Thursday, July 8, 2010

Hot Weather = Cool Food

Seattle's summer came late, as usual... arriving on July 5th. With it, a mini heat-wave has descended upon our green city, leading me to bring out any/all warm weather recipes for my family that I can find.

Your local supermarket can be pretty hit-or-miss when it comes to finding local and/or seasonal produce... heavy on the "miss" if you're completely honest. A lot of the stuff you'll find in there has been shipped across the country (or the world), frozen, or packed full of preservative and/or pesticides. Then there are those rare moments when... *insert choir of angels singing here*... you luck out.

Last night was my lucky night!

I stopped by Safeway on the way home, and they had the biggest, freshest, most AMAZING watermelons I have ever seen! Already wanting to try out a recipe for watermelon & cucumber salad, I was able to form an entire meal around this delectable treat... and my family LOVED it!


Last night's dinner:



 - Hawaiian-style baked Tilapia
 - Watermelon & Cucumber Salad
 - Corn on the Cob

1. Hawaiian-style baked Tilapia

5 frozen Tilapia loins, thawed
1 TS salt
1/4 c. Soyaki Sauce (Trader Joe's)

Preheat the oven to 400 (F). Spray a nonstick baking sheet with cooking spray, and lay out the Tilapia. Sprinkle with salt, then pour the Soyaki marinade over the fish. Bake, uncovered, for 35 minutes or until the fish is nice and flaky.
... isn't that EASY?!



2. Watermelon & Cucumber Salad
1/2 c. white vinegar
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 TS red pepper flakes
Salt
8 cups seedless watermelon, cubed
4 English cucumbers, peeled and chopped
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
1/4 c. sweet chili sauce

Combine vinegar, sugar and pepper in saucepan. Bring to a boil; boil 1 minute, remove from heat and cool. Slice cucumbers and toss with 1 tsp of salt. Let sit in colander for 30 minutes. Pat dry. Just before serving toss watermelon with salt in a large bowl. Add cucumbers, red onions, celery, pepper syrup, and sweet chili sauce and toss. (recipe adapted from: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/327/WatermelonCucumber_Salad13199.shtml)

See you in the kitchen....!

- Krystal