Sharing Plate – Your Cooking Coach |

This summer I have been making guacamole at least once a week.. usually it is more like two. It is quite simple to make and usually takes the usual suspects. Lots of lime juice and salt are the key to a delicious guacamole. Cilantro and green onions help as well and so does garlic.

For the steak and chimichurri sauce I posted yesterday, I wanted to make a guacamole but a bit different… so I looked in my fridge and found it was filled with delicious mangos. I decided to chop one and add it to the mix. The texture of the two fruits is exactly the same but the flavors couldn’t be different. One has a rich, creamy taste and the mango is sweet and tangy. The two went amazingly together. The guacamole was delicious and perfect with the steak!
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This potato salad is a must for this summer. It is ideal because I made it without mayo.. and so that makes things very simple, especially when you are taking it to someone’s house or it is super hot outside. The great thing is that it tastes better as it sits.

I was supposed to take a salad to a friend’s house who was grilling steak, chicken and a few other things. She had a garden salad and corn and was looking for another salad that would complement all the food. I suggested a mayo-less potato salad and started thinking of what kind of flavors I would incorporate into the potatoes to make the salad super yummy.  Somehow anchovies came to mind immediately… I love using them, especially when people don’t even know they are eating them. Most people claim not to like anchovies but love the salty, nutty flavor they impart in all dishes.

I melted some anchovies with olive oil, garlic, a red onion. I sauteed the veggies and added the salty kalamata olives. The red wine vinegar brought out the flavor of all the other ingredients and balanced the dish. A sprinkle of parsley and salt finished it off.

This is a yummy salad for a picnic as well. Enjoy it on the long weekend.
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I am all for making things from scratch but I do like to use all the conveniences I can find at the store. For this recipe I bought packaged, shredded cabbage, carrots and broccoli slaw. It saved me a ton of time and made everything a lot easier.

To complete a well-balanced menu, I was going to make a coleslaw dish with the Thai style burgers and potato salad. The recent Bon Appetit issue had a whole article on tamarind and it’s virtues. I am quite familiar with tamarind as I use it for all different things including using it in drinks, dressings and as a condiment.

They talked about pairing yogurt with tamarind concentrate to make a delicious, tangy dressing. I added my own twist by adding roasted cumin to the creamy dressing which gave the dish a nice nutty flavor. Overall, the dish went well with the burger and the potato salad.

What else do you need? Yes, I know what you are thinking- where is the dessert??? Stay tuned for tomorrow and you will have a great recipe for a dessert as well…
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Thai theme is continued for this side dish as well. I have to serve potatoes for a barbecue especially when burgers are involved. I usually prefer fries but I went with a potato salad.

I wanted to come up with a delicious recipe that is easy to make and also can be made ahead of time- that to me, is the key to a successful party. I need to be a stress free hostess and in order for me to be completely relaxed, I have to be able to do everything in advance. For this barbecue, I made sure everything was ready to go. The only thing my husband had to grill were the burgers and the corn. The rest was all laid out on the table, ready to go.

This salad was easy to make- there was a bit of chopping involved and then just a matter of mixing all the components. The two main ingredients in this dish are the peanut butter and coconut milk. The dressing mimics the typical Thai flavors. It is sweet, savory, tangy and spicy.

The potato salad went really well with the Thai style burgers- definitely try this for your fourth of July meal…
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You have to admit- this salad (like yesterdays) looks gorgeous. Like the carrot salad, this one has most spices used in Moroccan cuisine. I did use smoked paprika- which is more of a Spanish ingredient- but since I love this spice on potatoes- I decided to use it in this salad.

The good thing about this dish, besides the taste, is that it can be made in advance. In fact it tastes better as the potatoes bathe in the delicious dressing for a few hours. The main ingredient in the dressing is a lot of powdered cumin. I always have lots of cumin seeds at hand but never buy the powdered variety since powdered spices loose their flavor very quickly. I ground the cumin and added it to the oil, cilantro, parsley and lemon juice. The smoky dressing was a great compliment to the creamy potatoes.

I grilled the potatoes the same way I did the carrots. It was very easy to make and the dish went perfectly with the lamb burgers and the carrot salad. It was a delicious, simple and healthy barbecue to prepare.

We all had a wonderful time and washed the delicious food down with some fabulous pomegranate mojitos. How do you make them- you ask??? Stay tuned tomorrow and I will share my husband’s fabulous recipe.
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