I think that it’s time you planned a barbecue. Or a picnic. Anything that involves the outdoors, friends and good food. Seriously, it’s almost June, things are starting to warm up and we all have a three day weekend coming so now is the perfect time. And btw – there is NEVER a bad time to have a barbecue. Or a picnic.

Here’s the way to make things really easy on yourself: invite all of your really awesome friends. That will pretty much guarantee a good time no matter what. Then, you should ask all of these awesome friends to cook something to bring to this fabulous shin-dig. If you’re a little skeptical about not making everything yourself, here are the reasons why having everyone cook is a good idea:

A)  It’s less work for you
B)  Everyone gets to feel involved in this awesome outdoor eating fest
C)  When people only have to make one component, and not an entire meal, they tend to go all out on that one thing they make.

To illustrate C), let me show you what happened when my apartment complex decided to grill out. See, if I was going to make everything myself, I would probably have Chase prepare some basic hamburgers, (veggie burgers for me) while I would make a simple potato salad and some cookies. Definitely a nice little meal, but nothing like what transpired here:

My neighbor-friend Chris made Ahi tuna wontons to start us off.  The best part about these was that he didn’t write down the recipe, which means we had to make them a second time for this blog post. Yeah, it’s rough being a blogger sometimes.

There were kabobs and chicken skewers to throw on the grill. Seriously, this was for a party of 6 people.

My downstairs neighbor provided all the vodka tonics we could drink. I don’t have any photos, but don’t let that be a sign of how much I adore her.

To balance out our extravagant meats, a jicama and avocado salad was prepared by yours truly.  It’s light, crunchy, citrusy and has avocado. A winner all around.

And for dessert, Chris, the guy who had already seared Ahi tuna for us, presented a vanilla bean crème brulee. I could blame the lack of photos on the late hour, but to be honest those bowls were were eaten so fast I would never have had a chance.

In case you’re wondering – yes, I love my neighbors and no, you can’t have them. But I still think that you need to do this too. Your party should happen either:

A)    Today
B)    Tomorrow
C)    This weekend
D)    All of the above

Jicama and Avocado Salad

Recipe adapted from Fine Cooking

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The original recipe had radishes, which I eliminated since I’m not the biggest fan. With the jicama you get a great crunch and I didn’t miss the peppery-ness of the radish.

4 oranges
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 clove garlic
4 limes
Pinch cayenne
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 small jicama
3 large ripe avocados
½ cup fresh cilantro leaves
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt

Finely grate 2 tsp zest from the oranges and set aside. With a sharp paring knife slice the ends off the orange. Stand  the orange on it’s end and slice off the rest of the peel, making sure to remove all of the white piff. Working over a small bowl, carefully cut away the orange segments away from the connective membrane. Squeeze the leftover membrane over the bowl to get out all of the juice.

Put the cumin seeds in a small dry skillet and toast over medium heat until slightly browned, about 1 minute. Grind the seeds to a fine powder using a mortar and pestle. Add the cumin to the orange zest and grate in the garlic clove (grating garlic with a fine cheese grater will leave it in a smooth paste). Whisk in half of the saved orange juice, lime juice and the cayenne. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes and then whisk in the olive oil.

Meanwhile, peel the jicama and cut into matchsticks. Soak the cut jicama in ice water for 5 minutes, this will remove the yellow color and whiten it. Drain the jicama, and mix together in a large bowl with the vinaigrette. Allow to marinate for at least 10 minutes.

Just before serving, slice up the avocado and mix together with the jicama, orange segments and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper.

Seared Tuna Wontons

Recipe by Chris Nelson

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1lb Ahi tuna
½ cup oil
15 wonton wrappers
Micro greens (optional)

Marinade
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 ½ tablespoons mirin
½ tablespoon sesame oil
½ tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons sake
½ tablespoon wasabi paste
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

In a saute pan over high heat, sear the tuna, less than one minute on each side. Set aside and allow to cool.Heat the oil in a sauce pan and fry the wontons until they just begin to turn brown, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and place on paper towels, allow to cool.

Mix together all of the marinade ingredients. Chop the tuna into large dice and add to the marinade. Allow to sit for 5 minutes and then drain away the excess. Spoon tuna onto wonton wrappers. Garnish with micro greens if desired. Take these outside and make some new friends.

LA is notorious for fabulous 70 degree weather year around, but this week the weather gods decided to strike us with blistering 105 degree temperatures, which has put much of the valley up in flames.  With smokey cloudy air and sweltering temperatures, the last thing on earth I feel like doing is turning on a stove or, gosh forbid, an oven; really the only effort I feel like exerting is trying to find a creative way to keep cool.

I came across this jewel of a recipe a few months ago when I was recovering from two back-to-back flu attacks, and figured it might be a good time to cool it with all of the white sugar and white flour I was constantly consuming.  I turned to a cleanse I saw on Gwenyth Paltrow’s blog, GOOP.  She’s received a ton of criticism about the blog, mainly because people say it’s targeted for the rich, but how many of us can say our personal friend is Mario Batali?  It’s actually kinda fun hearing about what he cooks for private dinners with her and Emeril Lagassee.

Anyway, the cleanse on her blog was designed by her doctor in place of the very popular Master Cleanse, which I bravely tried a few years ago and on the ninth hour, gave up and madly drove to the nearest Chipotle where I stuffed my weak little body with chips and guacamole.  When I took a look at the cleanse’s menu I was pleasantly surprised that I could actually eat! When I delved into the experience I quickly dismissed most of the recipes and basically ate this soup for a week straight.  It’s so creamy, rich and tart, while still feeling like you’re eating real food.  After the cleanse was over I continued to eat this soup.  And when yesterday’s dreadful weather set in I decided to introduce the two ingredients together once again.  Mr. Cucumber, please meet my dear friend, Mr. Avocado. You guys have a really bright future together…Maybe even a really cool soup.  A soup that will keep even the sweatiest, overheated person as cool as a cucumber.

Cucumber and Avocado Soup

Recipe from Gwyenth Paltrow’s blog, Goop

Zest from 1/2 lime
Juice from 2 limes
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cucumber peeled and seeded, roughly chopped
1/2 avocado, peeled and roughly chopped

Blend everything together until totally creamy and smooth.  I added a dollop of creme fraiche just to add a little creaminess, but you’re totally welcome to leave it out.