Delicious in summer
Potato and egg salad perfect for picnic or barbecue
Backyard and on-the-road eating doesn’t have to revolve around peanut butter sandwiches and apples, although there’s nothing wrong with either.
Today I’ve got a couple of fresh and delicious recipes that are delicious and easy to serve on a picnic table.
Asparagus, Potato and Egg Salad
This is a perfect make-ahead dish for a potluck barbecue or just a picnic in the yard. Everything can be cooked up to two days ahead but dress the salad at the last minute. My usual dressing calls for honey but I had homemade caramel syrup in the fridge for iced coffee so on a whim I used it instead. Well, turns out I’ll be amending the recipe, at least whenever I have that caramel on hand.
Next week I plan on sharing some beverage recipes and I’ll be sure to include that. In the meantime, this is fabulous with honey, agave nectar or just a spoonful of sugar. This amount, like any salad, will serve as many or as few as it must, but I’d count on four generous plates at least.
Salad:
3 cups small red potatoes or larger potatoes cut into bite-sized pieces
1 large bundle asparagus, washed and woody ends trimmed away
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
4 hard-boiled eggs
Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 tsp. honey
1/4 tsp. each salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cook the potatoes in salted boiling water until tender. Dry completely and refrigerate until cold. Cook the asparagus in salted boiling water until not quite tender — they will soften a bit in the dressing and overcooked asparagus in this salad is awful. Dry them completely and cut into bite-sized lengths. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Boil the eggs. Use any method that works for you, but I cover them in cold water in a small pot then bring to a boil, covered over high. I turn off the heat immediately and let them sit for 9 minutes, 10 for extralarge eggs. Rinse in cold water and peel right away. Quarter them lengthwise and refrigerate until ready to make the salad.
For the dressing, whisk or shake the olive oil together with lemon juice, Dijon mustard, honey, salt and pepper.
Combine potatoes, asparagus and onions and toss with most of the dressing. Arrange the egg wedges on top either on individual serving plates or in a big salad bowl and drizzle the remaining dressing over the eggs.
Killer Kofta Kabobs
The idea of kabobs is usually more satisfying than serving them.
Chicken and shrimp are rubbery before the veggies are cooked and beef is anemic and gray wherever it touches its neighbours on the skewer. Vegetables alone work but then you usually need to consider another source of protein.
The answer is meatballs. I’m not talking about the ordinary Saturday night pasta variety, but spicy and exotic and perfect in a flatbread with yogurt cucumber sauce. Koftas are from the general vicinity of India and there are a thousand variations. This version is accessible because you can buy all the ingredients at the local grocery store. If you aren’t fond of lamb substitute ground pork. If you go with all beef you should consider medium rather than lean, though, because you need a bit of fat to keep the meat moist on the grill.
Allow one or two kabobs per person, depending on what other dishes are on offer. This amount fills 8 to 12 skewers.
Koftas:
2 slices sandwich bread, cut into small cubes
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup grated yellow onion
3 tbsp. grated fresh gingerroot
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. each salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. garam masala
1 tsp. each ground cumin and coriander
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, to your taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 lb. ground lamb
1 lb. lean ground beef
Kabobs:
1 large red pepper, cut into squares
2 cups fresh button mushrooms, halved
1 cup grape tomatoes
1 red onion, cut into wedges, pole to pole
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. each salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the koftas, combine cubed bread and milk and allow to sit until the bread completely absorbs the liquid and it is a homogenous mush. Stir in the beaten egg, onion, ginger, garlic, salt and pepper.
In a dry frying pan, heat garam masala, cumin, coriander and red pepper flakes until fragrant and stir into the bread mixture. Stir in cilantro and thyme leaves. Add lamb and beef and work gently with your hands until everything is completely combined. Cook a pinch of the mixture in a frying pan or microwave and taste for salt and heat. You are looking for fairly aggressive seasoning so feel empowered to add salt and pepper. Shape the meat mixture into elongated meatballs, about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide. Refrigerate at least an hour but overnight is even better.
Alternating koftas with vegetables, thread onto metal or well soaked bamboo skewers without crowding anything too tightly. Leave one meatball for the very end of a skewer as a tester. Whisk together oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and brush gently over the kabobs. Grill 10 to 15 minutes until vegetables are charred and meat is cooked through — the only way to know for sure is to break open your tester — cook’s treat.