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Recipe: pan-seared black cod with summer vegetables

[I completely forgot about this interview with Friday magazine earlier this month! Click on over if you’re bored and haven’t heard enough of my yammering. It features some other food bloggers you might recognize too.]

It was hot this weekend! This is what they call Indian summer, right? Summer is pretty brief where we live, so we welcome it with open arms in the mountains. It’s glorious. As summer winds down, Jeremy and I are both pretty happy to move into autumn – which arrives right on schedule around these parts. Taking advantage of these last hot and sunny days, we distributed the compost in our yard to make room in the compost bin, cleaned out the basement, did heaps of recycling, and replaced our hot water heater. Okay, the hot water heater sort of demanded replacement when it died and flooded the basement, but I’m glad we took care of it in summer rather than winter.

and kaweah got a much needed bath

Our fall colors are arriving in full force to the south. I’m looking forward to a cool down because when I see yellow aspens, I want to be wearing fleece – not sweating my brains out in a short-sleeve t-shirt getting sunburned, which is exactly what happened on Sunday’s shoot. But have a gander at what we found. [See the full set on the photo blog.]

colorado gold on deep blue skies

healthy pines and golden aspens

a lovely mix of colors

brilliant

aglow in early afternoon light

When I was in Seattle, my friend Caroline had complained that they didn’t get a real summer and that she wasn’t ready to let it go just yet. One evening we went to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for dinner. Hmmmm, what to make for dinner? Caroline went to grab some black cod to bake and Erin asked me to come up with a vegetable. I remembered Caroline’s comment about summer and picked up some summery vegetables for a simple sauté to go with the fish.

corn on the cob

slicing the kernels off

At home, I wanted to try the same vegetables with pan-seared black cod. I too didn’t want to let summer go just yet. There will be time for pumpkins, apples, pomegranates, and butternut squash. Our corn is still sweet. The zucchini are still plentiful. And tomatoes… I am a sucker for the sweet sweet lovin’ of summer tomatoes.

dicing zucchini

cherry tomatoes in the last light of summer

diced into jewels

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: tuna ceviche

You still have until midnight tonight (Mountain Daylight Time) to leave a comment on the Food and Light recap post and possibly win a most excellent swag bag from CHEFS catalog! So get crackin’!

We’re technically only two weeks into official summer and I feel as if my face is smashed up against the glass. There is an urgency to cramming as much as possible into the summer months because that weather, that light, that “free time” is so fleeting. It’s not terribly unlike the alpine wildflowers who until recently were buried under feet of snow. With a fast melt off and warm up, the wildflowers are going gangbusters. Just a quick walk through the hood is evidence of that.

the colorado state flower (blue columbine)

wild rose

indian paintbrush (for diane!)

This is the most beautiful time of year here in Colorado. That’s saying a lot because Colorado is pretty spanking gorgeous any time! Even yesterday evening when pissing rain, hail, and brilliant bolts of lightning came crashing down around our house – it was awesomely beautiful the way only Nature can be. The big question on my mind was if there would be fireworks. Our little town puts on an impressive display each year over the reservoir. It’s a small affair compared to the ginormous fireworks extravaganzas we caught at Pasadena’s Rose Bowl, but this setting appeals to me more. But it was foggy, rainy, and there was still lightning at 8:30. We sat in the car on a pullout by the side of the reservoir waiting. Mountain weather changes quickly. And so it was last night at 9pm that the fog rose, the rain stopped and the lightning moved south. I love me some fireworks.

The generally busy schedule of summer means we are keeping things simple in the kitchen. I honestly believe if it weren’t for this blog, I’d just eat watermelon all summer long. You may laugh, but it’s been known to happen in the past… However, raw is what I love during this time of year. So why not ceviche?

tuna, avocado, capers, red onion, green onion, cilantro, lime, garlic, jalapeno

dice the tuna into little ruby-colored gems

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: grilled salmon panang

You will never find me lying in the sun on a beach unless I’ve died there or aliens have replaced me with a fake Jen Yu… in which case I have a predetermined question that Jeremy must ask to see if it’s really me. Aside from not liking the sand (it gets EVERYWHERE) and the humidity, I am not a big fan of the sun. I spent most of my childhood summers roasting on a boat on the water. I got enough sun to last me three lifetimes.

I recently met with some gal pals for lunch out on the patio of Pizzeria Basta. We started in the shade and as lunch wore on, the sun crept across our tables. We shifted the tables back into the shade when Beth said she’d be happy to switch seats with anyone as she liked the sun. And suddenly I looked around at my friends and envisioned them with a weatherman’s sun or a weatherman’s cloud over their head.

pizzeria basta is located in a mixed development

beth and marianne ordered a lovely salad

drea and i split the cart-driver pizza (with salami b/c they were out of sausage)

When I have lived on the East Coast, the sun was just sort of there (and in Ithaca, it was sort of not really there). It rose, it set – whatever. Living in the west, the sun dictates a lot of what we do. In summer, we make plans around the sun. Hikes start at 5 am or earlier – we run or ride in the mornings or a few hours before sundown. We all hide in the coolest parts of the house at midday.

even on the cloudy days, kaweah tries to soak up every bit of sun

but i was quite delighted to get some rain

A lot of effort goes into avoiding the heat and that includes heat from the kitchen. I swore to myself that I would focus on quick and simple recipes this summer and I think it has put me in a happier mood. Let’s do cool, fresh, quick, easy! Sounds good, right? By the time our evenings start to dip back below freezing in September, I will be ready for those beloved stews and soups and slow-roasted nommy noms. For now, I love me some grilled food. Meat + Fire = Good.

gorgeous wild caught salmon

fish sauce, coconut milk, panang curry paste, paprika, sugar

**Jump for more butter**