The summer rush has begun. The tomatoes are plentiful, the bean crop is very impressive, Zucchini is nearly done. Onions are all in. Peppers are getting there. Cucumbers and Eggplant are producing nicely. Still have swiss chard and the okra is getting close. OK now how do I keep up.
Zucchini and sun dried tomato pasta with feta.
1 large or 3 small zucchini sliced into thin slices
3 cloves garlic sliced
1 onion julienned
olive or coconut oil - 2 tblspoons
3 tbls sliced sun dried tomatoes
1/2 cup feta cheese crumbled
pasta - rotini shapes works well here
cook pasta according to directions
Heat oil over med high heat. Saute - onion until soft, add zucchini and cook for several minutes and add garlic and sun-dried tomatoes. Cook until zucchini is soft but not mushy - just a few minutes more. Add the pasta and the cheese and toss. Serve.
Suanne's Salsa
3-4 Ripe tomatoes cut into chunks
1 med onion cut into chunks
1-2 jalipenos – for milder salsa use one and remove the seeds
1-2 serrano, banana or Anaheim peppers
1-2 cloves garlic crushed and chopped
1 bunch cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
Salt to taste
Combine all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until consistence is uniforms and how you like it. Serve with tortilla chips.
Greek Tomato Salad
2-3 small ripe tomatoes
Greek Olives
1 tblspoon chopped red onion
1 tbls olive oil
1 tblspn red wine vinegar
1/2 tbls chopped oregano
Greek Feta cheese about 2 ounces
Cut tomatoes into bite size pieces and put in dish, add onion and olives.
Sprinkle with fresh chopped oregano, vinegar and oil, Add cheese on top and
Season with pepper.
Suanne’s Black Beans and Rice – 6 servings
2 Cups chicken or Vegetable broth
1 Cup Medium grain rice
1 can black beans
1 med green pepper diced
1 med red pepper diced
1 med onion diced
1 jalipeno without seeds diced
2 tbls canola oil
Salt and pepper to season
1 bunch chopped cilantro
1 tbls cumin
Cook rice by bringing broth to boil and adding rice. Cover and simmer on low
18 minutes until rice is cooked.
Heat oil in large sauté pan until hot, add onions and peppers and cook until softened. Add beans and cumin and heat through 1 to 2 minutes. Add rice and stir to combine. Add cilantro and server.
This recipe is actually from my dad. He used to make these for us as a kid. It is a variation on the standard BLT with fired egg and cheese added. I also add avocado. This is an easy supper or lunch to make
Western Sandwiches – 4 servings
1 large beefsteak tomato cut into 4 thick slices.
8 slices of crispy cooked bacon
Lettuce, spinach, or swiss chard ( whatever you have growing)
4 eggs fried
4 slices of cheese (cheddar or american)
1 avocado sliced
8 slices of toasted wheat bread.
Mayonaise
Add the cheese while you are toaSting the bread to 4 of the slices to melt cheese.
Spread Mayo on 4 slices of the toast(the ones without the cheese). Place avocado on bread and Add 2 bacon strips each slice. Top with the egg, tomato slices and finally the lettuce, chard or spinach. Cover with the Melted Cheese toast and slice on a diagonal. Serve.
Zucchini Pancakes
2 zucchini grated
2 potatoes with skin grated
1 med onion chopped
1 cup flour
½ cup breadcrumbs
¼ tsp grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons chopped parsley ( dried is fine if you do not have fresh)
2 eggs
Salt and pepper to season
Canola oil or butter to grease pan.
I used a food processor to chop and grate the vegetables but chopping or grating by hand is also fine. Combine all ingredients until well mixed. Heat a griddle over med high heat. Grease the pan using canola oil or butter and drop about 1/3 cup of zucchini/potato mixture on pan. You should be able to cook about 4 at a time. Brown on first side about 3-4 minutes or until nicely browned. Flip adding more oil or butter for the other side and cook until second side is browned and vegetable soft.. Cook in batches until batter is finished.
Gaspacho
2 green peppers
3 banana peppers
2 mild jalapenos or 1 hot jalapenos
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic
2 smalls cucumbers or 1 large one
8 medium tomatoes
1 bunch cilantro or parsley
2 cups beef broth
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 lime
2 tspspoons salt
Fill large saucepan with water and heat to boiling to blanch tomatoes. Fill a large bowl with ice and water to be used as a cold water bath.
Peel and deseed peppers and cut into large pieces. Peel garlic and onion and cut into pieces. In food processor with steel blade, puree seeded peppers, onion and garlic. Pour puree into large pot or soup tureen.
Peel and remove seeds from Cucumber. Cut into pieces and add to food processor. Puree and add to pot with onions and peppers.
Add tomatoes to boiling water and heat for a minute until skins begin to crack remove from boiling water and place in cold water bath. When the tomatoes are cool enough to touch remove the skins and cut into large pieces. Add to food processors. Add cilantro or parsley and process until pureed. You may need to process tomatoes in more than one batch. Add to pot with other vegetables. Add broth, vinegar, Worcestershire, lemon juice and salt. Chill and store in refrigerators. Serve with BLT’s or Western Sandwiches as a light summer meal.
This is one of our favorite ways to serve tomatoes and there are many variations. I have to confess that the amounts are not set in stone so you can adjust as you like. If you do not like onion then leave it off. In our family I make some with onion and some without as my daughter won’t touch it with the onion. If you like more cheese then add more. This is easy for the kids to make too.
Sliced Tomato Salad
Serve 4
4 medium Tomatoes sliced
2 tablespoons Chopped red onion
2 tablespoons Fresh chopped herbs
1 tablespoon Olive oil
2 tablespoons Vinegar
¼ cup Cheese
Slice the tomatoes and arrange on the place. Add onions and oil and of the three combination below: Option 1: red wine vinegar, feta and fresh oregano. Option 2: balsamic vinegar, blue cheese or gorgonzola and basil. Option 3: Fresh mozzarella with balsamic vinegar and basil.
Roasted Peppers
Pick or any quantities of green chilies , Green, Red, Hatch or Anaheim or banana pepper work well. Heat a grill to hot and place peppers on grill. Turn the peppers as they blacken until all sides are blacked. Put the roasted peppers in a paper bag to cool. Once cooled peel off the blackened skins. I usually do this in a large batch and then freeze small container that I can use throughout the year.
One of my favorite green bean recipes – best in the summer with fresh produces but if you have all beans you can substitute a small can of diced tomatoes and used some frozen green chilis if you have some in the freezer.
Green Beans with roasted green chilis, tomato and garlic
Serves 4
1 lb of green beans with ends cut or snapped
4-5 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
4-5 roasted green chilis
1 tomato chopped or sun dried tomatoes or both.
3 tablespoons olive oil
Heat Olive oil over medium high heat for 5 minutes or until beans become bright green and start to soften. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes. Add tomato chilis and heat for a few minutes more until beans are still a little crispy.
Zucchini Carrot Ribbons - serves 3-4.
1 zucchini
1 carrot
1 small onion
3 tblspoons olive oil
1 tsps fresh or dried dill weed
Juline onion and sautéed until they begin to carmelize. Peel the carrot and cut the end s off the zucchini. With a vegetable peeler - slice the carrot and zucchini into long flat ribbons. Saute the ribbons with the onion over med high heat until the they are soft. About 3-5 minutes.
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