Tinto de Verano

• Ice cubes
• 750 ml bottle inexpensive Spanish red wine, like Rioja
• Sparkling (naturally sweetened) lemonade or any not-too-sweet lemon-lime beverage, like Lorina
• Fresh lemon slices

Fill each glass (juice glasses work well) with as many ice cubes as you can fit.  Add 1/2 c. of wine and 1/2 c. of sparkling lemonade.  Stir.  Taste.  It should be light and refreshing and not overly juicy in flavor.  Sometimes the less expensive wine you get here in the States is very concentrated and grapey.  If that is the case, dilute the mixture with a bit more sparkling lemonade as desired.  Serve with a lemon slice.

VERDICT:  I would not have believed it, but mixing Rioja and lemon sour makes a more-than-passable alternative to sangria.  Keep.

CLT with Spicy Blackberry Mayo

• ½ c fresh blackberries
• 2-3 t chopped canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
• ½ c mayonnaise
• 1 t whole grain mustard
• 1 lb halloumi cheese, sliced into ¼-inch-thick pieces
• 8 slices sourdough bread, toasted
• 4 romaine lettuce leaves
• 2 large heirloom tomatoes, such as Beefsteak, Cherokee Purple, or Early Girl, sliced

In a food processor or blender, puree blackberries, chipotle pepper, mayo, and mustard until well combined.

Heat a large, heavy bottom skillet over medium high heat. Brown each side of the halloumi for about 20 seconds. Set aside. 

Smear one side of each piece of bread with blackberry mayo. Assemble sandwich with cheese, lettuce, and tomato, doubling up the tomato layer if desired. (Do it!)

Variations: Sub blueberries in for blackberries and spinach for lettuce. OR Use bacon in place of the halloumi. (It’s a little too salty with both.) Be sure to crisp it up nice and drain it on a paper towel first. OR Omit bread and stack together tomato, cheese, and lettuce. Thin out mayo with 1 tbsp buttermilk and drizzle over stack for a salad.

Serves 4.

VERDICT:  John gave this a ten!  The halloumi is salty and browned and delicious.  It's also expensive--given that you're buying blackberries, too, not an everyday sandwich.  Still, definitely a keeper.

Rice Pudding Tart with Caramelized Pineapple

Crust

• 35 to 40 gingersnap cookies, crushed (about 2 c)
• ¼ t salt
• ¼ c canola oil

Pudding

• ½ c long-grain jasmine rice
• 4 c (two cans) light coconut milk
• ¼ c sugar
• P inch of salt
• ¼ t cinnamon

Pineapple

• 1½ c fresh pineapple
• 1 t canola oil

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place gingersnaps in bowl of food processor and pulse until fine crumbs form. Add salt and blend. Pour cookie crumbs into a small bowl and stir in canola oil. Press mixture into the bottom and sides of tart pan. Bake crust until color is slightly darker and firm to the touch, about 8-10 minutes. Cool completely on wire rack.

Combine rice, coconut milk, sugar, and salt in medium, heavy bottom saucepan. Stirring constantly, bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Continue cooking and stirring occasionally until liquid has almost completely reduced and rice is cooked, about 15 to 18 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cinnamon.

Pour mixture into prepared tart pan and bake until pudding has set, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

Dice pineapple into ¼-inch pieces. Heat canola oil in large skillet over medium high heat and add pineapple. Cook until pineapple pieces are browned, then transfer to a small bowl and cool completely.

When tart has slightly cooled, about 15 minutes, remove from tart pan and top with caramelized pineapple.

Variations: Substitute black rice and 4 plums (pits removed, cut into ½-inch pieces) to make purple pudding. Use arborio rice with 2 medium oranges, sectioned and cut into ½-inch pieces, subbing in ½ tsp vanilla for the cinnamon.

VERDICT: Not even close to worth the effort. I had high hopes for something made out of rice pudding (one of my favorite desserts) with a gingersnap crust (one of my favorite cookies), especially since it's made with coconut milk. But it was oddly flavorless, and looked a little gross when sliced. Toss and make straight-up rice pudding instead.

Curried Yellow Split Pea and Carrot Soup

For the soup:

• 1 T olive oil
• 4-5 medium carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 yellow onion, roughly diced
• 1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 t ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 lb yellow split peas, rinsed
• 1 T curry powder
• 1 t dried mustard
• 7 c vegetable stock
• 3 T cider vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the spicy cream:

• ⅓ c crème fraîche or sour cream
• 1 T fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 scallion, minced
• 1 T lime juice
• ½ t red pepper flakes

Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-bottom stock pot over medium heat. Add carrots, onion, garlic, and ginger. Stir well to coat veggies with oil. Cover and cook until onions are translucent and carrots are tender, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes.

Stir in yellow split peas, curry powder, and dried mustard. Add vegetable stock and bring soup to a boil for 2 minutes, then reduce heat to a simmer and cover.

Cook soup until peas are tender, about 35 to 45 minutes. Add cider vinegar, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside and let cool slightly. Meanwhile, prepare spicy cream.

To make the spicy cream, stir all ingredients together in a small bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.

Once the soup has cooled slightly, puree it in a blender, in small batches, until smooth (or use a handy immersion blender). Ladle soup into bowls and top with the spicy cream.

Serves 6-8.

VERDICT: Good, especially with the hit of lime juice from the "spicy cream." Keep.

Mushrooms & Barley Stew

• 2 T olive oil
• 1 T butter
• ½ medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 carrot, diced (to match the onion)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 lb mixed variety mushrooms, like button, shiitake, baby bellas, or oyster, sliced ¼ inch thick
• ¼ c red wine
• 2 T soy sauce, divided
• ½ c pearl barley
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 c vegetable stock (one 32-oz box)
• 3 T fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Heat olive oil and butter in a large, heavy-bottom stock pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, and garlic and sauté until lightly browned. Add mushrooms and continue cooking until they have released their juices and are browned.

Add red wine and 1 tbsp soy sauce. Cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced by half. Add barley, thyme, and bay leaf, sautéing for 1 minute. Add the vegetable stock and bring mixture to a boil, then lower heat, cover, and simmer for about 1 hour. (If soup seems too thick, more broth can be added to thin it out.)

Before serving, remove thyme stems (leaves will come off during cooking) and bay leaf. Stir in remaining 1 tbsp soy sauce, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle stew with chopped parsley before serving.

Variation: Stir in ¼ cup sour cream just before serving for a creamy stew; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese for an added punch of flavor. Substitute farro or wheat berries for the barley.

VERDICT: There is a lot to love about this recipe. 1) Not a lot of chopping. 2) It calls for red wine, which is a nice excuse to open a bottle. 3) It used up the fresh thyme I had lying around in the fridge. AND...it's delicious! Silky and umami-y. Makes a reasonable 4 servings. Keep!

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Stew

• 1 T canola oil
• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1-inch cubes
• 1 onion, peeled and roughly diced
• 1 red pepper, seeds removed and chopped into ½-inch pieces
• 1 jalapeño, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 T chili powder
• 1 t cumin
• 1 t cayenne pepper
• 3 c vegetable broth
• 14.5-oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes with juices (fire-roasted from Muir Glen are a favorite)
• 1 c frozen corn
• ¼ c fresh cilantro, chopped
• ¼ c freshly squeezed lime juice
• Shredded cheddar cheese to serve

Heat canola oil in a large, heavy-bottom stock pot over medium high heat. Add sweet potatoes, onion, red pepper, jalapeño, and garlic, stirring to coat. Sauté until onion and peppers are soft, about 4 minutes.

Add chili powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper and stir well. Reduce heat to medium, cover pot, and allow sweet potatoes to soften, about 7 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After sweet potatoes are fork tender, add vegetable broth, black beans, and tomatoes. Bring stew to a boil, stirring well and scraping the bottom of pot to incorporate all of the spices. Add frozen corn, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for an additional 15 minutes.

Before serving, stir in cilantro and lime juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve stew with cheddar cheese and additional cilantro, if desired.

Serves 6-8.

VERDICT: For once in my life, this turned out looking exactly like the picture:

Not really any better or worse than every other sweet potato-black bean soup I've made. Really spicy, but that's probably due to using the entire enormous jalapeño that was the only one left at Lund's (Super Bowl Sunday being tomorrow and all). And possibly to realizing I was out of chili powder at the very last second and having to improvise with paprika, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, and cayenne. Not really the recipe's fault, but toss nonetheless.

Granola Your Way

• 1/3 to 1/2 c vegetable oil, coconut oil, light olive oil, or butter
• 1/3 to 1/2 c brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, or agave nectar (use the lesser amount if using agave or honey*)
• Vanilla (1 tsp), cinnamon (1 tsp), ginger (1/2 tsp), or cardamom (1/4 tsp)
• 4 c flaked grains, such as oatmeal, Kamut, spelt, and/or rye
• Flaked unsweetened coconut (1/3 c), wheat germ (3T), nutritional yeast (2T), flaxseeds (2T), or chia seeds (2T)
• 2 c chopped nuts and seeds, such as walnuts, almonds, pecans, shelled sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, or sesame seeds
• 1 c chopped dried fruit, such as apples, pears, peaches, plums, cranberries, currants, raisins, and/or cherries

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt butter (if using oil, warm it) and add your sweetener of choice along with vanilla, cinnamon or other spices you're using.

2. In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients, except dried fruit. Pour the warmed butter or oil and sweetener over the mixture and mix with a large spoon or spatula.

3. Transfer the mixture to a large baking sheet and spread out. Bake until evenly browned, 20 to 25 minutes, stopping halfway through to stir the ingredients. Remove from oven, add dried fruit, and toss to combine. Let cool completely on the baking sheet, then store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to three weeks.

*If using honey, you don't need to heat the oil in Step 1. Just whisk the oil together with the vanilla or cinnamon and pour it over the flakes, nuts, and extras, and toss and bake as directed. When you remove the granola from the oven, add the dried fruit and drizzle the honey over it while still warm. Toss to coat, and cool and store as directed. (Note that honey will produce a sticky granola that clumps together.)

VERDICT: I used vegetable oil, agave syrup, vanilla and cardamom, oats, wheat bran, walnuts, pecans, sesame seeds, apricots, and dried cherries. I have yet to try it with yogurt or milk, but am so far unimpressed. It's weirdly dusty in flavor and texture. It got a little overcooked even at the low end of the time range, which doesn't help. It's nice that the recipe is so flexible, but unless I really needed to make granola and had to patch it together with the ingredients I had on hand, I'd skip it. Toss.