STUFF TO EAT WHEN IT'S TOO FRICKIN' HOT TO COOK, PART 3

Finally, there is really no cooking here.  You can pull out any leftovers from those other two salads, add these sammies and dip, take a quick look around the mess that your guests left in your house last weekend, and ditch it all for a picnic in the park. Maybe I'll see you there, avoiding eye contact over our beers.

Vegetarian Muffuletta

Serves 4
1 loaf of Italian bread (or something else firm and crusty)
8 oz. roasted red peppers, cut into strips
1 tablespoon capers, chopped
1 cup pitted Castelvetrano olives (or your favorite pitted green olive)
1 clove garlic, minced
3 pickled pepperoncini peppers, stems and seeds removed, finely chopped
1/2 cup olive oil, plus extra for roasting the carrots and cauliflower
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, plus an extra splash to season the cauliflower
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
1 shallot, minced
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into thin rounds
1 small head cauliflower, chopped into small bite-sized pieces
Small handful of basil leaves
1/4 pound aged provolone, thinly sliced (leave this out for a vegan sandwich)
Handful of arugula

Add the capers, olives, garlic, pepperoncini peppers, and the 1/2 cup of olive oil to a food processor, and pulse until the ingredients are roughly chopped. Transfer the pulsed ingredients to a large mixing bowl, and add the red wine vinegar, dried oregano, celery seeds, chili flakes, and shallot. Fold all the ingredients together. Some excess oil is OK—it will soak into the bread and make the sandwich delicious. Taste the olive mixture. It should taste strongly acidic, salty, and spicy. Adjust the flavor with more salt or red wine vinegar as necessary. Set the mixture aside.

Slice the bread in half with a serrated knife. If the bread seems too tall, dig out some of the middle of the bread (you can save this to make croutons or thicken soup later). Spread the olive mixture onto both halves of the bread, allowing some of the extra oil to soak into the bread. Starting with the bottom piece of bread, lay down the carrots, followed by the cauliflower. Tear the basil leaves with your hands and place them on top of the cauliflower. Next, add the provolone, followed by the roasted red peppers. Place a handful of arugula onto the top piece of bread. If there is excess oil leftover from your olive mixture, drizzle some of this over the arugula. Close the sandwich and nom nom nom. 

Feta Pistachio Dip

Serves 6 to 8

1 cup shelled pistachios
1 clove garlic
1 bunch of dill
1 teaspoon dried mint or a few sprigs of fresh mint
4 ounces feta
1/2 cup Greek yogurt

black pepper to taste
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Get a selection of raw seasonal vegetables for dipping.

Buzz the garlic and pistachio together in a food processor into a rough crumble. Add the dill and mint and pulse until well chopped and amalgamated, add the feta cheese, and pulse. Add the yogurt and pepper and pulse. Drizzle the olive oil in and pulse one more time. Taste for salt; because of the feta, it shouldn’t need any. This dip will hold easily for a day or two in the fridge and should rest for at least 4 hours to let the flavors meld. I actually like it better at room temp for dipping, though. 

Grilled tofu banh mi

You know what's super delish? Grilled tofu!  But the smokiness can be a little too intense for a Thai curry.  However, it stands on its own so well, you'll never miss meat in things like this banh mi, below. You can also cut it up and put it in wraps (collard green wraps, anyone?) or a vegan Caesar salad, for that matter.  

First, you're going to have grill (or bake, it's equally good) your tofu. Keep this recipe handy, because it's about to be your new favorite protein source:

Crispy Tofu, Baked or Grilled

One block tofu, cut width-wise into two thinner steaks

Marinade, if desired

Salt and black pepper

Cornstarch

Press and cut the tofu.  If you’re going to marinade it, do that first, for 15-30 minutes, making sure to flip once for even marination. 

Cover a dinner plate with a light sprinkling of cornstarch Season the steaks with salt and pepper on both sides (you can skip this step if you marinade) and then dredge both sides in the cornstarch, shaking off any thick clumps and spreading it around so it’s even-ish on both sides.

To grill: cook over medium heat until golden on both sides, about 10 minutes on each side.  

To bake: place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake in a 400⁰F oven until golden on both sides, about 12 minutes on each side.

Possible marinades:

·         1 tablespoon brown sugar + 1 tablespoon soy sauce + 1 tablespoon lime juice

·         1 tablespoon brown sugar + 2 tablespoons soy sauce + 1 tablespoon rice vinegar + 1 teaspoon (or more) garlic-chili sauce

Then, make your sandwich:

Grilled Tofu Banh Mi

Serves 4

1 cup distilled white vinegar

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon sugar

3 garlic cloves, crushed

3 ounces hothouse cucumber, julienned

4 ounces radish, julienned

4 ounces multicolored carrots, peeled and julienned

1 block of crispy baked or grilled tofu

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 baguette (about 20 inches long), halved lengthwise

Thinly sliced serrano or jalapeño chiles and cilantro sprigs, for garnish

In a medium bowl, combine the vinegar, salt, sugar, garlic and 1/2 cup of hot water and whisk until the salt is dissolved. Add the cucumber, radish, and carrots and mix well. Let stand for 30 minutes, tossing occasionally. Drain the pickled vegetables and pick out and discard the garlic.

Spread the mayonnaise on the top half of the split baguette, then top with the tofu and pickled vegetables. Garnish with chiles and cilantro sprigs. Close the sandwiches, cut into 
4 pieces and serve. (If you have leftover pickled vegetables, they'll keep in the fridge for a week or so.)

Traveling meals

As a freelance musician, I spend a lot of time traveling when I should be sitting at the dining room table with a healthy meal. I have attempted to eat cold leftover spaghetti while driving through a snow storm (super, duper bad idea), I have been mid-swig of coffee while getting rear-ended by a teenage boy who can't drive and sneeze at the same time (still have the stain on my ceiling), and I have certainly succumbed many times to the gut bombs that are fast joints and, worse yet, gas station "delis".  I've decided that, upholstery and clothing stains not withstanding, packing my own food is best because a) classical music doesn't pay well and b) I often feel like I'm truly about to die for at least eight hours after eating a Whopper Jr. Oh, c) something about being healthy. But really, it's a) and b).

Normal people can also get friendlier with packing meals for the same reasons. Whether you want to stop eating out of vending machines at work, wish to avoid the outrageous prices for tasteless food at the airport, or are just looking for some new ideas for picnics (my favorite part of hiking), it's really easy to pack something delicious to reward you for putting on grown-up clothes and leaving the house. And this stuff will all keep unrefrigerated for a respectable amount of time.

WRAPS
The insipid "healthy choice" of the 90s really is a great idea for travel. I never liked them much, maybe because the only wheat wraps I could find at the store tasted like cardboard. But now I use sheets of nori (you know that stuff you bought when you were going to get all fancy and make sushi, then you realized making sushi sucks? That stuff.), rice paper wrappers (the stuff you make spring rolls out of), or big leaves of collards, Swiss chard, or whatever else is growing in the garden.  I actually love them.

I'll start by sharing this adorable video of a very capable but unenthusiastic young Brit making a wrap (Sweet Jesus, that's a lot of butter).

You don't even have to close the ends if your nori or greens won't cooperate. In fact, here's a nice little blog post on using nori. The only trick with rice paper is soaking it briefly--follow package directions. Now,  let's use some more interesting ingredients.

Spreads: Tuscan white bean dip, walnut-feta spread, and North African party dip all work great as a tasty glue in your wrap. So does guacamole, for that matter.  NOT BUTTER.

Grains: Use something sticky, like short-grain white or brown rice. Stir a little bit of vinegar into it if you want a flavor evocative of sushi.

Protein: Chopped hard boiled egg, mashed up beans (in place of a spread, above), cheese of any kind, or any leftover cooked meat will do. Try to stay away from those deli meats, though--they're nasty, and I care about you.

Vegetables: I try to avoid veggies with high water content if the wrap is going to sit around for obvious reasons, but otherwise, anything works.  Cut into spears for maximum efficiency when eating. 

Some favorite combinations: 

rice paper-sushi rice-finely chopped boiled egg, carrot sticks,gojuchang; 

collared green leaf-Tuscan white bean dip, chopped black olives, sun dried tomatoes, walnuts; 

nori-guacamole, brown rice, black beans, red onion, spinach

GRAIN and PASTA SALADS
A leafy salad with a couple of cherry tomatoes is not going to get you through much of the day, so you need to get a little heavier. These are awkward to eat while driving, but I have always gotten them through airport security, and it's perfect for picnics.

Grains: farro, barley, bulgar, quinoa, short-grain rices (long grain gets too dry)

Pastas: any shape works great, but go for something whole wheat, multi grain, or otherwise fortified for extra nutritional oomph.

Veggies: consider roasting a big pan of mixed veg to toss into salads or eat as sides throughout the week.  They'll really keep things form getting boring. Then when you mix in some fresh chopped vegetables, you've got a lot more variety in textures and flavors going on.

Fresh Herbs: Seriously.  If you have any growing in your window or garden (or the neighbor's garden, which you harvest at 2am--I'm not here to judge), chop and stir some of that stuff in here. It's going to be delicious.

Dressing: Any salad dressing you have already made (here are some ideas if you're stuck) will be great here, too. Don't make it complicated.

Some favorites: 
Farro with Vinegar-Glazed Sweet Potato and Apples
Barley Bowl with Miso Dressing
Tomato and Garbanzo Salad
Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad
Quinoa and Roasted Vegetable Salad
Mediterranean Lentil Salad