An Easy and Quick Late Summer Lunch

Although we have not had a break from the heat and autumn is far from showing its first signs, I feel excited about the new season and being able to sleep with our windows open. School started and we are now back into a routine (after a week of miserable jet-lag, that is). I like routine, I thrive on it. So I always like to have my meals planned out and my life scheduled around them.

I take after my mom on this one.



September is shaping up to be a very busy month with a couple of time consuming projects one after another. When I'm busy, I try to cook quick and healthful meals. I am completely committed to nutrition and mindful eating now and my body thanks me for it (no vertigo in months!).



I was recently writing about autumn and its bounty and I got hungry for root vegetables. Our farmers market starts in less than a month and I'm excited to see what all the farmers will have to offer. All kinds of carrots, turnips, parsnips, beets.

What is better than a simple plate of olive oil roasted root vegetables with a touch of salt?



When I saw this beautiful bunch of parsley root at Whole Foods, I immediately thought of the wonderful aroma of they would bring to a simple bowl of mashed potatoes. Coconut milk, olive oil, parsley and salt. That's all they needed. And some spicy shrimp with a touch of lime.

For dessert, this quinoa pudding I make often times for breakfast (similar to this). Quinoa cooked with hemp milk, vanilla and just a touch of sugar. Then I cooked some plums en papillote with brown sugar, vanilla bean and lemon thyme leaves and served them over the quinoa. So simple, quick and delicious.



Shrimp with Parsley Root and Potato Mash

Makes enough for 2 people

Bunch of parsley root (6 pieces), peeled and diced
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 clove garlic
3/4 cup coconut milk
1-2 Tbs olive oil
Parsley, chopped
Salt

8 large shrimp, peeled
red pepper flakes, to taste
salt
2 Tbs olive oil
Lime wedges

In a medium pot, bring water to a boil. Season it with a generous amount of salt. Add the parsley root and cook for about 5 minutes. Then add the potatoes and cook for another 10-15 minutes until both tender. Drain.

In the meantime, grate the garlic into the coconut milk and heat it gently (I do this in the microwave since it's such a small amount).

After draining the potatoes and parsley root, mash them, add the warm coconut milk with the garlic, parsley, salt and add the olive oil. Adjust liquid and season it as needed.

In the meantime, heat 1-2 Tbs of olive oil in a saute pan on medium-low heat. Add the red pepper flakes and infuse the olive oil for a minute. Season the shrimp with salt and cook them in the olive oil for 1 minute on each side.

Serve the shrimp over the parsley root mash with more fresh parsley and lime wedges.

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An Easy and Quick Late Summer Lunch

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Apricot, Pistachio and Lemon Shortbread Tart

It is always this time of year when the weather gets too hot to be outside when I start getting anxious to travel and I become even more melancholic about all my friends and family back home. Beaches flooded with people anxious to soak in the sunshine after a rainy spring. I too remember those times and I miss them.



This weekend, I found myself looking through the pages of Martin Berasategui's "Calendario de Nuestra Cocina Tradicional". It is one of my favorite Basque cookbooks as it depicts very well the seasonal approach to our cooking with emphasis on the quality of our raw ingredients and always with a modern approach.

The summer chapter is filled with colorful tomatoes, green peppers from Gernika, pisto, fruit salads. Just the colors alone are so inspiring.



I love seeing all the fruit stands filled with stone fruits and berries. It reminds me of my childhood and how my dad always filled up a cooler full of peaches, nectarines, apricot, saturn peaches or any other summer fruit when we took day trips to the beach or to the French border. Lots of fruit, tortilla and bread.



And when I came home with a bag full of apricots this week, I decided to make a simple tart. I know there are thousands of different ways of cooking with stone fruits, but for some reason, I always must have a tart. They are the perfect match and the simpler the tart the better.

This time I made a super quick gluten-free lemon shortbread recipe to fill the bottom of the tart pan. No need to roll it out. It is one of those doughs that you just press into the pan. Add some chopped pistachios on the bottom and fill the tart with fresh apricots. Lots of them tightly packed. Sprinkle some sugar, dab a bit of butter and a drizzle of honey. Simple and perfect for summer.



The fruit salad was also simple. I placed some yogurt over cheesecloth overnight and let it drain most of the whey. The next morning, you will have a thick yogurt that is perfect for a fruit salad with some honey. Kids love to arrange the fruit on the plate and dip it in the yogurt.



We are off to Seattle this week. I hear the weather is cool. It will be the perfect break from the Florida heat. Time with friends and family that we haven't seen in a long time. Can't wait to share with you photos and hopefully great meal reports.

Apricot, Pistachio and Lemon Shortbread Tart

makes a 10" tart or 8 individual tarts

225 grams butter or non-hydrogenated shortening
110 grams powdered sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp vanilla
170 grams superfine brown rice flour
110 grams cornstarch
30 grams tapioca starch
pinch of salt
chopped pistachios
sugar for topping
10-12 apricots
lemon thyme leaves, optional
honey, optional

Cream the butter and powdered sugar together. Add the zest and vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined.

Press the dough into tart molds. Refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes.

Cut the apricots into thin wedges. Sprinkle the chopped pistachios on the bottom of the tarts. Arrange the apricot slices inside tightly packed as they will shrink in the oven. Sprinkle more pistachios on top and some sugar.

Bake at 375F for about 30 minutes until golden. Drizzle honey and add some lemon thyme leaves on top, if desired.

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Apricot, Pistachio and Lemon Shortbread Tart

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