5 favorite dishes for summer-into-fall
Shrimp Sauté with Texas Vegetables celebrates late-summer flavors.
By Leslie Brenner
Oh, happy day — we’re out of triple digit-weather in North Texas, where I live. It’s not a moment too soon, as it’s such a delicious season produce-wise. All the corn and tomatoes and zucchini and eggplant, with incredible flavor bursting every-which-way — it’s enough to make a person pull out the knife sharpener, dust off the stove, polish the pepper grinder and get chopping.
Here are a few dishes I’m loving this summer-into-fall moment:
Shrimp Sauté with Texas Vegetables
To celebrate these flavors a few nights ago, I put together a quick sauté of shrimp and late-summer Texas vegetables. It’s inspired by two dishes: one I grew up with, Rosa de la Garza’s Texas Chicken, and a dish I love from Adán Medrano’s Don’t Count the Tortillas: The Art of Texas Mexican Cooking, Camarón con Fideos de Calabacita. The resulting easy sauté is pictured up top. If you believe what we read about the health benefits of eating things of many hues, you’ll certainly feel great about this. The taste benefits? Take a bite, and you’ll see.
Roasted Ratatouille
Have you ever made (or even tasted) a great ratatouille? I thought not. Last year, I cracked the code of how to make one — and it’s easier than the normal way. Pro tip: This approach involves letting your oven concentrate the flavors and safeguard the textures.
Ottolenghi’s Stuffed Zucchini with Pine Nut Salsa
Anyone bored by zucchini will have a life-changing moment upon tasting this. It has been Cooks Without Border’s most popular recipe since we wrote about it two years ago.
Chicken Musakhan
The national dish of Palestine is traditionally prepared during olive harvest season to celebrate the olive oil harvest. This version, from Ottolenghi’s partner Sami Tamimi’s 2020 cookbook Falastin (written with Cooks Without Borders’ friend Tara Wigley) is insanely delicious.
RECIPE: ‘Falastin’ Chicken Musakhan
José Andrés’ Corn on the Cob with Elote Slather
Not ready to turn on the stove or light your grill just yet? Here’s an outstanding dish you can achieve with just a quick pass in the microwave. It’s from superstar chef José Andrés’ Vegetables Unleashed.
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