Watermelon and Cucumbers with Spicy Sumac Salt by Alison Roman

Ever had watermelon with tajin? If your answer is no, then you are really MISSING OUT! This recipe is Alison’s version of that powerhouse combo, and I am HERE for it. 

It’s simple. Sumac provides the sourness. Aleppo pepper provides the spice and heat. Coarse kosher salt provides… the salt. Artfully arrange a place of watermelon and cucumber slices (or don’t make it pretty, that’s fine too), and sprinkle a mixture of these spices over the plate. What results is a sweet, sour, spicy, salty snack, perfect for a crowd or just you and a friend. 

Margaret and I ate two full plates, along with salted potato chips and ginger sparkling water from Whole Foods (so good!). It was the perfect summer lunch on my balcony. 

92 recipes cooked, 133 to go.

Charred Corn and Scallions with Tomatillos by Alison Roman

Grilling recipe number 2! If you want to know more about the actual grill experience, feel free to check out yesterday’s post about Grilled Carrots with Limey Hot Sauce and Cotija. 

There are several components to prep for this dish, including tomatillos, which I’ve yet to talk about on the blog. For those of you who are unfamiliar, tomatillos are small green fruits that resemble a smaller tomato in shape, and come wrapped in a sticky husk. Tomatillos are not spicy, but rather tangy, acidic, and bright. They’re frequently used to make green salsas. I also love making homemade enchilada sauce with them. I roast the tomatillos and several jalapeños under the broiler before blending them up with salt and pepper. Delicious!

This recipe only needs a few tomatillos (they’re sold by the pound.) They’re thinly sliced and tossed with lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper, and set aside to await the corn and scallions.  

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The recipe calls for either scallions or spring onions. And since I happened to find some spring onions (which are rare these days!), I used those. Two of the raw onions are saved for chopping and tossing with the tomatillos. The rest of the bunch get charred over the grill — which takes only a few minutes. 

The corn grills on medium-high for 8 to 10 minutes according to the recipe. However, similar to the grilled carrots, they could have used another 5-8 minutes to get more char. As long as they aren’t totally blackened, I say the more char, the better. 

Once ready, cut the corn off the cob, roughly chop the grilled spring onions, and mix both with the tomatillo mixture. Per Alison’s note, we added diced avocado — to which I also say, the more avocado, the more delicious. (Alison claims that avocado “does nothing for her,” but I couldn’t disagree more. See this post for a deeper dive into my feelings about avocados.) 

This dish lends itself very well to modification! Margaret pointed out that plenty of alterations could be made based on preference. Add sliced jalapeño or flaky salt, diced fresh bell pepper, or cotija, just to name a few. 

We loved this dish, and it made enough for 6 of us to each have seconds (and for some, thirds). 

91 recipes cooked, 134 to go.

my sweet pal Margaret

Grilled Carrots with Limey Hot Sauce and Cotija by Alison Roman

It’s summer, friends! Which means grilling season! Which means of course I had to make a list of all of Alison’s recipes that require (or strongly suggest) using a grill. My in-law’s live about 15 minutes away, and have both gas and charcoal grills. I plan to utilize these grills for all of the grill recipes until we move to Chicago in September. 

I find it necessary to disclose that I’ve never grilled before. I still haven’t. I asked my father-in-law to monitor these carrots while I prepped the rest of the meal. That said, I intend to be more hands-on in the future! 

To prep these delicious carrots, I simply tossed them in oil and salt and pepper before plopping them directly on the grill. The grill is set to medium-high, and Alison says the char should happen in 8-10 minutes. We took the carrots off at 10 minutes, but I must admit that they could have spent another 5 and gotten even softer, charred and more delicious. Margaret agreed. 

That’s right, Margaret! Margaret, more than anyone else in my life, has taught me how to cook. She’s also one of my best friends. She and I cooked this recipe together, and it was such a treat. 

Once grilled, the carrots are tossed in a “limey hot sauce” which is really just a mixture of lots of lime juice, honey garlic and minced jalapeño. It’s not a marinade, it’s a sauce. A very thin liquid sauce with chunks of minced jalapeño. It’s really good, and the leftovers were passed around the table for more drizzling on truly everything on our plates — Alison’s charred corn and some grilled chicken. 

The final element is cotija cheese. We crumbled far more than the recipe calls for on top of the carrots. Margaret would have liked for a better way for the getting the cotija to adhere to the carrots. It tended to fall off once plated, which meant scooping up cheese crumbles with your fork after each bite of carrot. Doable, but not ideal, nor elegant. Although, can you eat carrots elegantly? I’m unsure. 

Overall, these carrots are a fun summer night dish that most definitely will appear again in meals to come. 

90 recipes cooked, 135 to go.

Scallops with Corn, Hazelnuts, and Brown Butter Chermoula by Alison Roman

Let’s talk about scallops. Scallops are small, fleshy circles of meat that grow inside of hinged shells. They are, in fact, animals. They have organs and eyes that can detect light and motion. There are over 300 species of scallops! Scallops have a tiny muscle flap on their sides that needs to be removed before cooking (I’m not sure why - they’re probably too tough?), and they shrink down quite a bit as they cook, perhaps by about 40-50%. They smell rather fishy! 

Alison instructs us to sear the scallops in a skillet with a bit of canola oil, browning them on both sides. After cleaning my scallops, I did just as instructed. But I was unable to get a good sear because the scallops leaked a potently fishy liquid that covered the pan, creating a soggy surface environment opposite the dry heat required to sear. Why this happened to me, and not Alison – I’m not sure? I ended up draining the liquid and getting a bit of light brown color on each side, but the whole process took far longer than she mentions, and the scallops seemed a bit too dry by the end. There are one or two other scallop recipes yet in this project, so I hope to report back with more success. 

Let’s talk about chermoula (ch-er-moo-la). Chermoula is a kind of relish used in seafood dishes in many Arabic countries. It typically includes garlic, cumin and coriander, among other spices. Alison’s chermoula also used red pepper flakes, cumin, and paprika. In this recipe, chermoula is cooked until fragrant and toasted in a foamy pat of butter. Then the corn is added and cooked until bright yellow. 

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Let’s talk about corn. I love fresh corn in the summer. Cutting it off the ear is a bit more work than buying it frozen, but fresh corn has such a better flavor and texture. My corn cutting tip: stand the ear upside down on it’s head, holding it by the stalk, inside of a large, deep bowl. Take a sharp knife and saw the kernels off one side of the ear, rotating it so that you get all sides clean. The bowl will keep the kernels from flying all over the counter and floor, which always happens when I use a cutting board instead. This, friends, is the best way to cut fresh corn. 

Let’s talk about hazelnuts. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I don’t like hazelnuts. At ALL. Alison apparently loves them. So anytime I see them in a recipe, I swap them for a different kind of nut. In this dish, I subbed the hazelnuts with toasted pistachios, which I roasted in the oven for 10 minutes before chopping them for the garnish. 

This kind of dish was a new adventure for me. I enjoyed it, but probably won’t make it again. The scallops were a little too fishy, and the coriander seeds overwhelmed the flavor. The pistachios and cilantro were a nice touch, and I preferred a squeeze of lime, which is pictured in the book, but isn’t mentioned in the recipe. 

Scallops and Corn were the final dish for my All-Out-Alison Meal! This week’s AOA meal menu included: 

• Appetizer: Spicy Marinated Anchovies with Potato Chips

• Side Dish: Tomatoes Dressed in Toasted Fennel and Anchovy

• Side Dish: Baked Summer Squash with Cream and Parmesan Bread Crumbs

• Main Dish: Scallops with Corn, Hazelnuts, and Brown Butter Chermoula 

• Dessert: Upside-Down Apricot Tart

I can highly recommend this as a complete meal for your next dinner party! However, be prepared to spend about 4 hours of prep time in the kitchen. 

89 recipes cooked, 136 to go.

Tomatoes Dressed in Toasted Fennel and Anchovy by Alison Roman

Alison describes this dish as something so good, it made her cry. I agree, it’s really good. (It didn’t make me cry.) It was also effortless, pretty to look at, and totally consumed in about 30 minutes. 

The recipe calls for 2-3 lbs of small-ish ripe tomatoes. I used the kind that grow on a vine, are larger than a cherry tomato, but smaller than a beefsteak tomato. You know what I’m talking about, right? Of course you do. 

Several hours before dinner time, I assembled the anchovy oil. This consisted of melting about 8 anchovies in some olive oil and Aleppo pepper over medium heat. I tried not to let the oil get too hot so that it bubbled, but hot enough to let the anchovies melt. This took some vigilance and heat adjustment as the fish began to break down. I assume it would have gone much quicker if I had a more predictable gas stove, but it’s hard to nail an exact heat range with my electric stove. I waited to prepare the tomatoes until right before our guests arrived so they were as fresh and cold as possible. I chose to quarter the tomatoes instead of slice them, which made them easier to eat. 

The combination of flaky salt, anchovy and aleppo oil, and toasted fennel seed was far more subtle, in a good way, than I anticipated. I could only partially taste the anchovy, which allowed the fresh tomato to still shine in its own juicy glory. I could have easily eaten half the plate by myself, but instead, I had several others help me with it. If you love tomatoes, then this is a fabulous, and quick to assemble, side dish for any summer meal. 

88 recipes cooked, 137 to go.

part of this All-Out-Alison meal — served with the Scallops with Corn, Anchovies with Potato Chips, Baked Summer Squash, and Alison’s Upside-Down Apricot Tart