[1] Strawberry gazpacho has vegetables, onion and herbs, like a basic vegetable gazpacho (photo © Hannah Kaminsky | Bittersweet Blog).

[2] The markets are filled with fresh strawberries, ready to enjoy plain or in recipes like this (photo © Good Eggs).

Our colleague Hannah Kaminsky of Bittersweet Blog added strawberries to a classic gazpacho recipe to fight “an oppressive heatwave.”

It’s a soup course, or a main course with a salad or sandwich on the side.

“Balancing sweetness with savory undertones, the subtle bite of vinegar, and fresh verdant pop of basil, it’s a delicious study in contrasts,” says Hannah.

“Don’t let the fruity feature scare you off! It’s not a vegetable-forward smoothie, but you may still want to drink it straight from the blender.”

We’ll add a smiley icon to that: 🙂

Here’s her quick-and-easy recipe. Prep time is 10 minutes, plus an hour or more to chill.
 
 
RECIPE: SAVORY STRAWBERRY GAZPACHO

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the strawberries and vegetables, along with the basil, salt, crushed red pepper and vinegar, in a blender. Blend on high speed until thoroughly puréed.

3. ADJUST the seasonings to taste, if needed. Garnish bowls with pistachios, strawberries, cucumber, and/or basil, if desired. Also consider a dollop vanilla yogurt or plain Greek yogurt.
 
 
CHECK OUT THE
HISTORY OF STRAWBERRIES

Summer is the time to eat a homemade dessert without turning on the oven.

That means fruit salad, ice cream or no-bake cookies such as this recipe of cocoa, peanut butter and oats.

Ice box cakes have long been popular, too: a layering of chocolate or vanilla “wafer” cookies with whipped cream. The recipe was popularized on boxes of Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafer Cookies, which were first produced in the 1930s.

When we think of wafer cookies, we are just as likely to think of the rectangular, finger-sized sandwich cookies with a waffle pattern.

Our colleague, Hannah Kaminsky, was “inspired by the brilliant fresh flavor of real berries baked into Voortman Bakery Raspberry Wafers. Paired with fresh raspberries, those sweet wafer cookie sticks become the building blocks of even greater tastes.

“Stacking bright, vibrant layers of flavor with the greatest of ease, anyone can assemble this masterpiece in minutes.”

However, those who prefer the liqueur can enjoy a glass or small snifter of it with the cake, followed by a cup of tea or coffee.

Served immediately or within a couple of hours, the cookies will be crunchy for a resoundingly satisfying bite. After a day or overnight, they’ll become softer, like the ladyfingers in tiramisu.
 
 
RECIPE: RASPBERRY ICE BOX CAKE

forkful from top to bottom, easy to slice, serve, and fully embrace with an open mouth. Go ahead, prep well in advance, so you can be ready whenever your party springs to life.
Prep time is just 10 minutes, plus 2-4 hours chilling time.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

[1] This no-bake ice box cake is made without turning on the stove or oven (both photos © Hannah Kaminsky | Bittersweet Blog).

[2] Don’t like raspberry? Voortman makes wafer cookies filled with banana or blueberry, as well as chocolate, chocolate and caramel, chocolate and raspberry, cinnamon, coconut, cookies and cream, key lime, lemon, maple, peanut butter, s’mores, strawberry and banana, strawberry, and vanilla. There are also chocolate-coated and sugar-free varieties.

2. PLACE the cream cheese with in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat briefly to soften. Add in the sugar, potato starch, 2 tablespoons of the liqueur, and orange zest, mixing thoroughly to combine. Pause to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula to ensure that everything is smoothly incorporated.

3. ARRANGE half of of the wafer cookies in an even layer on the bottom of the pan. Brush the cookies with 1 tablespoon of the liqueur and top with half of the raspberries, distributing them as equally as possible across the exposed surface.

4. SPOON half of the cream cheese mixture on top, carefully spreading it over the berries. Top with the remaining wafer cookies and press down firmly to make sure the layers are flush. You may crush some of the berries below, but it’s a small sacrifice to make for all the flavor they add.

5. BRUSH the cookies with the remaining tablespoon of liqueur, top with the final half of the raspberries, and finish with the last of the cream cheese mixture. Smooth out the cream and top with a light sprinkle of the freeze dried raspberry powder all over.

6. CHILL for at least 4 hours for the best, most sliceable results, but feel free to dig in sooner if you don’t mind dishing out messier but crunchier layers. Covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated, the cake will keep for up to 5 days, but will grow softer and more tiramisu-like.
 
 
CLASSIC ICE BOX CAKE RECIPES

[1] Freshly caught and skinned wild salmon (all photos © Sitka Salmon Shares).

[2] Line-caught salmon.

[3] After they’re caught, the fish are quickly processed.

[4] They’re blast-frozen, and shipped by FedEx to your doorstep.

We were recently invited to try a sample of Sitka Salmon Shares.

It’s a wild-caught Alaskan seafood delivery service. A collective of local fishermen pull the catch into their boats and quickly brings it to port.

There, it’s filleted, blast frozen to -50°F and individually vacuum-sealed, locking in the fresh-caught flavor.

A box of scrumptious fish is then FedExed to you.

While our box of four fillets was consumed in four days, the fish stays fresh-tasting in the freezer without degrading.

 
We tried four different varieties; each, perfection.

The CSF (Community Supported Fishery) supports small-boat family fishermen.

Whether you grow your own tomatoes or live near a supply of farm-grown beauties, put the summer abundance of fresh-off-the-vine tomatoes to use with this no-cook tomato sauce for pasta and pizza.

We often make this recipe when we come across a lot of very ripe tomatoes, priced to sell. The recipe is from DeLallo, purveyor of fine foods, with an emphasis on premium Italian products.

Also check out the numerous uses for a bounty of summer tomatoes below.
 
 
RECIPE: NO-COOK FRESH TOMATO SAUCE

Ingredients For 4-6 Servings

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the chopped tomatoes in a large serving bowl. Using your hands, squeeze and smash the tomatoes to release all of their juices. Then combine them with the olive oil, garlic, basil, and salt. Set aside and allow to marinate, for up to an hour.

2. COOK the pasta according to package instructions. Drain. Immediately add the hot pasta to the serving bowl with the tomatoes. Mix to combine.

3. SERVE with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
 
 

MORE USES FOR TOMATO SAUCE

Beyond pasta and pizza, here’s how to use your fresh tomato sauce:
 
Breakfast

 
Lunch

 
Appetizers

 
Dinner Mains

[1] This no-cook tomato sauce has numerous uses beyond pasta (photos #1 and #2 © DeLallo).

[2] Extra virgin olive oil can be its own sauce. Just drizzle it over the pasta, add fresh cracked pepper and parmesan cheese.

[3] Basil with roots. With or without the roots, keep herbs in the fridge in a glass or other tall container. Add some water to the bottom. As with flowers, change the water regularly. This will keep herbs fresh, longer (photo © Good Eggs).

 
 
With all these options, why not double the recipe and enjoy it at another meal.
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF TOMATOES

>THE HISTORY OF SPAGHETTI
 
 

[1] One-pot Spaghetti Caprese With Burrata (photo © The Baker Chick).

[2] Moist and creamy, burrata is a great cheese for fresh-cheese lovers (© Murray’s Cheese).

Finally, burrata cheese is being made by enough American producers that many cheese lovers nationwide can buy it locally.

Beyond enjoying it in a Caprese salad or with fruit, The Baker Chick has created this one-pot Spaghetti Caprese Recipe With Burrata.

This one-pot recipe can be on the table in just 30 minutes.

In addition to clicking over to the spaghetti recipe, head to The Baker Chick’s home page and check out all of her wonderful recipes and food photography.
 
 
WHAT IS BURRATA?

Burrata is a “filled” mozzarella, a specialty of the Apulia region of Italy, the “heel of the boot.” The word means “buttery” in Italian.

A hollow ball of buffalo mozzarella (mozzarella di bufala) is filled with panna, cream that contains scraps of mozzarella left over from mozzarella-making.

(The cream seems like very fine-grained ricotta to us.)

Cut into the ball and the cream oozes out. While both buttery and creamy, it is not overly rich; just overly delicious.

For years, the only burrata in the U.S. was imported from Italy to New York and other East Coast cities. Because of its short lifespan, it was too fragile to travel much further.

Burrata imported from Italy is traditionally wrapped in a green leaf, which are the fronds of an Italian plant called asphodel (it’s in the lily family, Liliaceae, which also contains asparagus and the different onion genuses—chives, garlic, leeks and onions, among other foods).

The leaves are an indicator of freshness: As long as the leaves are still fresh and green, the cheese within is still fresh. Dried-out leaves mean a cheese is past its prime.

When it travels from the dairy, the cheese also wrapped in a clear plastic bag to catch the natural liquid that drains from it.

Here’s more about burrata cheese and the history of burrata.

 
MORE CAPRESE RECIPES