I have to confess that I’ve made summer rolls three times in one week. After each meal, I still had dipping sauces leftover, and those sauces kept beckoning to me from the fridge. I also had prepped vegetables in the fridge, plus some leftover chicken. . . I simply couldn’t resist.

These rolls are perfect for summer – they are light and refreshing, and once you get the hang of rolling them, they assemble quickly. Don’t worry if they don’t look perfect – ahem, did you see mine?

I also really have to recommend making both dipping sauces. Both are delicious, but so different that it’s like having two meals in one night. They both bring out completely different personalities of the same roll. If you end up with leftover peanut sauce, simply toss it with pasta, some red pepper and carrot matchsticks (especially if you have some leftover from these rolls), scallions, and leftover chicken for a quick meal.

Summer Rolls
Adapted from Everyday Food, July/August 2010

Ingredients:

4 ounces vermicelli rice noodles
spring roll wrappers
½ pound cooked shrimp
6 ounces cooked chicken, shredded
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
1 cucumber, cut into matchsticks
1 small red pepper, cut into strips
1 avocado, peeled and sliced
1 mango, peeled and cut into strips
cilantro leaves
mint leaves
chives

Peanut Dipping Sauce:
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup warm water
6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar

Spicy Hoisin Dipping Sauce:
½ cup hoisin sauce
3 tablespoons Thai chili sauce
2 teaspoons white vinegar
¼ cup water

Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil. Add vermicelli rice noodles and remove from heat; allow to sit for 15 minutes. Drain noodles and rinse under cold water. Set aside.

Fill a pie plate with cool water. Place a spring roll wrapper in water for 30 seconds, remove to a work surface. Add desired fillings (see below for suggested combinations) and some vermicelli to the lower third of the wrapper. Roll wrapper over fillings, then fold in each edge. Continue rolling the rest of the roll; place on a damp paper towel and cover with a damp paper towel. Assemble the remaining rolls. Cover rolls with damp paper towel and refrigerate until ready to serve.

For the dipping sauces, whisk all ingredients until smooth. Serve rolls with sauce.

Summer Roll Ideas:

Shrimp, mint, carrots, chives, vermicelli
Chicken, mango, carrots, cilantro, vermicelli
Chicken, carrots, red pepper, cucumber, cilantro, vermicelli
Avocado, mint, carrots, cucumber, vermicelli

I’ve tried to like lentils. I really have. I even started my lentil adventures with soups, figuring lentils blended with other flavors might appeal to me more than just a dish of cooked lentils.

Or not.

In defense of lentils, it’s really the texture that I can’t handle more than the flavor, though I suspect I have some issues with the flavor as well, based on my soup experiments. For the record, I don’t like beans either, and that is based on 99% texture, 1% flavor.

But for all of you out there who do like lentils, this post is for you. This soup is gorgeous to look at, and it’s perfect for seasonal transitions: in early fall, when the weather cools but you’re still hanging onto the days of summer, this soup will comfort you; in spring, the vivid apricot color will hint of warmer days to come.

Armenian Apricot Soup
adapted from The Soup Peddler via 101 Cookbooks

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 onions, diced
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
3 cups red lentils, rinsed
10 cups water
12 ounces dried apricots, chopped (I used half Turkish and half California apricots)
salt

Heat oil over medium heat in a dutch oven or large soup pot. Add the onions and carrots and saute for 10 minutes. Add the cumin and stir. Lower the heat, cover, and let the vegetables sweat for 10 minutes.

Add the lentils and add enough water to cover. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 20-25 minutes, or until the lentils and carrots are tender. Add more water as needed during the cooking.

Remove from heat and add the apricots. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth (or use a regular blender and blend in batches); season with salt to taste.

Serves 8-10

Fragrant and sweet, local melon is hands-down one of my favorite things about summer. So when I arrived at the farmers’ market this weekend and was greeted by the perfume of melon, it was difficult to contain my excitement.

I could tell by the aroma that this melon wouldn’t last long; I could tell it was ripe, but it was almost bordering on overripe. In other words, it was perfect at that moment. To extend its life just a bit, I decided to turn it into a salad by adding the strawberries I picked up from the market, and some blueberries I had in the fridge. The mint came from my own garden, and the rest? Well, the rest of the salad simply came together by looking through my cupboards and fridge.

When I say this salad is simple, I’m not kidding. But I firmly believe that when you have superior produce, it does not need much adornment.

Simple Fruit Salad

Ingredients
1 medium cantaloupe
1 pint strawberries
1 c blueberries
1 tsp orange zest
2 T freshly squeezed orange juice
1-2 T runny honey (to taste)
2 T spiced rum
pinch of salt
2 T mint, cut into chiffonade

Instructions
Using a melon baller, cut the melon and place pieces in a large bowl (you can also cut the melon into chunks). Half or quarter strawberries, depending on their size, and add blueberries to the salad. Add the orange zest and juice to the bowl.

Run the bottle of honey under hot water or microwave for 5 to 10 seconds. Pour honey and rum over the fruit, and add a pinch of salt. Stir carefully to mix. Garnish with mint.

In some ways, mid-August is one of my favorite times of year. Sure, I complain about it being a little too hot, a little too humid, but that very heat and humidity is so important to area crops, not to mention my own garden. The available local produce is at its peak, which translates into lots of fruit desserts.

And with autumn and winter right around the corner, they usher in a whole new slew of desserts. So I figured, what better time to share with you some of my favorite recipes?

With this e-book, I’ve tried to include something for everyone: you’re find desserts that are vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, egg-free, and/or dairy-free. All of the gluten-free & sugar-free desserts have been tested by folks who do not follow that type of diet; if they give a sf/gf dessert the thumbs-up, I believe most people will enjoy the treat.

You’ll find desserts that showcase seasonal fruit, as well as heartier desserts that will comfort you when the temperatures drop. Here is what you have to look forward to:

Strawberry Rhubarb Compote* (vegan, dairy-free, egg-free)
Summer Fruit Crumble* (egg-free)
Peach Tarts
Cherry Cheesecake Galette (egg-free)
Poached Pears (vegan, egg-free, dairy-free)
Dulce de Leche Chocolate Chip Cookies
Grandma’s Molasses Cut-Out Cookies
Lemon Tea Cookies (egg-free, vegan if use trans-fat free margarine)
Pinwheels
Peppermint White Chocolate Truffles (egg-free)
Chocolate Mousse with Orange Vanilla Whipped Cream
Sugar-Free Chocolate Mousse (sugar-free & gluten-free)
Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing (sugar-free & gluten-free)
Blueberry Muffins (sugar-free & gluten-free)
Peanut Butter Silk Pie (sugar-free & gluten-free)

*Both Strawberry Rhubarb Compoteand Summer Fruit Crumble are original recipes that have been featured on My Madison Bistro.

This e-book is available at no charge, but if you like the recipes or would like to help fund the recipe development for future e-books, donations are greatly appreciated.

Click here to download the Madison Bistro Treats E-Book.

This compote is one of my favorite spring/summer treats. Whether you want a cheerful start to your day by spooning it over greek yogurt, or a sinless finish by serving it with a scoop of ice cream, you can’t go wrong with this recipe.

It’s a delicious balance of sweet and tart, everything you’d expect from this classic combination, with an endnote of a little something special.

Strawberry Rhubarb Compote
Ingredients

4 stalks rhubarb, chopped
1 quart strawberries, cut into quarters
½ – 1 c sugar (depending on sweetness of berries)
Juice of ½ lemon
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Place rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice in medium sized sauce pan. Cook over medium until bubbly, then reduce heat to low and cook for about 15-20 minutes.

Remove from heat and add vanilla, stirring to combine. Cool and store in refrigerator.

Serve over ice cream or plain yogurt.

My mom once said that a perfect honeydew melon is better than chocolate. Honeydew really is one of the great joys of summer. When it’s in season, it tastes like candy, only better. It needs no adornment, but when you do decide to dress it up a bit, be prepared – it will knock your socks off.

In this particular dish, the mint, lime, honey, and tequila all work together to further enhance the flavor of the honeydew, without overpowering it. As always, with so few ingredients, quality really matters here, especially with the tequila. You really do want to use a good quality tequila here – no Cuervo!

Melon with Tequila and Lime
from Gordon Ramsay’s Fast Food

Ingredients
1 ripe honeydew melon
2-3 T good tequila
zest of 1/2 lime
juice of 1/2 lime
2-3 T runny honey (nuke it for a few seconds)
pinch of salt
a few springs of mint

Instructions
Cut the honeydew in half and scrape out the seeds with a spoon. Using a melon baller, cut the melon into little balls (you can cut the melon into 1 inch chunks if you don’t have a melon baller). Add the tequila, lime juice, lime zest, honey, and salt. Stir to combine, refrigerate for at least one hour.

Prior to serving, cut mint leaves into a chiffonade and sprinkle over the melon. Serve.

I try to make an effort to cook recipe-less meals on a regular basis. Some weeks I’ll find myself doing this nightly, other weeks…not so much. But as someone who thinks of herself more as a baker than a cook, it’s important to me to keep experimenting in the kitchen (aside from the baked goods).

This particular meal came about when I had absolutely nothing planned to make, and I wasn’t allowing myself to get take-out. Instead, I raided my pantry and freezer, and the result was really quite tasty. There aren’t a lot of pictures, because it didn’t occur to me at first that anyone might be interested in reading about my quick meal. But then I thought, don’t we all want some fast, simple dishes to make during the week?

Garlic Shrimp with Tomatoes and Linguini

For each main dish serving, you will need:
2 oz whole wheat linguini
7 oz diced tomatoes (I used unsalted)
6 cloves garlic, peeled
3 oz shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used frozen shrimp)*
a couple sprigs of thyme
flat-leaf parsley
lemon
white wine
olive oil
shredded parmesan cheese (if desired)
salt
pepper
red pepper flakes

1. In a large saucepan, heat water over high heat. Add a clove of garlic to the water.

2. In a 3 or 4 quart saute pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add a clove of garlic to the oil. When oil is just about to smoke, add the shrimp. If you have a cooking screen, you’ll want to use it (especially if the shrimp are frozen). Cook for about a minute on each side, and remove the shrimp to a bowl and discard the garlic clove. Season the shrimp with a little salt and pepper.

3. When water comes to a boil, add a little oil (it keeps the foam that develops on top of the water to a minimum when cooking pasta) and a generous amount of salt. Add the linguine and set the timer for 9 minutes.

4. Add the diced tomatoes and about 4 sprigs of thyme to the saute pan. Season with a little salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes (for just a little heat). Mince the remaining 4 cloves of garlic and add to the tomatoes, cook until garlic is fragrant. Add a small amount of white wine (about 2-3 oz) to the tomato mixture.

5. Chop a handful of parsley, add about 2 tablespoons to the pan, reserve just enough for garnish. Squeeze the juice of 1 lemon into the tomato mixture, remove the pan from the heat. Add the shrimp to the pan, and the linguine. Give the mixture a good stir and cover for about five minutes to let the linguine finish cooking and the flavors to blend. Remove the thyme sprigs before serving. Garnish with parsley and shredded parmesan. Serve with the same wine you cooked with.

*If you have any leftover protein, such as chicken, you can certainly substitute that for the shrimp.

What’s more comforting than a pot of soup cooking on the stove? Making soup used to intimidate me, and the thought of making soup stock made me want to run away from my kitchen. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that both are quite easy. If you’ve ever roasted a chicken, you may as well make your own chicken stock, as the process is incredibly simple.

Chicken Stock

1 chicken carcass*
2 carrots
3 stalks celery
1 parsnip
1 onion
1 bulb garlic
a few sprigs of thyme
a few sprigs of dill
bay leaf
bunch of parsley
peppercorns
salt

To make your soup stock, simply take the leftover chicken carcass and the neck and throw them into a stock pot or dutch oven. Cut the carrots, celery, and parsnip in half or thirds, and throw them in the pot. Cut your bulb of garlic in half, crosswise, and toss it in the pot. Cut the onion into quarters, and toss it all in (no need to peel). Add the herbs, a teaspoon of whole peppercorns, and about a teaspoon of salt.

Cover all ingredients with water and simmer (don’t let it boil!) away on the stove for about four or five hours, or put an oven-proof cooking vessel into the oven at a very low temperature so the stock doesn’t boil. The reason you don’t want the stock to come to a boil is because your stock will be cloudy and not very appealing to look at. Keep the temperature low enough (under 212 F or 100 C), and perhaps even use a thermometer to warn you if the temperature is getting too high.

Remove the carcass and veggies, and strain the stock into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight. The next day, skim the fat off the top of the stock. Either use the stock within three days or put into containers and freeze for up to six months. With homemade stock, you’re getting superior quality soup stock with no preservatives. It tastes better, and it’s better for you.

*If the chicken came with the neck, go ahead and throw that in the pot. An inexpensive way to save stock ingredients is to save the peelings, ends, and skins from carrots, celery, an onions – just start a large freezer bag of stock ingredients. When you make chicken, throw the extra bones or carcass in the freezer until you’re ready to use them. If you have leftover parsley sometime, chop it up and freeze it into ice cubes, so you can just toss the cubes into your stock or any soup that you make.

Growing up, I was a fairly picky eater. It wasn’t until I reached my late 20’s that I began to go beyond my comfort zone when it came to food. I told my mom I was making this soup, and I think she was a little shocked. Then again, she’s surprised that I now occasionally eat pork, chickpeas, and a host of other foods. Soup may actually be on that list, as well.

I’m a big fan of Michael Pollan, and having read both In Defense of Food and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, I’ve been making efforts to expand my culinary horizons and venture into the world of plant-based proteins. That brought me to lentils. I have to say, the lentils in my pantry have only served one purpose before today: pie weights. But, lentils are high in protein and fiber, and enough people seem to like them that I thought I’d give them a try.

I came across a highly rated soup recipe that seemed perfect for my experiment. So I embarked on a new culinary adventure. I do admit that I’m not sure what I think of it yet, but I am willing to experiment a little more with lentils.

Lentil & Tomato Soup
adapted from cooking light

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 1/3 c water
2 1/3 c dried lentils
1/3 c chopped fresh cilantro
5 1/2 c chicken stock
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
chopped fresh tomatoes (optional)
cilantro sprig (optional)

Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion; sauté for 3 minutes or until tender. Add the turmeric and the next 6 ingredients (turmeric through garlic); sauté for 1 minute. Add water and next 4 ingredients (water through diced tomatoes); bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 1 hour.

Reserve 2 cups lentil mixture. Place half of remaining mixture in blender; process until smooth. Pour pureed soup into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with other half of remaining mixture. Stir in reserved 2 cups lentil mixture. Garnish with chopped tomatoes and a cilantro sprig, if desired.

Notes: The soup is okay. I think it needs more salt, but that could be because I used homemade stock instead of canned broth. I increased the black pepper a bit, as well. Next time I make it, I will make sure I have some turmeric on hand, so I can actually follow the recipe. Otherwise, it’s a nice change, it’s very filling, and I have a freezer loaded with soup for those days I run out of food and there’s yet another blizzard or ice storm.

The first time I ever cooked butternut squash, I made this soup. And since the cookbook that contains the recipe just came out in October, you could say that I haven’t been a lifelong fan of squash. I just was never crazy about it, no matter how much butter and brown sugar it was swimming in. Flavor can’t cover up texture, and texture was where I took issue with this vegetable.

I wanted to give squash one more chance, and soup seemed the obvious choice. After all, I would be roasting the squash, then taking my immersion blender to it, thereby completely doing away with the texture issue. The result? Fabulous.

Roasting the squash, apples, and onions lends a sweetness to the soup that is irresistable. The hint of spice from the curry prevents the soup from being overly sweet, and the result is a feeling of contentness.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
adapted from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics

Ingredients
4 pound butternut squash
1 large yellow onion
2 McIntosh or Cortland apples
olive oil
salt
pepper
5 cups chicken stock
1 tsp curry powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 F.

2. Cut the bottom off the squash so it sits level. Peel the squash and then cut in half above the bulb, separating the base from the neck. Cut the base in half length-wise and scoop out the seeds. Cut the top off the neck, then cut squash into 1 inch pieces. Peel and core the apples, cut into 1 inch dice. Peel and cut the onions into 1 inch dice. Place pieces onto 2 baking sheets, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread pieces out, roast for 40 minutes, turning once.

3. Heat chicken stock to a simmer in a large stockpot or dutch oven. When squash mixture has finish roasting, add to the chicken stock. Puree with an immersion blender (can also use a regular blender to blend in batches). Add curry powder and season with salt and pepper to taste. Heat over medium-low heat for an additional fifteen to twenty minutes, check seasonings and serve.