diet labels – vegan, raw, gluten-free, paleo, whole 30, etc. On the one hand, at their most basic level, they all encourage eating more whole foods and vegetables, a principle that’s hard to argue with. But move beyond the basic principles, and I get really frustrated with the focus on excluding “bad” things instead of eating more “good” things, as well as by the diet-shaming communities that unfortunately seem to pop up around popular diets (loved Shanna’s post about that a while back). Personally, I like to think I’m of the “everything in moderation” camp, and I would never sacrifice flavor for health, so it was refreshing to hear those feelings echoed in a book with the tagline “Recipes from my always vegetarian, mostly vegan, and sometimes raw kitchen.”

Anya and her daughter Masha are the writer/photographer team behind the popular blog Golubka, and they’ve managed to translate the same helpful and friendly tone and gorgeous photography that have mad their blog a success into this cookbook. The Vibrant Table will inspire you for every meal of the day, with as many healthy breakfast recipes and snacks as savory lunch and dinner ideas. Since I’m a bit of a Russophile, the dishes with a strong Russian influence hold special appeal to me, and I loved getting glimpses of Anya’s memories into summer days at their dacha, foraging for mushrooms and berries. Most of the recipes require a medium effort level: they’re not extremely simple, nor are they overly complex. There also aren’t too may “out there” ingredients (by which I mean the dairy and meat replacements and weird alternative powders that some vegetarian/vegan recipes rely so heavily on, and really turn me off as an omnivore). Instead, the focus is on whole foods and natural flavors you’ll be able to find fairly easily. True to the title, the food really is vibrant, and I love that the photography, which is light-filled and richly colored, compliments the bright and healthy feel of the food so gorgeously.

The Food: I cooked dinner from this book the same day it arrived in the mail – I was so inspired by it that I went out to the store just so I could make the Chickpea Crepes with Mango Salsa that night. I later adapted that recipe to have more Indian flavors and served it with grilled curried chicken (recipe here!), and I’m sure it’s one of many recipes inspired by this book that will enter my regular dinner rotation. For this post, I’m sticking to a recipe that I didn’t feel the need to adapt in the slightest – these beautiful, refreshing Peach and Avocado Summer Rolls. These summer rolls are packed with an astounding number of bright, juicy flavors. Even though they’re one of the main ingredients, the peaches feel unexpected with each bite, when gorgeous little bursts of peach juice mix with the creamy avocado and toothy rice paper. The sauce, too, is intense and delicious, with both the sourness of the tamarind and the saltiness of the soy making it mildly addictive. I will certainly be making these again – they make a filling summer dinner that’s not heavy in the slightest – but I’ll definitely need to practice my wrapping technique (i.e. please excuse the messy styling in these pictures).

Recipe Shortlist: Cacao Buckwheat Granola; Apple and Carrot Breakfast Salad; Zucchini, Chocolate, and Blueberry Pancakes; Marinated Stuffed Poblano Chiles; Golden Gazpacho; Lazy Sweet Potato Dumpling Soup; Beet and Buckwheat Gnocchi; Zucchini Spaghetti with Nectarines and Pumpkin Seed Pesto; Fresh Fig Cupcakes; Earl Grey Poached Pears with Hazelnut Panna Cotta

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Disclaimer: I received a review copy of The Vibrant Table from Roost Books, but I was not otherwise compensated and all thought and opinions are my own.

Peach and Avocado Summer Rolls

Recipe from The Vibrant Table. Makes 15 rolls.

• 4 TBS smooth almond butter
• 2 TBS tamarind paste
• 1 TBS maple syrup
• 1 TBS grated fresh ginger
• 1 tsp soy sauce [Note: I used 3 TBS to get the sauce to a good consistency, and the flavor was still good]
• 2 medium ripe avocados, peeled, pitted, and sliced
• 1 lime
• 3/4 c. pistachio nuts, chopped
• 1 TBS plus 1 tsp hazelnut oil
• sea salt
• 3-4 oz. baby spinach
• 15 rice paper wrappers
• 3 medium peaches, pitted and thinly sliced
• 1 c. mixed fresh basil and mint leaves

1. To make the sauce, whisk together the almond butter, tamarind paste, maple syrup, ginger, and soy sauce until smooth. You may need to increase the amount of soy to get a thinner sauce if using very thick almond butter. Taste, and adjust balance if necessary.
2. Place the avocado slices in a shallow dish and squeeze the lime juice over them. In a small bowl, mix the pistachios with 1 tsp of the hazelnut oil and a pinch of sea salt (only if using unsalted pistachios) and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the spinach leaves with the remaining 1 TBS of hazelnut oil and toss gently with your hands to coat the spinach.
3. Fill a large flat dish (such as a pie plate) with slightly warm water. Soak the rice paper wrappers in the warm water one at a time, submerging each wrapper evenly and soaking until soft. As you remove each wrapper from the water, fill it immediately: place 1-2 peach slices in the middle, top with 2-3 avocado slices, a handful of spinach leaves, a few basil or mint leaves, and a small spoonful of pistachios, followed by 1 more peach slice. Don’t overfill the wrapper, as it will be difficult to roll. To roll it, fold the bottoms of the wrapper up over the filling on both sides, then roll to close. Repeat until all your filling is used. Serve immediately with the dipping sauce.

The post Book Club: The Vibrant Table // Peach and Avocado Summer Rolls appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Even though January, February and March felt never-ending, I find myself very surprised that it’s already June. Is this what it feels like to get old, the weeks seemingly disappearing into months like it’s nothing? Oi. It’s not a bad thing, but my life feels full, in a good way, and time is flying by. Given that I might have to spend the better part of August and September in Malaysia for work, I feel like I really have to make the most of summer in June and July, including, of course, sticking with my monthly fitness goals – it is bikini (or at least one-piece?) season after all.

I did a good job with exercise in May, even though I had a ten day, three-stop business trip that could have potentially thrown a wrench in my workout schedule. Not only did I complete my May goal of getting 180 minutes of strength training in (although it came down to the wire, with my last Nike Training Club session just squeezed in on the 31st), I also kept up with the running, clocking over 55 miles at an average pace that was 6 seconds faster than April. I feel good, and now I just have to maintain both components even as the weather gets hotter and working out becomes a sweatier proposition.

However, I did not do so well with my eating habits last month. Business trips are rarely good for my eating habits – too many three-course meals paid for by our hosts, an especially difficult thing to turn down in a world-class food city like Rome – but even when I was at home, I found myself eating out or resorting to cheese and crackers for dinner all too often. This month, I want to be better organized and prepared, bringing healthy lunches to work whenever I can, planning ahead for wholesome dinners, and, if I can really commit myself to this, kicking the daily latte and muffin/cookie habit I seemed to have developed over the past month (it used to be a less frequent habit, but I have somehow slipped into a pattern where I run downstairs to grab one on a daily basis now). Besides planning ahead, I want to rely more on fresh fruits and vegetables for my meals, especially since we’ve finally arrived in the season where a variety of local New England produce is available (beyond radishes and rhubarb, that is). So, the official goal? Have at least one serving of fruits or veggies at every meal (ideally fresh, but I’m not going to fault myself for having a bowl of vegetarian chili at dinner or lightly sauteed spinach in my omelets). I’m also going to try and make most of my afternoon snacks fruit or veggie based – replacing cookies and pretzels with apples and crudités. We’ll see how that goes in practice, but I swear I’ll try.

In that vein, this month’s recipe is packed with flavor, color, and freshness, while still being filling and balanced. I recently received a review copy of Golubka’s The Vibrant Table, and the very first night I flipped through it, I ended up making the Chickpea Crepes with Mango Salsa for dinner. Of course, once I’m inspired, just leaving recipes the way they are is very difficult for me, so I tweaked this and that and ended up with a recipe that’s a perfect dinner for me. The biggest change is obviously the addition of grilled chicken marinated in a curry yogurt sauce – I felt like I needed some more bulk to make this a stand-alone meal – but I also swapped out some of the flavors for a more Indian profile (cumin seeds instead of sesame seeds in the crepes, mint and basil instead of cilantro in the salsa), played with the consistency of the crepes to make them more pliable, and added a bunch of sweet red pepper to the salsa for even more color and freshness. The resulting meal is bursting with flavor, and just the kind of thing I need to get me excited about eating fresh vegetables.

Past Fitness Challenges

January: 10 Visits to the YMCA; Recipe: Gluten-Free Olive-and-Feta Corn Muffins
February: One vegan meal every day; Recipe: Pakistani Chickpea Pulao with Sweet-Hot Date-Onion Chutney
March: Run 40  miles in 20 days; Recipe: Chocolate-Dipped Almond Butter Cookie Bites
April: Walk 8,000 steps a day; Recipe: Herb-Flecked Spring Couscous
May: 180 minutes of Nike Training Club; Recipe: Warm Arugula Salad with Maple Mustard Dressing

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Chickpea Crepes with Grilled Curry Chicken and Mango Salsa

Inspired by The Vibrant Table. Serves 4.

For the chicken:

• 1 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 2 TBS curry powder
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 4 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts

For the crepes:

• 2 c. chickpea flour
• 2 TBS whole cumin seeds
• 2 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 2 1/2 to 3 c. water
• 1 large egg
• vegetable oil for frying

For the mango salsa:

• 1 large ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and diced into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 red bell pepper, cored and diced into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/3 c. very finely chopped red onion (from about 1/4 of a large onion)
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and finely minced
• juice from 1-2 fresh limes
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• small handful of mint leaves, sliced into chiffonade
• small handful of basil leaves, sliced into chiffonade

1. To make the chicken: Mix the yogurt, olive oil, curry powder, crushed garlic, and 1 tsp of salt together in a large bowl until evenly combine. Add the chicken breasts and rub the curry marinade all over them to fully coat. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and up to overnight.
2. To make the crepes: Whisk together the chickpea flour, cumin seeds, turmeric, and salt. Add the water 1/2 cup at a time, whisking until as smooth as possible between batches. Resulting batter should be runny but not watery. Add the egg and whisk to blend with the batter. Cover the batter bowl and let rest for at least 30 minutes, and ideally 1 hour.
3. To make the salsa: Mix together all salsa ingredients in a medium bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning (lime juice, salt, jalapeno, and herbs) to your taste.
4. When you are ready to eat: Fire up your grill and preheat. Grill the chicken for 6-8 minutes on each side, until cooked all the way through with no pink left in the middle (grilling time may vary significantly depending on the temperature of your grill and  the thickness of your chicken – always check that they are cooked in the middle before serving!). Set cooked chicken aside.
5. Heat 2 tsp of vegetable oil over medium heat in a large frying pan. Once hot, add half a cup of the crepe batter and quickly swirl the pan to allow the batter to run into a large circle. Cook crepes for 30-60 seconds on each side, until golden brown and bubbly, then flip. Stack cooked crepes on a serving platter. Slice cooked chicken and serve over the warm crepes alongside the mango salsa. Serve as soon as possible after cooking, although leftover crepes can be wrapped in tinfoil and stored in the fridge if necessary.

The post Monthly Fitness Goals: June // Chickpea Crepes with Grilled Curry Chicken and Mango Salsa appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Just a quick hello to bring you a quick super-seasonal salad I’m sharing over at Greatist this week.  I missed my last post over there (I know, you’ve heard it before, but work really has been crazy), so I wanted to make this one extra, er, healthy.  Which it totally is.  And not only is it healthy, it’s fresh, full of flavor, satisfying and a great use of some of the spring produce we already have in abundance – radishes, peas, and mint.

I made this salad last Saturday to go with the Vermont quiche we had for dinner.  Last Saturday was such a great day.  Even when I know I have to work weekends, I try and take one full day without touching anything related to work.  For me, that day is usually Saturday.  Sunday I’m getting organized and ready for the week, so working can feel like a natural part of that, but Saturday is my day to recover, catch up with Trevor, and do whatever I feel like doing.  And last Saturday, whatever I felt like doing consisted of a long run, a few photoshoots, and 3 beautiful hours gardening with T, taking plenty of breaks to sunbathe and drink rhubarb-hibiscus spritzers.

Our garden is tiny, and definitely an experiment, but it brings me so much joy.  I like taking a few minutes every day, either in the morning or when I get home from work, to just walk through and check on the progress of all the tiny vegetables and herbs.  It’s especially nice after a light rain, when everything sparkles a little.  I’m amazed at how much change can occur in a 24 hour period – today there were flowers on the fava beans that weren’t even buds yesterday, and 3 tiny new leaves appeared on every bean plant.  Even just standing there for a few minutes and watching all the green brings me this great centered calm feeling.  I sometimes wonder what my roommates think when they catch me just staring at a box of dirt and green things.  (Actually, I remember wondering the same thing about Megan last year, when I used to sit on my windowsill and watch my shoebox full of lettuce.  Literally, I planted a garden in a shoebox.  It didn’t go that well.  But Megan lived with me for 4 years; she knew these things about me already.)

Something about eating something as fresh and seasonal as this salad after a day spent working in the garden felt just right.  And I wanted to share that feeling with you.  Plus, it doesn’t get much faster, easier, or healthier than this, which is what Greatist is all about!  Head on over there for the recipe.

Other Greatist guest posts (fast, simple, and healthy!):

• Chipotle-honey chicken tenders
• Fruit and nut bars
• Quinoa puttanesca

The post Greatist Collaboration: Fresh Snap Pea and Radish Salad appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.