Beat the heat this summer with a selection of refreshing and healthy menu options. Featured here is a collection of some of the best offerings by local San Diego establishments. Bon appétit!

 

Summer Melon Salad from The Sky Room
at La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla

Ingredients for the dressing:


1 medium shallot 


1 tsp Dijon mustard


1/4 cup grape seed oil


1/2 cup sherry vinegar


1 pinch of sugar


salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:


Prepare a sheet pan for the shallots with a coat of non-stick olive oil spray. Slice the shallots very thin and place on the sheet in rows. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Roast the shallots until they are toasted and dry. Combine the sherry vinegar, Dijon Mustard and pinch of sugar in a blender for 45 seconds. Continue blending the mixture and slowly add the oil until it is an emulsion. Finally, add the shallots and blend until the desired texture is reached.

Ingredients for the salad:


2 slices watermelon cut into desired shape


2 slices yellow melon 


2 medium heirloom tomatoes (use whatever heirloom is available at the local market) *must be room temperature


4 oz Humboldt Fog goat’s milk blue cheese


1 oz toasted candied almonds


1 bunch frisee


salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:


Slice the yellow melon and watermelon into desired shape and place in stacks on the plate. The melon will serve as a base for the salad. After washing and drying the frisee, add a splash of dressing and toss to coat the greens. Place the frisee over the stacked melon. Place the sliced heirloom tomatoes on the plate, near the melon and frisee. Finally, crumble the Humboldt Fog cheese and sprinkle over the tomatoes and melon frisee stack. Drizzle the shallot dressing over the tomatoes and cheese, and dust with almond crumbles. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and garnish with any edible flower.

Serves 2

 

 

Grilled Ahi Tuna Sandwich on foccacia with olive tapenade mayo, oven-roasted tomatoes, and lolla rossa lettuce from Paradise Grille in Flower Hill Promenade

 

Ingredients:


8 4-oz ahi tuna loins


lolla rossa lettuce


foccacia bread

For the olive Tapenade mayo:


2 each cloves garlic


1 cup olives


5 each anchovies


2 cups mayonnaise

Combine garlic, onions, and anchovies in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add mayonnaise and mix. Add salt and pepper to taste.

For the roasted roma tomato:


1 bunch tarragon


1 bunch thyme


4 roma tomatoes


1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Slice roma tomatoes in half and scoop out seeds. Line tomatoes on a sheet pan and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle on herbs, and salt and pepper to taste. Roast at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.

For the ahi tuna sandwich:

Grill ahi tuna until medium rare. Slice each into 4 pieces and set aside. Grill focaccia bread and set aside. Add olive Tapenade mayo to both sides of the foccacia. Add 5 small pieces of lolla rossa lettuce. Add sliced tuna. Add roasted tomatoes. Slice in half and serve with a Paradise Salad or Paradise Black Truffle fries.

Serves 8

 

 

Local Grapefruit and Avocado Salad by chef/proprietor
Carl Schroeder at Market Restaurant + Bar in Del Mar

Ingredients for the Banyuls Vinaigrette:

1/4 cup Banyuls vinegar


3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil


2 shallots finely minced


1 tsp Dijon mustard


1 tbsp each chopped fresh chives, tarragon, and parsley


Maldon’s sea salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for the salad:

1 Star Ruby grapefruit


1 Oroblanco grapefruit


3 ripe avocados


6 handfuls wild baby arugula


12 ounces good quality goat’s cheese


1/2 cup finely chopped pistachios
honey (for drizzling)


extra virgin olive oil (for drizzling)

Preparation:

Pit, peel, and slice avocados into 1/2-inch segments. Peel and separate grapefruit segments.

In a medium-sized bowl lightly toss arugula and avocado in dressing. Be sure to gently toss the avocado to keep it from breaking. Arrange salad equally on six plates, alternating avocado and fruits over arugula.

Portion goat’s cheese into approximately 2-ounce portions. Roll in chopped pistachios and plate.

Prior to serving drizzle each salad with honey and extra virgin olive oil.
Sprinkle with Maldon’s sea salt.

Serves 6

 

 

Grilled Lobster, Fregola, Carrots, Brown Butter from California Bistro at Four Seasons Resort Aviara

 

Ingredients:


2 each live Maine lobster


2 cups fregola


9 cups carrot juice


1 oz garlic (1/2 shaved, 1/2 minced)


1 tbsp shallots minced


1/4 lb Peas


2 cups pea tendrils


2 each carrots


1 lb butter


4 sprigs thyme


1/2 cup wasabi peas


3 oz olive oil


salt and pepper as needed

For the lobsters:

Place lobsters in boiling water for 6 minutes. Plunge into ice bath to chill. Remove claws, reserve. Remove tail from body by twisting both in opposite directions. Place tail in a towel and apply pressure until it cracks, and then reverse pressure and pull apart. Remove meat from shell and cut in half lengthwise. Remove meat from claw intact. Remove knuckle meat and save.

For the fregola:

Slowly sweat shaved garlic in oil in a heavy bottomed pot. Add fregola and coat with garlic and oil. Add 8 cups of carrot juice and cook slowly over low heat, constantly stirring. When all the juice is absorbed and fregola is tender, take off the heat and reserve for later.

For the vegetables:

Blanch the peas in salted boiling water for 1 minute. Shock in an ice bath, then drain. Peel the carrots and cut into rounds. Roast in a 350-degree oven until tender.

For the wasabi peas:

Place wasabi peas in a spice grinder and grind to a fine powder.

For the brown butter:

Slowly cook the whole butter over low heat until it is melted. Add the thyme and cook until the butter turns golden brown. Reserve the brown butter.

To plate:

Season the lobsters with oil, salt, and pepper. Grill the lobsters until they turn opaque. While the lobsters are grilling, heat a sauté pan over high heat. Add 1 tsp of oil. When the oil is shimmering add the minced shallot and minced garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Shake the pan and add the fregola. Toss the fregola in the pan to incorporate the garlic and shallots. Add the peas and carrots to the pan. Add 1 cup of carrot juice to the pan. Let the juice reduce to a glaze. Add 1 tbsp of cold butter and the reserved knuckle meat from the lobster. Toss until the butter is melted. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Finish with some chopped chives. Toss the pea tendrils with some wasabi pea powder and carrot oil. Place the grilled lobster on the plate and drizzle with brown butter.

 

 

Pan Roasted Alaskan Halibut, Crudite of Spring Vegetables, Polenta, Lobster Harissa
Broth, Caramelized Onion Herb Oil by executive chef Jeffery Strauss
of Pamplemousse Grille in Solana Beach

 

For the polenta:


21/2 cups polenta


1 cup pureed roasted garlic


1 quart heavy cream


1/2 gallon corn stock

Take the 1/2 gallon of corn stock, 1 quart of heavy cream, and 1 cup of garlic puree and bring to a rolling boil while whisking the garlic puree within liquid. Then pour the cups polenta in and whisk every 2 minutes for 5 to 10 minutes. Spread out evenly onto tray and let cool for about an hour and a half. After cooled cut polenta into desired size.

For the crudite vegetable:


1 medium raw squash


1 medium raw zucchini


1 jumbo raw carrot


4 raw asparagus


1 tsp salt


2 tsp sugar

For the squash, zucchini, and asparagus, leave skin on. Take your peeler and peel lengthwise. With the squash and zucchini peel until you hit seeds and stop and rotate around to get the meaty part of the vegetable. You must peel outer skin of carrot first. You then peel the carrot and rotate if you like. Take all of the vegetables and toss it in a mixing bowl with 1 tsp salt and 2 tsp of sugar and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes.

For the caramelized onion herb oil:


2 large yellow onions


1 tbsp chopped tarragon


2 tbsp chopped chives


2 tbsp chopped parsley


2 cups extra virgin olive oil


salt to taste

Take both onions and small dice them. Put them in a medium heated pan and cook slowly until they brown. Put them on a tray and let them cool. When cooled put in a bowl with herbs, olive oil, and salt and mix thoroughly.

For the halibut:

Take a 6-7 oz piece of halibut and salt it. (Perferably kosher salt.) Heat up saute pan and put 1 tbsp of olive and canola oil blend into pan. When hot place halibut meat-side down into the pan. When halibut is golden brown flip and place in oven for 5-6 minutes.

For the lobster stock:


1/2 gallon white onions


1/4 gallon celery


1/4 gallon carrots


1/4 gallon fennel


3 bay leaves


2 tsp black pepper


10 lobster bodies (heads)


1/2 cup brandy


3 gallons water

Roast lobster heads in oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Put all vegetables in stock pot and add roasted lobster heads. Add brandy and let alcohol evaporate. Add water. Skim and let simmer for 45 minutes. Strain and cool.

For the lobster broth:


3 stalks of lemon grass (chopped)


3 oz ginger (sliced)


5 whole garlic cloves


2 cups plum wine


2 tbsp harissa paste


21/2 cups lobster stock


salt and pepper to taste

Saute lemon grass, ginger, and garlic until soft and add plum wine. Let reduce until dry. Add lobster stock and simmer for 1 hour. Strain and season with salt and pepper. Add harissa paste.

 

 

Dungeness Crab Timbale with Early Winter Citrus, Hearts of Palm,
and "O" Blood Orange-Infused Olive Oil from Blanca Restaurant in Solana Beach

Ingredients for the Crab Timbale:


12 oz fresh Alaskan crab


1/2 cup Lemon mayonnaise, recipe to follow


1/2 cup hearts of palm, thinly sliced


1/4 cup red onion, finely diced


1/4 cup baby fennel, thinly sliced


2 grapefruit


2 oranges


2 blood oranges


2 tbsp candied zest, recipe to follow


juice of 1 lemon 


1 tbsp orange juice


1 tbsp minced parsley


salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for the Lemon Mayonnaise:


1 egg


1 egg yolk


1/2 cup Meyer lemon juice


2 cups canola oil


salt and pepper to taste

In a blender, combine whole egg and egg yolk with 2 tbsp Meyer lemon juice and a bit of salt. With blender on low, slowly add canola oil, while intermittingly adding the rest of lemon juice. Once the canola oil has been added to create the desired consistency of a rich, thick mayo, season with salt and pepper.

Ingredients for the Candied Zest:


zest of 2 grapefruit


2 oranges


2 blood oranges


2 limes


1 cup sugar


1 cup water

Combine sugar and water over heat to create a simple syrup. Once simple syrup has come to a boil, add the zest of grapefruit, oranges, blood oranges, and limes. Let simmer for 30 seconds and remove from heat. Strain zest and plunge into an ice bath. Once cooled, lay zest on paper towels and allow to dry. Once dry, roughly chop. Remember to reserve some zest for garnish.

Preparation for the Crab Timbale:

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add lemon mayonnaise, fruit juices, candied zest, and parsley. Mix thoroughly and season with salt and pepper to taste. 
To shape Timbale, use a stainless steel mold (we like the triangle shape) to form your salad. Whichever shape you’re using, remember to pack the salad very tightly, squeezing out most of the liquid. Slowly remove mold by pulling up on the mold and gently pushing down on the salad. Garnish salad with segments of grapefruit, oranges, and blood oranges, as well as any reserved candied zest.