Beet The Heat Salsa

By Katie Barreira

I usually prepare this deliciously unusual salsa with roasted beets, but when temps are topping out at 100 degrees, I’m going nowhere near the oven. And thanks to Melissa’s peeled and steamed beets (found in the produce section of your grocery store) there’s no need; the sweet little vacuum packed, ready-to-eat beets are perfect for a no-cook version. Scoop up this colorful condiment with yellow corn chips, toss it into a green salad with crumbled goat cheese or, spoon over grilled fish.

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Too Hot to Cook!

By Sandy Hu

We haven’t had a single sweltering summer day, to date, in San Francisco this year. But across the country, people are baking. So all this week, Special Fork bloggers are sharing no-cook, cook-ahead or cold dishes to help lower the temperature in the kitchen and at the dinner table.

My favorite hot weather meal is cold soba noodles with a dipping sauce, called Zaru Soba. This is a Japanese classic summer dish. There’s no fat in this meal – just a clean, simple taste – so it won’t leave you feeling sluggish.

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A Visit to my Cousin’s Coffee Farm

By Sandy Hu

I come from a line of Kona coffee farmers on my mother’s side of the family. My grandpa and grandma Honda had a small coffee farm, as did many of my aunts and uncles. Today, my cousin Randall in Holualoa, Hawaii, is the only one carrying on the tradition.

Instead of a recipe demo for Video Friday, we’re visiting Randall’s farm and picking some coffee! To learn more about Kona coffee, read The Hawai‘i Coffee Book, A Gourmet’s Guide from Kona to Kaua‘i by Shawn Steiman, c. 2008, published by Watermark Publishing. And, if you ever visit the Big Island of Hawaii, enter the world of the immigrant coffee farmer with a trip to The Kona Coffee Living History Farm that vividly and authentically recreates the experience.

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Snake Dogs

By Andrew Hunter

Stretching for miles in a sprawling Los Angeles canyon is Griffith Park. We love Griffith because there’s an observatory, museums, hiking, biking, swimming, horseback riding, a working historic train, and a multitude of snack shops that keep us well nourished and hydrated during our strenuous weekend activity.

The crown jewel of snack shops is “The Trails,” a shack built to blend into the landscape. It’s the California hippie version of Manhattan’s Shake Shack. If you’re in Griffith and can’t find “The Trails,” just look for the long line of people waiting for a slice of pie, a lavender cookie, a sprout sandwich, or if you’re Ben and Nick, a Snake Dog.

Snake Dogs are like pigs in a blanket, only much cooler – a frankfurter wrapped in a coil of puff pastry, then baked so it looks like a snake slithering across the picnic table. We’ve started making Snake Dogs at home. Here’s a recipe so you can pack Snake Dogs in the picnic basket for your next trip to the Griffith Park where you live.

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Wild Blueberry Season

By Lori Powell

I have the pleasure of staying in Maine for at least a week on the coast every year, usually in August. Wild Maine blueberries, if I am lucky, are still around for me to enjoy for breakfast, a snack, a smoothie or in a dessert. However this year, given how warm it has been, I suspect the height of the season will come too early and I will miss out on one of my favorite foods of summer.

All is not lost, however, as I came across wild blueberries at the Kingston Farmers’ market this past weekend in Upstate New York. If you have never tried these jewels, seek them out at your local farmers’ market since they are sooo different from the regular cultivated kind. In both size (half pint size) and taste (superior). Kind of like little pellets of the best blueberry jam you have ever encountered, but are so naturally sweet and just oh so good! No need for added sugar here.

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