Summer Tomato Polenta Tartlets

It's hard to believe it's nearly September - and that it's been 3 weeks since my last post here. We've been so busy the past 3 weekends - between traveling and call - that the time has literally flown by. Last weekend, we were both on call; the weekend before, we made a quick trip to NYC to celebrate my father's hard work. We are so happy for him and so incredibly proud of his accomplishments. 

So, as summer's last hurrah is here, I'm posting this tomato recipe that makes use of the best of the season - fresh tomatoes. This is, like always, very easy to put together. All you need is to cook the polenta (generally 3 cups of water for 1 cup of dry polenta) and slice some tomatoes and basil. That's the extent of the prep work. 

I'm hoping to make these tartlets more time before these pretty bright red orbs give way to the yellow and orange hues of fall squash, although I imagine polenta would be a great partner for fall vegetables too. As a matter of fact, I have a giant kabocha squash sitting on my countertop already. I'm not sure just how to attack it (have you seen kabochas? scary looking things with thick skin...I'll have to ask my Dad, who swears by kabocha almost every morning). I'll report back on the kabocha soon...

Summer Tomato Polenta Tartlets

Ingredients

makes 12 tartlets

1 cup dry polenta

3 cups water

1/2 cup grated pecorino romano cheese

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1 tbsp basil, chopped (plus several more sliced leaves for topping)

crumbled chèvre (or cheese of your choice)

Directions

1. In a medium pot, bring 3 cups of water to a boil over high heat

2. Add polenta gradually while stirring constantly. Turn down heat to medium-low

3. Whisk in grated pecorino, salt, and chopped basil. Continue to stir until polenta thickens to the point where it begins to pull away from the sides of the pot. Adjust seasonings to taste and remove polenta from heat

4. Preheat broiler on low. Lightly oil a standard muffin pan

5. Pour approximately 1/4 cup polenta in each tin. Top with crumbled chèvre (or cheese of your choice) and several tomato halves

6. Broil for approximately 10 minutes, until tomatoes begin to pucker (watch to make sure there's no burning, since broiler heat can vary)

7. Remove tartlets from oven; allow to cool for 10-15 minutes (do not try to scoop them out immediately; they will not hold their shape until they cool down)

8. Remove from the pan, garnish with sliced basil leaves and enjoy!

I hope you have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend. I'm excited for fall (aka pumpkin pie season in this family)!

GF Blueberry Oat Bars

O.M.G. (!), this is probably one of my new favorite recipes. On top of being delicious and packed with filling oats, blueberries, and nuts, you can whip this up well before the oven is done preheating. Yes - before the "beep beep beep".  In fact, it's so fast that I've made it in the mornings before work, had a bar for breakfast, and packed 2 bars for an afternoon snack before leaving the house. I've made these gluten free blueberry oat bars at least 2-3 times within the last 2 weeks, and my husband has tried ...zero... (shameful, I know). As I write this, another batch is baking in the oven. I'm hoping he hops on these fast tomorrow morning before they're all gone...

Summer is drawing to a close, but this recipe is great - you can make these filling bars year round. Frozen blueberries bake up perfectly into juicy, blue pillows nestled in a soft, spiced, oat-y background. The hard part is believing that these are actually good for you (and gluten free too, if you please)! 

These blueberry bars are the perfect grab-and-go breakfast/snack; they are essentially portable oatmeal (+ an egg). Protein and fiber in the oats, berries, milk...nuts...egg....wait - everything, will easily keep you satiated until lunch time. 

Blueberry Oat Bars

Makes ~9 bars (3 x 3 in each)

Adapted from Iowa Girl Eats

 Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups oats (quick or old fashioned will work)

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp coriander (optional)

1 1/4 cups whole milk (you could probably also use 2%)

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly oil a 12 x 9 in. pan

2. Combine all ingredients but vanilla and milk in a large mixing bowl. Add vanilla and milk last; stir to combine (batter will be very liquid - don't worry, it will firm up in the oven)

3. Pour batter into pan; rearrange blueberries evenly 

4. Bake for 30 minutes

5. Remove from oven; let cool, and cut into squares (approximately 9), and enjoy! 

I hope you enjoy these soft, chewy bars as much as we (okay, just I) have. Store the bars in the refrigerator; they will keep for 3-5 days, but I doubt they'll last that long.

Any suggestions for mix-ins are welcome - I'm thinking about coconut?

Thanks for stopping by! Let me know what you think of these (and what mix-ins you would add)! 

-R

Mini Ice Cream Sandwiches

Last week, I found out that I passed the Anatomic and Clinical Pathology boards - after all these years of training, I'm finally board certified! This was quickly followed by the humbling realization that although I am now authorized to sign out cases on my own, I still have so much to learn. I have to believe that the first few years when I sign out independently is when I will learn the most. In some ways, this whole process is like learning how to ride a bike. My training wheels are just about coming off....there's no going back! 

My Dad likes to remember how he tricked me into riding my bike without the training wheels. At first I was terrified - I insisted that he stand right behind me as I rode away. He complied the first few times, and then did "phantom steps". He stayed put while I rode away, stomping loudly so I thought he was right behind me. Eventually, I realized he wasn't behind me - and I realized I knew how to ride a bike! Residency is a similar process - although I'm still in the wobbly "I wish I had my wheels" stage. All joking aside though, I am profoundly grateful for the support of my family, friends, and mentors for helping me reach this point. You have helped me through my most difficult times with encouragement and love, and I could not ask for a better group of people to go through life with. 

  To celebrate, my husband took me to  Zinc downtown, which offered a delicious summer dinner with lots of juicy, sweet peaches. It's only a matter of time before we head to our local orchard to nab some peaches of our own! In addition to summer fruits, we've been on an ice cream kick lately - who doesn't love ice cream in the summer? (or fall? or winter? or spring?) 

These miniature ice cream sandwiches are inspired by a dessert we had at 121 Restaurant, a beautiful, rustic farm to table restaurant in North Salem. 

My husband ordered the ice cream sandwiches for dessert, which were two MAMMOTH sized ice cream sandwiches. I can't believe it's taken me this long to realize that my husband (who likes everything cold - I find potato chips in the refrigerator - don't ask) would love ice cream sandwiches. And of course, after not having had one for a long time and tasting a bite, my love was renewed. I decided to create a similar, scaled down mini sandwich, just big enough to nip that after dinner "I need something sweet" feeling, but small enough not to destroy your healthy eating resolution! I tinkered with a traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe to optimize the consistency of these cookies with the ice cream - they're a more cake-y cookie. Maybe a mini ice cream whoopie is a more accurate description? The airy texture of these cookies is due to greek yogurt - see here for a substitution chart, and more greek yogurt recipes here, here, and here).

Maybe a mini ice cream whoopie is a more accurate description? 

Mini Ice Cream Sandwiches

makes 10-15 mini sandwiches

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp kosher salt

4 tbsp butter

1/4 cup full fat or 2% greek yogurt

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup (more or less) dark chocolate chips (roughly chopped, if larger morsels - you could also just use mini chocolate chips)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Cream butter, yogurt, and sugar together until well combined. Ideally, let the butter come to room temperature. If you're impatient, zap for 20 minutes in the microwave. 

3. Stir in egg, vanilla, baking soda

4. Add flour all at once, and stir to incorporate

5. Stir in chocolate chips

6. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto a nonstick baking sheet. The dough will be very sticky - if this makes you uncomfortable, chill the dough for 20 minutes prior to forming cookies. Otherwise, just power through it. They'll look very small, like this:

For scale, that's a teaspoon to the right - they're small! Don't worry, they'll flatten out (see below)

7. Bake for 5-7 minutes until tops are very slightly golden brown - watch carefully to make sure these little guys don't burn!

8. Remove from oven. Cool for 1 minute and transfer to a cooling rack. Allow cookies to cool to room temperature

9. Remove ice cream from freezer; let sit out at room temperature for 3-5 minutes to soften

10. Use a tablespoonful of ice cream for each sandwich - this can get messy (aka delicious). Feel free to flatten out the edges and squish the cookies together to make the sandwich more seemly. 

11. Store in an airtight container in the freezer. I recommend using wax paper if you're stacking these cookies - their tops are slightly sticky

12. Enjoy! 

I hope you try this delicious mini-sandwiches - let me know how they turn out for you! 

I'm curious - what are some of your favorite summer recipes?

I hope you're enjoying your summer. Thanks for reading! 

-R