Even though the kids are back to school and football season is on the horizon, temperatures in Clarendon are still hitting very close to 100 degrees. If you’re hesitant to turn on your oven and make your house even hotter, or if the heat just has you craving cooler meals, here are some recipes to try before the fall weather comes in.
Orzo Salad by Love and Lemons
This orzo salad recipe is a fresh, delicious side dish or vegetarian lunch! If you make it ahead of time, save the herbs to add at the last minute. I also recommend tossing the salad with a drizzle of olive oil before serving.
Ingredients:
-1½ cups dry orzo pasta
-1 bottle Greek Salad Dressing
-1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
-1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
-½ teaspoon oregano
-¼ teaspoon sea salt
-2 Persian cucumbers, halved vertically, and sliced ¼-inch thick
-2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
-1 cup cooked chickpeas, drained, and rinsed
-4 ounces feta cheese, cut into ¼-inch cubes
-⅓ cup thinly sliced red onion
-½ cup pitted Kalamata olives
-1 cup fresh basil and/or mint leaves
-Freshly ground black pepper
Directions: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Prepare the pasta according to the package directions, or until slightly past al dente. Drain the orzo and toss it with a little olive oil, so that it doesn’t stick together. Spread onto a baking sheet to cool.
Prepare the Greek Salad Dressing and add in the red wine vinegar, lemon juice, oregano, and sea salt.
In a large bowl, toss together the cooked orzo, cucumbers, tomatoes, chickpeas, feta, red onion, and olives. Drizzle the dressing over the salad, add half the herbs, season with freshly ground black pepper, and toss to coat. Garnish with the remaining herbs and serve.
Homemade Peach Ice Cream by House of Nash
If you own an ice cream maker or want to purchase one, this southern classic peach ice cream recipe may peak your interest. Sitting down with a nice cold bowl of homemade ice cream is one way to beat the heat!
Ingredients:
-3 medium peaches, peeled and sliced (about 2 cups)
-1 ¼ cup granulated sugar, divided
-½ teaspoon lemon juice
-¼ teaspoon salt
-5 large egg yolks
-1 ½ cup heavy cream
-1 ½ cups whole milk
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
-Peel and slice peaches, then toss in a large bowl with ½ cup of the sugar (if doubling the recipe make sure to double this sugar amount to 1 cup) and lemon juice to combine. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour, until the peaches are soft and have released their juices to create a syrupy liquid.
-Once the peaches have released their juices, mash them with a fork or potato masher until only very small chunks of peach remain. You don’t want large, individual pieces of peach in your ice cream or they will freeze very hard. Strain the juice into a separate bowl, reserving both the liquid and the mashed peaches and refrigerating until ready to use.
-Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, stir together the cream, milk, another ½ cup of the sugar, and the salt. Heat over medium-low heat until hot, but not bubbling.
In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and remaining ¼ cup of sugar, until light in color, about two minutes.
While whisking, slowly pour in ½ cup of the hot cream mixture into the egg yolk and sugar mixture to temper the eggs before adding them to the custard base. Slowly add another ½ cup of hot cream, whisking the entire time.
-Pour the tempered egg yolks into the saucepan with the rest of the custard base and stir gently with a wooden spoon for 2-4 minutes, or until the temperature is between 170-175 and the mixture is just thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. -Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
-Strain the custard base through a fine mesh strainer into a clean bowl, then stir in liquid from the mashed peaches and refrigerate for 4 hours, until thoroughly chilled.
-Pour peach ice cream base into ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions, until it looks like soft-serve ice cream, about 25-30 minutes. Add the reserved mashed peaches during the last 30 seconds or so of the churning process, then transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and freeze at least 4-6 hours to ripen.
