One Teaspoon From Disaster

This easy watermelon salad is a nice side dish to anything you may be throwing on the grill, with two extra perks.

One, it looks and tastes kind of fancy. And two, it’s a really good way to use up watermelon, most of which sit in the fridge after one serving, because really, who can eat a 40-pound watermelon before it goes bad?

Also worth mentioning, this is not your traditional fruit-based salad. It’s not sweet. The feta along with the dressing cuts the sugary taste and makes it almost creamy with a little tang. The pine nuts are the best touch, I must say.

The only downfall: the salad doesn’t keep well. It will get soggy after a couple days (that’s the water in the watermelon). But that shouldn’t be a problem. Unlike its 40-pound former self, this salad won’t stick around long. It’s that good.

Watermelon salad
Salad:
7 C. seeded, cubed watermelon
1 C. crumbled feta
½ C. red onion, thinly sliced
1/3 C. pine nuts
½ C. arugula (or baby spinach)
1/3 C. fresh parsley, chopped
¼ C. fresh mint, chopped
Dressing:
¼ C. olive oil
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. black pepper
Directions: Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk dressing ingredients and pour over salad; gently toss. Serves four to eight.

Talk about easy. Want a quick, foolproof dessert? Here’s cobbler that, yes, is technically made from scratch, but you hardly have to do anything at all. Not that anyone needs to know that.

Here’s a great summer dessert that will be an absolute hit.

Simply mix, sprinkle and bake. I like to spread a little raspberry jam on top to cut the tartness of the fruit. Sprinkling sugar helps, but the jam (or preserves) adds a noticeable difference.

Definitely serve the cobbler warm topped with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. (Don’t skimp; get good the good stuff. It makes a difference.) You’ll want to make this cobbler again and again––and not share the easy recipe.

Raspberry cobbler
1 C. flour
1 C. sugar
1 C. milk
2 C. quick oats
½ C. butter, melted
12 ounces frozen raspberries (do not thaw)
few spoonfuls raspberry preserves or jam

Directions: Mix flour sugar, milk and oatmeal with melted butter. Spread into a greased 9- by 11-inch baking pan. Evenly distribute raspberries on top. Stir together raspberry preserves and enough warm water to allow the mixture to be drizzled on top. Lightly dust the cobbler with sugar and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

It’s not delivery. And there’s no way it would be mistaken for it, but this pizza margherita is still pretty darn good.

This recipe can be broken up into several stages so it’s not a time consuming meal to prepare. Make the sauce in advance; it can be stored in the fridge for at least a week. Let the dough rise overnight. Because the pizza only needs a few minutes in the oven, you can still have a quick dinner.

What I’ve learned: it’s not hard to make pizza; it’s hard to make pizza look good.

Maybe try dividing the dough and rolling it into personal-sized pies. I went for one big sort of rectangular-ish pizza. It still cooks all the way through (Unlike one gigantic chocolate chip cookie that ends up half-baked -- don't tell me you haven't tried that. Raw cookie is better than raw pizza.) Who says pizza has to be round or even semi-circular anyway?

If you do make smaller pizzas, closely watch the oven so as not to overcook them.

Enjoy!

Pizza Margherita
Ingredients (dough):
1 C. warm water
½ tsp. sugar
1 packet active dry yeast
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 ½ C. flour
2 tsp. salt

Ingredients (sauce):
1 28-ounce can whole peeled plum tomatoes with juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 small shallots, chopped
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper

Toppings:
12 ounces fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
fresh ground pepper
fresh basil leaves

Directions:
Dough: Pour water into the bowl of an electric mixer. Add sugar and yeast, stirring until dissolved. Let stand until foamy (about five minutes). Add oil, flour and salt. Mix with paddle attachment until combined. Then mix with dough hook for five minutes. Knead dough on a floured surface until smooth. Put dough in a large oil bowl, turning dough to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warmth for about three hours, or in refrigerator overnight.
Sauce: Pulse tomatoes in blender until smooth; set aside. Put garlic and oil in sauce pan for about 45 seconds. Add shallots and cook for one minute. Add tomatoes, salt and pepper. Reduce to medium-low heat. Simmer for 30 minutes.
Baking: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Divide dough in half and roll out flat. Brush each with olive oil. Spread with sauce, leaving a border. Top with cheese and sprinkle with pepper. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Let pizza slightly cool and top with basil.