charred spring veg with cottage cheese and crispy fried shallots
15 minutes and 5 ingredients
when summer finally hits (as it most certainly has here in berlin), i’m as much about a no-cook recipe as the next person. it’s undeniably practical to swap cooking for simple assembly and keep the kitchen cool. but, as great as that is, i know that i can’t get by (okay, maybe more like won’t enjoy) all summer with no-cook recipes alone.
so i think i found a nice middle ground with this recipe that strikes a balance between no-cook and some-cook that’s still quick, easy and keeps me from sweating too much over the stove or heating up the whole kitchen with a hot oven. it’ll take less than 15 minutes of real cooking for (imho) maximum flavor and texture payout. it also relies on just a handful of ingredients, so it’ll keep any unplanned trips to the market down to a minimum; another great thing because, if there’s anything i despise more on a hot summer day, it’s having to go to the grocery store.
this recipe is a borderline no-recipe recipe, one that’s super versatile with just a set list of parts that can be swapped in or out. there are plenty of suggestions for substitutions below, but many more would be possible to keep this “spring veg” dish relevant through summer (think charred tomatoes, sweet corn, eggplant and peppers) or even into fall and winter (carrots, brussels sprouts or kale). make it your own, letting the best seasonal produce guide you, and enjoy.
serves 2
2 shallots
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
150 grams “insert your favorite spring vegetable here” (think snap or snow peas, summer squash, green beans, asparagus, broccolini, fava beans)
200 grams cottage cheese (substitute: fresh ricotta cheese, labneh, mascarpone)
2 tablespoons herb oil (recipe here; optional — explained below)
salt and black pepper
bread and lemon wedges for serving
peel and thinly slice shallots; i like to use a mandoline here so the shallots are super thin. prep your chosen spring veg, slicing off the tops and bottoms where necessary and cutting into nice even, char-able pieces as needed.
add vegetable oil to a small frying pan and heat over medium-high. once the oil starts to shimmer, add the shallots and fry until golden brown, stirring often. this will take about 5 minutes. remove the shallots with a slotted spoon or tongs and transfer to a paper towel-lined plate (i generally use one that i’ll serve on later). season with salt. reserve the oil in a small bowl; you can use this shallot oil as a cooking oil for other dishes or substitute it in for the herb oil later on in this recipe.
put the small frying pan back over medium-high heat and add your chosen spring veg. cook until they start to darken in places and get a little charred, adjusting the heat if you think the veg is charring too quickly. the goal here is to have cooked veg that is still crisp tender, with a bite. depending on your veg the time will vary; you can add a little spoonful of the shallot oil back to the pan here to help fry and char the veg.
add the cottage cheese to two serving plates. put the half the charred veg on top of each, then drizzle with a tablespoon of herb or shallot oil and top with the fried shallots. season with salt and black pepper and serve with bread or crackers and a lemon wedge for a spritz of acid.