food & recipes

You read the headline right: No. Cook. As in you don’t have to cook -- at all! And there’s a bonus: No-cook meals tend to be healthy(ish), and you can pretend you’re being trendy or “Mediterranean” (as opposed to just not up for the task). Here are a few faves from Long Island-based personal chef Emilie Raffa.

Antipasti Platter: Get a few good cheeses (like fresh mozzarella, provolone and manchego) and roasted red peppers, plus some marinated artichokes and proscuitto. Put them all on a pretty plate and you’re set. Voila!

Gazpacho:
Toss 2 cups of chopped tomatoes (fresh, vine-ripened ones are best) and a cup of watermelon in the blender. Slowly stream in olive oil, and process until combined but not too thick. Pour into a pot or large bowl. Next, dice half of a hot house cucumber, quarter of a Vidalia onion, and a yellow bell pepper. Add them to the mix. Finally, splash in a tablespoon of sherry vinegar and taste the soup. Emilie says it should taste “bright and clean.” Add more vinegar if you think it needs it, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in one bunch of chopped chives, and sprinkle a little goat cheese on top (adds a subtle tang). Yummy. Serves four.

Salad: Emilie loves salads because they’re “a great way of using what’s left in the fridge.” A yummy one: Try mixing romaine with butter lettuce so you’ll have a couple of different textures. Add garbanzo beans, heirloom tomatoes and toss with a buttermilk ranch dressing.

Avocado and Sweet Corn Salad with Fresh Herb Vinaigrette:
Start with the vinaigrette -- juice two limes, slowly streaming in olive oil until thick and emulsified. Fold in ¼ cup cilantro and ¼ cup chives, and season with salt and pepper. Next, chop a couple of avocados and toss with a little of the vinaigrette (keeps the avo from turning brown). Hold two ears of corn (well, one at a time) straight up in a high-sided bowl and cut off the kernels with a serrated bread knife. Add the corn to the avo, and then add in a cup of halved grape tomatoes, a can of black beans, and a cup of Monterey Jack cheese cubes. Toss it all with what’s left of your dressing, add more salt and pepper, and serve with pita chips. Serves four.

And For Dessert…: Layer sweetened crème fraiche with fresh seasonal berries, and sprinkle crushed meringue cookies on top. (Or you could just dive into a pint of Haagen-Dazs.)

Just about any burger is good on a hot summer day (provided it is paired with a good brewski). But a really good, plump juicy burger? Now that’s heaven. Use these 10 tips from Barbecue Bible author Steven Raichlen to make it happen:

• Use beef chuck (preferably from grass-fed beef) with a lean to fat ratio of 80/20. Any leaner and your burger will be dry.
• Chill the meat thoroughly and wet your hands with cold water before forming the meat into patties.
• Mix grated or crumbled cheese into the meat for added moistness and flavor, or enclose it in the center of the patty.
• When forming the burger patties, work quickly using a light touch. Pack the meat as loosely as possible.
• Make a slight depression in the center of each patty; once cooked, it will have a more uniform thickness.
• The diameter of your formed burger should be about one inch larger than the bun; it will shrink as it cooks.
• Season the burgers with salt and pepper after you put them on the hot grill grate; season the other side when you turn the burgers. Turn only once.
• Use a spatula for turning the burgers, but never, ever press the tops -- unless you want all those great juices to be lost to the fire.
• Let the burgers rest on a warm plate for two minutes before serving or transferring to buns.
• For variety, consider using other ground proteins for your burgers -- lamb, turkey, chicken, pork, veal, or even tuna or salmon.

Nestpert: Steven Raichlen is the host of Primal Grill™ and Barbecue University™ on American Public Television, and a multi-award-winning author. Raichlen wrote the best-selling Barbecue Bible cookbook series (Workman Publishing -- more than four million copies in print), including his authoritative new book, the 638-page Planet Barbecue documenting two million years of grilling in 60 countries on six continents. www.BarbecueBible.com

Get other grilling recipes at TheNest.com.

Homemade popsicles are a cool and (somewhat) healthy way to cool off. The best thing: You can use just about anything to make them! (Your best bet is to stick to fruit and dairy products. It’s sort of the same theory as a smoothie -- you just freeze it.)

First, puree frozen or fresh fruit (add some nuts if you want too). Mix with a bit of yogurt, ice cream, or juice and pour into popsicle molds. Then freeze -- and voila! You’ll have a refreshing snack packed with nutrients and H20. Yep, it’s really that easy.

Don’t have popsicle molds? Use paper or plastic cups and stick in a plastic spoon. With plastic cups, be sure to run under warm water to release the pops. With paper, you can just peel it off. Here are a few of our fave concoctions:

• Plain orange juice (simple but so good!)

• Strawberry yogurt with fresh strawberries and walnuts

• Peaches with strawberries and a bit of honey

• Homemade lemonade

• Bananas, raspberries, plain yogurt, water and a splash of lime juice Experiment with your favorite fruits and yogurts (even puddings!) and be sure to write down the recipes you love!

Get more summer recipes at TheNest.com!

Photo by Antonis Achilleos

Love everything about a steak house but the bill? Chef Craig Koketsu of NYC resaurant Quality Meats shares how to prepare delicious steaks at home for a fraction of the price.

Pick your beef
Step one of planning your steak night is casting your guest star (aka your cut of meat). Next time you swing by your butcher at the supermarket, keep this in mind:

Know what to look for

• Color The meat should be bright red, with no hints of gray or brown (a sign that it’s not fresh).
• Fat Ladies, this isn’t the time to go fat-free. Marbling, or white flecks of fat, means more flavor.
• Thickness Make sure you buy beef that’s at least 1½ inches thick all around, particularly when you’re choosing porterhouse. If it’s too thin, it’ll cook through very quickly and won’t have the chance to develop a flavorful browned crust.

Get good grades

• Prime The highest quality, you’ll find it at good meat markets. You’ll pay more for its marbling, which is key when you’re choosing a cut like NY strip. Also, opt for Prime porterhouse to ensure the strip side will have marbling.
• Choice A notch below Prime, you can get away with Choice when you buy a tender cut, like filet mignon, or a naturally marbled cut, such as rib eye.
• Select You’ll save a few bucks, but Select is the driest and least flavorful, so it’ll need extra marinating.

Ask your butcher about dry-aging
At quality supermarkets, look for porterhouse, rib eye and NY strip that have been dry-aged for 21 days. This process involves hanging the beef in a cooler, which evaporates moisture from the muscle and breaks down tissue, concentrating flavor in the meat and tenderizing it. And don’t freak out if you detect a stronger smell—it’s from the aging process.

Don’t buy into the hype
You may have heard that Wagyu beef (Kobe comes from Wagyu cattle) and Certified Angus are the grand poobahs of beef. They have a very high fat content and great taste, but you’ll still get big flavor from Prime and Choice. Bottom line: Don’t waste your dough.

Know your cuts

• Filet mignon An extremely tender cut, it comes from the prized tenderloin area of the cow. Because of its very low fat content, it dries out easily and must be cooked right to lock in the juices.
• Porterhouse This cut offers the best of both worlds: a T-shaped bone with meat from the short loin on the larger side (strip steak), and tenderloin (filet mignon) on the smaller side.
• NY strip A steak house favorite, this no-nonsense cut comes from the strip loin (further down on the short loin). Since the strip is all muscle, choosing a Prime cut is key.
• Rib eye The most succulent cut due to its marbling, rib eye comes from the rib. The larger the “eye,” or dominant area of meat on the steak, the better. If you buy bone-in rib eye, you’ll get even more flavor.

Now that you've picked your steak, find the perfect recipe

Ready to tackle steak? Try any of our steak recipes at TheNest.com!

Sure, you could just buy the powdered stuff, but fresh lemonade is for sure better, and it’s super-simple. (Plus it’ll impress your guests -- just watch and see.) Here’s how to make the best lemonade this side of summer:

1. Add 1 1/2 cups of sugar to a cup of boiling water, and stir until the sugar dissolves.

2. Cool to room temperature.

3. Juice 4 to 6 lemons. (You’ll want 1 1/2 cups of lemon juice.)

4. Mix the sugar water and lemon juice in a serving pitcher, along with seven more cups of cold water. Serve over ice. (If you’re feeling fancy, stir in thin slices of lemon into the pitcher.)

If you still want to just buy the powdered stuff, at least add some fresh lemon slices to fool your friends.

Check out more lemon recipes at TheNest.com.