I turned my oven on for you.

Everyone is complaining endlessly about the summer heat, but after surviving two Chicago winters it seems ungrateful to complain about being warm. I think the Vietnamese side of me relishes the humidity and heat of the summer sun, at least that's what I tell myself. I tan effortlessly and rarely burn (I know, you hate me now) and love spending my days lounging with a book by the lake for hours on end. But turning on the oven is really a different story. We rarely turn on our air conditioner, but with the oven cranked to 400 degrees I'm begging for some relief.

I got the idea for this vegetable side dish from talking to my mother, watching Rachel Ray, and a similar recipe I found online. It's easy enough to throw together and makes great use of my favorite summer vegetables: tomatoes, squash, and zucchini.

After sauteing shallots and garlic together for the base, I made a breadcrumb topping using panko and anchovies. I happen to love anchovies, but if you don't, wait until you try this. Melting the anchovies in butter and tossing it with panko and pecorino cheese is an awesome topping for these vegetables. The salt from the anchovies enhances the overall flavor of the dish and any fishiness is cooked away in the butter. Only the cook will know anchovies are present, I promise no one will notice!

I covered a small square baking dish with the shallots and garlic mixture then tossed the vegetables with olive oil, garlic powder, fresh thyme, salt & pepper. I lined them up like soliders and covered them with the panko breadcrumb mixture and made sure I stuffed the crevices between each slice. After only 15 minutes in the oven this dish is good to go. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Now I'm off to the Pitchfork music festival to listen to some of my favorite bands like, Yo La Tengo! Until next time!

 Roasted Summer Veggies w/Panko Topping
 serves 6 as a side

for the base
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 large shallots, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced

for the middle
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large or 2 medium zucchini, sliced 1/4 inch
1 large or 2 medium squash, sliced 1/4 inch
2 medium tomatoes, sliced
1 teaspoon garlic powder
4-5 sprigs fresh thyme
salt & pepper

for the topping
2 tablespoons butter
1 can anchovies, coarsely diced
1 cup panko
1/2 cup shredded Pecorino Romano cheese (Parmesean or an Italian blend would also work well)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Heat butter and olive oil together in a large skillet and saute shallot for 3 mintues, add garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Slice zucchini, squash, and tomato and place in a large bowl. Cover with olive oil, garlic powder, fresh thyme, salt & pepper, mix well.

For the topping: Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add anchovies and heat through for 2-3 minutes. Add panko and toast for 2-3 minutes more, stirring constantly. Add cheese and remove from heat.

In square baking dish cover the bottom evenly with half of the shallot and garlic mixture. Place vegetables in three rows alternating between the squash, zucchini, and tomato. Add the remaining shallot and garlic mixture over the top of the vegetables and cover with panko topping, making sure to get into the middle of each vegetable slice with the panko. Heat in the oven for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender but not mushy. Let cool, top with extra thyme for garnish, and serve.

 

Nothing Better Than Summer in Chicago

What an incredible summer this has been so far! I will use that as my excuse for being silent so long. With this being our second summer in Chicago we have learned much more of what the city has to offer and have made good friends, which helps immensely. Connecting with other people opens doors that you never knew existed and many of my friends have lived here for years, or their entire lives, and I never hesitate to take their advice on what to do and how to do it.

Grant Park

For example, I had heard that the Taste of Chicago was very overrated; big crowds and sub par food didn't make the trip downtown worth it. I decided to find that out for myself this year after I heard that one of my favorite bands, Delta Spirit, was playing a free show. The Taste of Chicago takes place in Grant Park, a large open space downtown where the views of the city are amazing. There were 35 food vendors who offered an assortment of goodies and I tried so much food my stomach almost burst. A burger from Billy Goat Inn, a slice of deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati's, Mongolian Beef Bao from The Noodle Vietnamese, fries with curry from Abbey Pub & Restaurant, Pad Thai from Star of Siam, and then after the show a funnel cake with chocolate ice cream and chocolate syrup drizzled over the whole calorie laden bomb. The food was certainly edible but would hardly make me want to visit these restaurants outside of The Taste. The food was not made to order, but rather sitting on a table, mass produced, waiting for someone to order it. I understand the necessity of this when you have literally thousands of people to serve in a few hours time. But unfortunately under these circumstances the quality of your product is going to go down. Even Lou Malnati's, whose deep dish pizza is my number one favorite in all of Chicago, suffered from an undercooked crust. The long time locals hit the nail on the head with this one, but I'm glad I got to experience it for myself and draw my own conclusions.

Dean & I enjoy the Taste of Chicago

I also got to visit Roscoe Village's Burger Fest, a much smaller festival that takes up two city blocks and is dedicated to featuring the city's best burger joints. I started off with a burger from Rockit Burger Bar, which was rated #1 on the city's website from last year's Burger Fest. It was a small 4 oz burger with fried onions and spicy mayo, but I like my burgers cooked medium and it was overcooked and bland. My friend Caitlin and I walked down the next block and found a long line at Select Cut, a vendor featuring a steak burger with caramelized onions. I had not read anything about this restaurant on the city's website but I figured the line should speak for itself. After getting our burger Caitlin and I waited in line for a bucket of french fries topped with cheese, bacon, and jalapenos. Then after a quick stop in the beer garden, we grabbed a Goose Island 312, and headed to the nearest table and enjoyed the feast before us. We reached a consensus, the burger from Select Cut was amazing and we made quite a dent in our bucket of fries too. Satiated, I made my way back home and slept off all the cholesterol I had just inhaled.

Roscoe Village Burger Fest

And while I may not have been keeping up with my own food blog, I still pursue others, who do a much better job making regular posts than I do. I discovered this blog by Sarah Britton and I had to make this noodle dish after seeing the pictures and looking at the ingredients. This dish is very Vietnamese, the sauce featuring tamari (a type of soy sauce), lime juice, honey, ginger, and fresh chilies topped with fresh mint and cilantro is so refreshing. I think if this were served with grilled pork I would have died and gone to heaven, but its also great on its own and my vegetarian husband was appreciative that I made it sans pork.

Noodles and Greens from My New Roots

Since summer finally decided to make an appearance in Chicago many of our dinners have taken place outside with simple meals of bread, cheese, fruit, and a bottle of wine. Chicago has an awesome parks department which features free movies and concerts played in the most beautiful parks Chicago has to offer and I love taking advantage of these nights outdoors under the stars with someone I love. 

Movies in the Park

Today is my day off and I'm headed to the beach my with trusty dog, Nico. Sorry for the lack of my own recipe and pictures but I'd rather be outside, soaking up the sun and reading a good book, but I still wanted to check in and let you know I've been enjoying good food and good fun. I hope your summer is treating you the same.

Diversey Harbor