Weekend Cooking

I happily pondered recipes and meals as we spent the weekend with our friend S. S is an omnivore but most days were hot and sultry (i.e. HUMID) and so making cool dishes was top of mind.

As mentioned in a previous Weekend Cooking post, I am intrigued by Mokonuts and found a recipe for labneh with Swiss chard, black olives, and za’atar. As Swiss chard is not in season, I left it out and modified accordingly, but I can see how a green would fortify this dish as well as provide color.

Last week’s CSA included garlic scapes and so after perusing a few recipes, I decided to make a pesto. I did not use any nuts but maybe I will next time.  It was a bit sharp and the fat from something like walnuts or pine nuts would have helped. That said, I was generous with the Parmigiano-Reggiano. Pesto always makes a great dip and it added such a vibrant green to the table. And it was great to mix with the labneh dip.

Waste not, want not. I had a fennel bulb I needed to use. And I wanted something a bit more hearty and so went with a pretty traditional French-inspired lentil salad.

And finally, it’s lettuce lettuce everywhere and so tossed some Boston lettuce with a shallot-mustard seed dressing.

For sweets, I had been wondering what tahini cookies tasted like so made this batch. Overall, I found the tahini taste too strong for me. Some people compare tahini cookies to a peanut butter cookie, but while I would eat a pb sandwich, and spread peanut butter on a cracker or even just eat a few spoonfuls from the jar, I just do not do that with tahini. Next time, I would add chocolate or something else to complement the strong sesame flavor.

I really love cooking for friends and feel fortunate that they are open to my road-testing recipes on them!