Striped Spatula

recipes with great taste

Header Right

You are here: Home / Archives for picnic

picnic

Lemon Cream Mixed Berry Tart

4 Comments

This Mixed Berry Tart, made with a sweet French pastry crust and rich lemon pastry cream, was developed in partnership with California Giant Berry Farms. As always, all opinions expressed are my own. 

sponsored lemon cream mixed berry tart recipe

I cannot even wrap my head around the fact that Labor Day weekend is only a week away! Where did this summer go? I feel like we were just talking about the arrival of farmer’s market season and my first shipments of California Giant’s gorgeous strawberries!

I, for one, am holding onto warm weather recipes for as long as I can. Before we trade in shorts and sandals for cozy sweaters and boots, I’m planning on a Labor Day weekend filled with a solidly summer menu. Of course, when Cal Giant sent me a sampling of their berries for an end-of-summer recipe, I knew a berry dessert would be at the top of my list!

There are few summer desserts I love more during than a fresh fruit tart. There’s nothing like biting into a forkful of crisp French pastry crust, with indulgent pastry cream and sweet, juicy berries.

A mixed berry tart makes an incredibly impressive appearance on any dessert table, and all of the components can be made ahead of time. In fact, for the best texture, it’s preferable to assemble the tart just before you’re ready to serve. It’s a great option for easy and elegant entertaining….

Read More

Whipped Goat Cheese and Herb Dip

11 Comments

This creamy Whipped Goat Cheese and Herb Dip has been sponsored by California Giant Berry Farms. As always, all opinions expressed are my own.

whipped goat cheese and herb dip [sponsored]

The start of summer is here and I’ve partnered with California Giant Berry Farms to celebrate with skinny dips!

My contribution to the party is this creamy Whipped Goat Cheese and Herb Dip. With tangy goat cheese, sweet fresh basil, thyme, walnuts, and a hint of cracked black pepper, this savory dip is made even better when served alongside a platter of fresh strawberries.

In addition, Cal Giant has teamed up with a few great produce companies to offer a Skinny Dips Sweepstakes! They’re giving away several VISA gift cards, and one grand prize of a getaway for two at a Sandals Beach Resort. Read further down the post to find out more about the prizes and enter for a chance to win.

Giveaways and great summer dip recipes? Sounds like a celebration to me!

california giant berry farms strawberries [sponsored]

…

Read More

Josephine’s Tomato Salad

15 Comments

My grandmother’s Tomato Salad is a light and simple way to savor some of the best summer flavors. Don’t forget the bread to dip into the sweet-tangy tomato juices!

Josephine's Tomato Salad recipe

There hasn’t been a summer of my adult life when I haven’t waxed poetic about tomatoes. Is there anything in the world like biting into a warm, sweet, juicy tomato, plucked fresh from the vine? It’s one of nature’s finest gifts.

As I mentioned a few years ago, I have many fond memories of the tomatoes my grandfather grew when I was a child. It simply wasn’t summer until dinner included a bowl of my grandmother’s salad, made with the tomatoes Grandpa had grown in his garden.

Josephine (“Nanny”) taught me that beautiful summer produce doesn’t need much in terms of “extras” to be enjoyed to its fullest. Her salad is a simple one, combining wedged tomatoes with extra-virgin olive oil, thinly-sliced Vidalia onions, fresh herbs, and salt. It’s a recipe that defines summer in my heart and on my palate, reminding me of warm evenings spent on my grandparents’ patio, and the abundance of love that was shared around their table.

Heirloom Tomatoes in handcrafted maple bowl

With so many different and unique heirloom cultivars available at farm markets today, it’s easier than ever to create an artful tomato salad with a vibrant mix of colors and flavors. The salad photographed here includes selections from the “Cocktail Tomato Bar” at Sansone’s Farm Market in Hopewell, NJ (a recent find for me and a stop that I highly recommend if you’re in the area), and straight-from-the-garden organic tomatoes that my neighbor gave me.

By tossing the salad and letting it rest for 15 minutes before serving, the salt will draw out some of the tomatoes’ juices, which will pool in the bottom of the bowl. Liquid gold, I tell you. Give me a wedge of crusty artisan bread for dipping and I’ve died and gone to heaven.

We love to serve tomato salad alongside grilled meats and seafood, but I often eat it on its own, with a few slices of piquant, imported provolone or a round of burrata. Paired with cheese, tomato salad is perfect for a light lunch that is as beautiful to look at as it is to eat….

Read More

Mediterranean Pearled Couscous Salad

16 Comments

This couscous salad is a bright and fresh side dish or meatless main dish that’s perfect for a weeknight dinner or easy summer entertaining.

Mediterranean Pearled Couscous Salad recipe


Late last summer, I came home from a long day of appointments had no clue what I was going to make for dinner. I hadn’t made the grocery stop I’d planned and found myself staring down a whole bunch of nothing in the dinner department when I opened the fridge. Bordering on “hangry,” I decided to make a bowl of my favorite Chickpea and Feta Salad for a quick meal. With no bread on hand for dipping (I was batting zero, I tell you!), I spied a box of pearled couscous in the pantry and decided to throw it into the salad. Rummaging around my refrigerator, one thing led to another, and in went the leftover cherry tomatoes and Kalamata olives from a mezze platter I’d made for friends over the weekend, a few leaves of basil, a shallot, and a handful of baby arugula (tender, peppery arugula leaves make everything better in my book!). Within half an hour, I was sitting down to a beautiful and filling Mediterranean Pearled Couscous Salad that I’ve made at least ten times since. Don’t you love when off-the-cuff meals become favorites?

…

Read More