[2] Refreshing cucumber-melon salad, accented with serrano chiles and mint.

[3] Both dishes on the picnic table.

[4] Painted Serpent cucumbers are an heirloom Asian cucumber. You can buy the seeds from Born To Grow.

[5] For dessert: grilled peaches and ricotta. Here’s the recipe.

While summer actually lasts until September 21st, many people see Labor Day as “the end of summer.”

Here are two interesting recipes with flavor highlights beyond the standard Labor Day Weekend fare. Both are better-for-you dishes that add special touches to the basics.

And you can still enjoy them after Labor Day!
 
 
RECIPE #1: GRILLED ZUCCHINI WITH CUMIN & MINT

Add a Moroccan touch to grilled zucchini (photo #1).

It’s the oil that really makes this dish says Good Eggs, which sent us these recipes. The cumin is toasted, ground, and mixed with olive oil to form a thin paste that gives the charred zucchini a subtle smokiness.

Serve it as a side or as a filling for vegetarian tacos.
 
Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT a grill, or for stove top, heat a cast iron skillet or grill pan, over medium-high heat. Toss the zucchini with olive oil to coat, and season with sea salt.

2. SEAR the zucchini on the grill until caramelized and browned, roughly 1 to 2 minutes. Flip the planks and repeat. Remove them from the grill and set them on a plate to cool. While zucchini is cooling…

3. TOAST the cumin seeds in a skillet. Crush the seeds in a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder, and combine with 2 tablespoons of olive oil to form a thin paste. Fold in the grated garlic.

4. DRIZZLE or spread the zucchini with the cumin paste, and top with fresh herbs to serve.
 
 
RECIPE #2: CUCUMBER & MELON SALAD WITH LEMON & MINT

A refreshing fruit* salad of soft melon and crunchy cucumber is bound with a dressing of olive oil and lemon (photo #2).

Slices of serrano chile and some fresh herbs add a punch to the mellow melon and cukes.

While this recipe specified a chanterais or galia melon, specialty items sold by Good Eggs, they are not found everywhere.

An easy substitute: honeydew or, for a bright accent of color, cantaloupe.

The recipe also called for Painted Serpent cucumbers, an heirloom variety from Asia. Use whatever long, thin cucumber is in your market.
 
Ingredients

 
Note: The comparative sizes of melons and cucumbers vary, and the melon cubes will be larger than the cucumber coins.

Eyeball the proportions and combine them “to taste.” If you have extra, you’ll have melon and cucumber for tomorrow.
 
Preparation

1. PREPARE the melon: Cut the top and bottom off of the melon with a serrated knife. Stand the melon upright, then cut around it to remove the skin. Cut in half, then scoop out the seeds. Cut the flesh into bite-size cubes.

2. SLICE the cucumbers, skin-on, in 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces.

3. SLICE the serrano peppers very thinly—careful, they’re hot so wash your hands thoroughly after touching them.

To remove some of the heat, remove the seeds and the pith. Add the salt and fresh herbs to taste. Toss and serve.
 
 
A COMPLEMENT FOR DESSERT

Try this delicious recipe for grilled peaches or nectarines, served with sweetened ricotta.

They’re an American approach to the European dessert of fruit and cheese.

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*Botanically, cucumber is classified as a fruit. It is closely related to watermelon, which is why the white rind tastes like cucumber and is made into watermelon pickles. Here’s the difference between fruits and vegetables.

Our favorite discover of the summer is Golden Cannoli Chips, The Original Cannoli Chip.

The sweet chips provide the cannoli‡ experience without our having to go out for cannoli, a dessert we simply can’t resist.

At home, we dip them into some sweetened ricotta cheese, to enjoy “deconstructed” cannoli (the full recipe follows).

Golden Cannoli Chips are triangle-shaped, crimped edge cookie chips, in four flavors:

 
For authentic cannoli taste, get the Powdered Sugar or possibly Cinnamon & Sugar. The Cookies & Cream and Lemon are tasty, but not “cannoli.”

Ready to make the dip?
 
 
RECIPE: CANNOLI CREAM DIP

If all you have is ricotta, sweeten it to taste and start dipping. Otherwise, here is the full cannoli cream recipe.
 
Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. WHIP the cream in a mixing bowl, until stiff peaks form. Move to a small bowl and set aside.

2. ADD the ricotta cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon to the mixing bowl. Mix on medium speed until combined, about 1 minute. Fold in the whipped cream and chocolate chips.

3. CHILL the cannoli cream for at least 2 hours. Serve with the cannoli chips (or, use them to fill cannoli shells).
 
ABOUT GOLDEN CANNOLI

The predecessor of Golden Cannoli was founded by cousins in greater Boston in 1970, as an Italian bakery. Cannoli shells were part of the product line.

The bakery soon was asked to produce cannoli for local bakeries. Production expanded so much that the cousins sold bakery and opened Golden Cannoli, to focus on cannoli shells, cannoli filling, and related items.

[1] Golden Cannoli Chips are made in four flavors. Shown: Powdered Sugar, the “authentic” cannoli flavor (all photos © Golden Cannoli).

[2] Our favorite “chips and dip” (sorry, potato chips).

[3] Mini ice cream sandwiches are just one fun use for Golden Cannoli Chips.

The solution was to break up cannoli shells and put them in cups of cannoli cream as a dip…and The Original Cannoli Chips were born!

Back from the show, the company quickly got to work to make Golden Cannoli Chips a reality.

For more information, head to GoldenCannoli.com.
 
 
WAYS TO USE CANNOLI CHIPS

have fun with them, as decorations, garnishes, and more:

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*To strain, set a strainer over a bowl or a pot, and add the ricotta. Let it drain naturally, and then use a spatula to lightly press out most of the remaining liquid. You can substitute low-fat ricotta.

†Cheesecake is an open-face pie, not a cake; as Boston Cream Pie is a cake, not a pie. The terms originated long ago, when naming conventions were not so precise.

‡The singular form in Italian is cannolo, the plural is cannoli. In the U.S., some people use cannoli as the singular and cannolis as the plural. Both of these latter uses are incorrect.

Perline, or pearl balls (photo © Lioni Lattanici).

Take a bite: These mozzarella bites are low in calories and high in flavor and crunch.

Balls of mozzarella are traditionally available in eight sizes (see the chart below). Perlini are the smallest.

You can use them in and on baked potatoes lasagna, nachos, omelets, pasta, pizza, salad, soups, tacos and vegetables.

We’ve even put them on cocktail picks along with diced celery, as a Bloody Mary garnish.

This recipe, from BelGioioso, is both elegant and fun. It uses their perline (“little pearls” in Italian, also called pearl balls in English).
 
RECIPE: MOZZARELLA BITES

Ingredients For 8 Pieces

 
For The Champagne Tarragon Vinaigrette

1. PLACE the tomatoes in a bowl and set aside. In a small bowl, combine the vinaigrette ingredients and whisk until emulsified. Pour the dressing over the tomatoes and allow to marinate for at least one hour.

2. SLICE the cucumber into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Place on a serving tray. Top each cucumber slice with marinated tomatoes and place three Fresh Mozzarella Pearls on top.

Nick of Dude Foods is nothing if not creative.

These Waffle Fry Sliders are an example.

“The only real problem I came across when making my Waffle Fry Sliders was finding decently sized waffle fries,” says Nick.

“I bought a bag of frozen fries from the grocery store and upon opening it I noticed that about 80% of them were way too small to be used as slider buns.

“Luckily though, I still had enough for six sliders, plus a pretty big pile of leftover fries to eat on the side.

“As the fries were baking in the oven, I grilled up my hamburger patties; and when both of those were done it was only a matter of adding some lettuce, tomato slices and cheese before my Waffle Fry Sliders were ready to eat!”

Thanks, Nick. Next time, invite us to join you!

Waffle Fry Sliders from Dude Foods.

[2] Another Caprese main course option: Balsamic Chicken Caprese. Here’s the recipe from Cafe Delites.

[3] Classic Caprese with red and yellow heirloom tomatoes (photo courtesy Balducci’s).

[4] Artistic Caprese arrangement (photo courtesy Great Performances | Facebook).

Caprese Salad—tomatoes, mozzarella and basil, with an olive oil dressing—has become a mainstay on U.S. menus (here’s the history of Caprese Salad).

In the summer, when ripe tomatoes are picked from the vine, it’s high season for Caprese.

Each summer we publish a different take on the salad (see below). This year, it’s a variation we hadn’t thought of before: a baked Caprese Casserole.

The recipe is from QVC’s “resident foodie” and best-selling cookbook author, David Venable. The casserole shines when made with succulent summer tomatoes; and also works with off-season tomatoes (cooking tomatoes brings out some sweetness that may not be in the raw tomatoes).
 
 
RECIPE: CAPRESE CASSEROLE

Ingredients For 8 Servings
 
For The Base Layer

 
For The Topping

 
Preparation

1. PREPARE the base layer. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spray a 9″ x 13″ baking dish with nonstick food spray.

2. SLICE the baguette into rounds and place them in a mixing bowl. Toss the rounds with the garlic, parmesan, olive oil, salt and pepper. Lay the rounds on a baking sheet and cook in the oven until toasted and crispy, about 20 minutes (15 minutes if you raise the temperature to 400°F).

3. SHINGLE (overlap) the toasted slices in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Starting at one end of the dish, make a row of tomato slices. Alternate rows of mozzarella and tomato until the baking dish is filled from one end to the other. Using a spoon, drizzle the olive oil, then the pesto, back and forth over the entire casserole.

4. PREPARE the topping. Place the parmesan, bread crumbs, garlic, basil and olive oil into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until combined. Sprinkle the topping evenly on top of the prepared casserole. Season with the salt and pepper.

5. PLACE the baking dish in the oven for approximately 30 minutes, until the tomatoes have softened and the topping has browned slightly.
 
 
12 CAPRESE SALAD RECIPES