farm fresh summer pasta ii

Farm fresh grab bag, take two! The purpose of tonight’s dinner was to make use of the big yellow pear tomato harvest from my garden. I thought they would be really good over my leftover pasta, so it evolved from there.

Ingredients from:

• my garden – yellow pear tomatoes, Paul Robeson heirloom tomatoes, basil, and parsley
• my CSA – green onion, white onion, corn
• farmer’s market – garlic
• my pantry/fridge – kalamata olives, mushrooms, anari (cheese from Cyprus), leftover pasta

Saute the garlic and white onion in olive oil, add the corn. After a few minutes, add the tomatoes, mushrooms, green onion and olives.  Add salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste, and the juice of one lemon. Saute a few more minutes until the tomatoes begin to burst from their skins. I used leftover pasta so I threw it in the pan with everything else to warm it up. If you’re using freshly cooked pasta, turn the heat off after you add the pasta. Top with grated cheese, fresh parsley and basil.

cyprus village salad, with a twist

My favorite salad used to be a Cyprus-style cabbage salad. I now tend to steer towards lettuce salads with lemon, balsamic, etc., but I still really enjoy this one. It’s very simple to make and there are endless variations. You need shredded cabbage and some other veggies of your choice–I usually use tomato, cucumber, and celery. Today I added green peppers, sweet peppers from my garden, shredded carrot, and parsley. The dressing is very basic, but bright and fresh: olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice, and salt. For a single serving salad, I’d use at least half a lemon. The more lemon, the better! Again, for variety today, I made it Ajmer-style by adding a dash of cumin. Ajmer was my favorite Indian restaurant in Japan and they’d always bring out a cabbage salad with some cumin as a starter.

my nana’s refrigerator pickles

I used these pickles in last night’s summer burger, so I thought I’d post the recipe (sorry, no lemons here today). My Nana used to make these every summer, and they were always one of my favorites. In fact, when I was younger, they were the only pickles I liked, other than Japanese pickles. A fond memory of my Nana was when I was trying to force myself to like dill pickles. She told me that pickles weren’t good for you anyway, so if I didn’t like them, I didn’t have to eat them.

nana’s refrigerator pickles

1 cup vinegar
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. celery seed

Mix together thoroughly. Do not heat.

Add:
6 cups sliced unpeeled cucumbers
1 cup thinly sliced onions

Refrigerate and enjoy! They’re good to eat in a few hours, but they’re even better days and weeks later.

summer burger

Tonight’s dinner is once again brought to you by the farm fresh grab bag. A buffalo burger from Harvest Co-op, on top of caramelized onions and peach slices. Topped with a slice of Gouda cheese, avocado slices and cilantro. Surrounded by my homemade refrigerator pickles and fresh blackberries, drizzled with Worcestershire sauce and fresh lemon juice. Surprisingly delicious and summery!

farm fresh summer pasta

Tonight’s dinner is brought to you by the farm fresh grab bag. Garlic scapes and onion from my co-op Harvest Co-op Beaver Falls; peaches, green tomatoes, and summer squash from the Beaver Farmer’s Market. Sautéed together with olive oil, red pepper flakes, cumin, and the juice of one lime. Served over pasta with grated pecorino Romano and a handful of fresh cilantro and basil from my garden.

Not the usual pairings of ingredients, but quite tasty, nonetheless, and everything but the pasta and spices were locally grown! It would probably make more sense over quinoa or couscous, but the dish evolved as I was cooking, so there you have it.

fall harvest meal

Tonight’s meal in photos:

The menu: “beer can” chicken on the grill, curried roasted cauliflower, roasted acorn squash, and edamame. Everything was 100% local, bought from my farmer’s market or my co-op, Harvest Co-op Beaver Falls.

breakfast of champions

What’s better on a Saturday morning than a giant bowl of fruit for breakfast? How about a giant bowl of fruit with fresh-squeezed lemon juice?

You could put any kind of fruit you want in here. I used what I had on hand which this morning was kiwis, nectarines, grapes, banana, avocado, and watermelon. And of course, fresh lemon juice. Not only does everything taste bright and fresh, if you are preparing a fruit salad several hours in advance, the lemon juice will keep your fruits from turning brown. You could also add nuts, yogurt, granola, quinoa, honey, etc. The possibilities are endless!