Two-way Cantaloupe

Nook Thanyaporn brought a cantaloupe to me. It's fresh from her friend's farm in Chiangmai. As much as I could see and smell, it's a very nice looking and sweet smelling cantaloupe. Why didn't she want it? "I only eat cantaloupe with Parma ham." Ah huh.... Lucky me she didn't think of making her own parma ham salad because it was a real good cantaloupe.

Cantaloupe with Feta Salad

Adrian first thought it was weird: it's a mix of cantaloupe, strawberries and pomegranate, but not like the fruit salad that he was expecting. I told him to think about the Bulgarian Salad he so liked at Crepe & Cos. "Now that makes sense". And it started to grow on him since.

Ingredients:

• cantaloupe, chopped
• strawberries, chopped
• Pomegranate seeds
• Feta cheese, crumbled
• Red onion, chopped
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste

Toss everything together and chill 30 minutes before serving.

Broiled Cantaloupe with Mint Honey Glaze
I'm not sure if Adrian approved of this. I liked it quite a bit, especially the sweet juice collected at the pit. the soft tenderness also reminded me of a delicious winter melon soup that my grandmother used to make.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cantaloupe, seeds and pits removed
  
• mint leaves, chopped
• 1 teaspoon Honey

Turn the oven to highest (broil). Mix honey and mint leaves together. Drizzle over cantaloupe. Put to top rack and broil for 2 minutes, or until the glaze run.

Roasted Garlic and Bell Pepper Pizza

Before Adrian left home, I told him we were having pizza for dinner - it's my way of saying "have-anything-in-between-as-long-as-it's-not-the-same-as-dinner". He came home, told me he watched the guy tossed pizza at the Food Loft. He may have guessed I was trusting him with the crust rolling responsibility. Look what he did. Instead of the conventional circle, he made a country map. Australia?

Look aside, it's a good pizza. I prepared most of the ingredients a day ahead. It was all about putting things together come dinner time. You can use store bought sun-dried tomatoes instead of roasting your own. I just wanted to make sure those cherry tomatoes went for good use before they turned bad.

I loved the smell of the garlic as it was roasting. It kind of became obscure when mashed into paste with the roasted tomatoes. It was fun squeezing them out of the garlic cloves; they were so soft I didn't even have to use blender - just a few good mash. If I ever make this again, I'd be sure to use more onions: it didn't matter when I wasn't aware of it, but once I tasted how good it was, I wished there were more in every bite.

Ingredients:

• 1 pizza crust
  
• 1 head garlic, unpeeled, head sliced
  
• 1 yellow onion, sliced into rings
• olive oil
• 1/2 cup Oven-roasted herbed cherry tomatoes
• 1 roasted red bell pepper, cut into strips
  
• 6 ounces Mozzarella, grated
• 2 1/2 ounce Feta, crumbled
  
• 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
• 4 tablespoons basil, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 150C. Place garlic onto a baking dish and drizzle with one tablespoon of olive oil. Place onion rings to a separate baking dish and coat with one tablespoon of olive oil. Bake in the oven until garlic is brown and soft; onions are tender - about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.
2. Set oven to 250C. Using fingers, squeeze out roasted garlic cloves into a bowl; add tomatoes and mash into paste. Set aside.
3. Roll out pizza crust. Spread garlic paste evenly over crust. Layer with onions, bell pepper, Mozzarella and feta. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoons parsley and 2 tablespoons basil. Bake for 10 minutes; until cheeses turn golden brown and bubbly.
   
4. Remove from oven, top with the remaining parsley and basil.
   

Beet and Feta Salad

Ever since the success of introducing beet root into Adrian's diet, I have been wanting to cook with more beet roots. As Dan said, beet root is a very versatile ingredients. He was generous enough to share with me some of his killer beet recipes back in his Bed Supper Club-day. They are really tempting, and equally intimidating. I'm going to stick to baby-step and experiment the home-style before I venture to the pro-style.

It's such a pain to cook beet - it takes such a long time to get it cooked! In my case, 40 minutes. What did I do as I wait? I whipped up an Apple Crisp.

The maple syrup-candied walnut was a good touch; it added some crunch to the salad. Its sweetness is a good compliment to the saltiness of feta. The orange zest, too, added a not overly whelming citrusy taste. On last thought, I threw in some sprouts (broccoli, alfalfa and pea) for variety.

Ingredients:

• beets, washed, trimmed and cut in half
• 1/3 cup of walnuts, chopped
  
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• salad greens of your choice
• 1/2 cup of orange juice, or one orange
• orange zest, grated
  
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• feta cheese, crumbled

1. Cover cut beets with water and boil until tender. About 40 minutes.
   
2. At the mean time, mix orange juice, balsamic vinegar and olive oil in a medium bowl.
   
3. Lightly toast walnuts in a frying pan for a few minutes. Add maple syrup and stir to coat.
   
4. When beets are done, let cool under running water. The skin will slide off easily at this point. Chop into bite-sized chunks.
5. Place salad greens to individual plate. Toss all ingredients together, spoon on salad green to serve.