Creamy Feta Mousse with Greek Salads ♥

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Some times, a salad isn't as much about the vegetables as what's served on the side, in this case a creamy-tangy "mousse" made with feta cheese. It's almost an excuse to make an extra-special salad, one that's as beautiful as it is appetizing. That said, the creamy feta spread is one of those little "something I cooked up" that's great to have in the fridge. You'll find ways to use it, I promise. And Weight Watchers? While it tastes ever-so-rich, a whole quarter cup is only 3 points.
My friend Cindy loves the feta mousse at the St. Louis restaurant Remy's Kitchen & Wine Bar, but so far, Chef Lisa Slay is loathe to share a recipe with Special Request, my weekly restaurant-recipe request column for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. That's okay, I respect this chef's choice: some recipes, you just want to keep in the family. Well, maybe not bloggers. When we find a recipe we love, we can't wait to share it ...

So somewhere along the way, Cindy found a recipe in Food & Wine that she thought might be close to the feta mousse at Remy's. It called for feta and heavy cream, she found this too rich. I made it with feta and buttermilk and well, honestly, fell in L-O-V-E.

If you love feta, you'll love this "mousse" – though honestly, I'm not sure that mousse is the right name, for this isn't marshmallow-light. It's got that wonderful feta tang, made smooth, made spreadable, made try-not-to-gobble-it-by-the-spoonful.
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Cooler Corn: How to Cook Corn in a Beer Cooler ♥

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How to cook fresh summer sweet corn in a cooler – and more importantly, why you want to cook those gorgeous ears of corn in one, whether you're camping or not.
Now let me confess right off, I got some grief for cooking corn in a beer cooler. "You might as well cook that corn in the dishwasher," was the less-than-excited response. But a real veggie evangelist will press on even under pressure, ever on the hunt for new and interesting – and always, useful – ways to cook vegetables.

Besides, I was pretty sure my dear Auntie Karen was onto something when she sent me the "recipe" awhile back. (Ha! Is something this easy a recipe? Yes, if it's life-changing, you bet.)

It felt like a good idea for cooking corn outside, camping, say, or for a shore lunch when fishing.
It felt like a good way to cook a whole mess of corn for a crowd with practically zero fuss and muss.

But here's the thing, why this is my new way to cook corn:
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Corn & Cucumber Salad with Fresh Blueberries ♥

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Today's summer salad recipe: An intriguing blend of corn (for sweetness), cucumber (for bulk) and blueberries (for tart) in a vinaigrette spiked with a little cumin, which adds just the right amount of underlying smokiness. Not just vegan, "Vegan Done Real".
What a difference a single ingredient can make! I made this salad a few weeks back, making what I thought was a "safe substitute": inexpensive blackberries for expensive blueberries. The texture was right, the size was right, the color was right but with blackberries? The salad underwhelms.

Then, laden with more blackberries and peaches than was prudent for someone leaving on vacation in a few days, I was chatting up a woman in the pay-up line out at Wind Ridge Farm not far outside St. Louis. She'd arrived early and clutched several quarts of blueberries. Masking my blueberry-envy, I asked her plans for them. First, she said, she'd make her favorite corn and blueberry salad, then ticked off all the ingredients you see here.
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Quick Side: Simple Skillet Green Beans ♥

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How to cook fresh or frozen green beans quickly right in a skillet. A little garlic, a pinch of sugar and plenty of salt and pepper make this a recipe to make again and again. Low carb. Just Weight Watchers 1 point.
~recipe & photo updated in 2010 & reposted 2012~
~more recently updated recipes~
2007 ORIGINAL POST The inspiring recipe calls these 'stir-fried green beans a la Tang'. But mention 'stir fry' and my eyes glaze over over as I imagine lugging the twelve-ton cast iron wok from the basement – something that's just not happening on a weeknight, if ever. But this recipe works in an everyday skillet, no wok required. In fact, it calls for a skillet! Perfect! The recipe comes from this month's issue of Saveur. It's one of my favorite food magazines; every issue always includes one or two recipes that I want to make right away.

The beans cook up in just minutes, with minimal attention. They are very good, even with slightly woody supermarket beans. Next time I'll give frozen green beans (which are great) a shot using this same technique.
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Summer's Best Corn Chowder ♥ Recipe

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A simple corn chowder recipe, packed with our favorite fresh summer vegetables like onion, carrot, red pepper, potato and sweet potato and of course, the soup's real star, kernels of sweet corn. As bright and colorful as crates of fresh vegetables lined up at the farmstand. Perfect for CSA members because the corn chowder recipe uses so many fresh vegetables, all at once.
In winter, big pots of simmering soup are a given, hearty bowls to warm us from the inside out. But what about summer soup, do you make summer soup? Summer soups are just different, aren't they? Lighter and livelier, more likely to be all about the fresh vegetables that are so alluring during these heady summer months.

For me, summer just isn't summer without at least two must-make summer soup recipes, Tomato Gazpacho, the chilled tomato summer soup that turned me into a seasonal eater, and this corn chowder recipe, bits of summer vegetables and sweet kernels of corn in a milky broth. It's takes a little chopping, we do love to cut vegetables, don't we? :-)

I like this corn chowder served warm, not hot, the better to really taste the individual vegetables, bite by bite. It's similar to Finnish Summer Soup, one of my very oldest recipes. Add shrimp and scallops and bits of fresh tomato for Summer Seafood Chowder, another summer chowder.

All fans of summer soup will definitely want to check out my collection of Favorite Summer Soup Recipes, some chilled, some warm, all filled with summer vegetables (and fruit too!) and summer color.
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