Look at the beautiful rainbow of goodies that we received this week!  I am having so much fun coming home with our treasures & deciding what to do with all of them!

I saw Rachael  Ray make a corn dish on Food Network last week & with our freshly picked corn on the cob,  I knew that I had to try it.  Summer Corn Fettucini.

I didn’t actually make the fettucini part, just the creamed corn. It was OUT OF THIS WORLD!! not only did I make it once, I made it again the very next day. If you like sweet corn, this is a recipe to try…

it is so simple to make , yet the flavors are incredible together. Trust me, this one’s a keeper!

I also made a pan- fried squash & tomato salad.

I sliced the squash into 1/4 inch circles, then used a standard breading procedure ( seasoned flour, egg wash. bread crumbs) I used panko because I like the texture, and I shredded some parmesan with the bread crumbs.

I sauteed each round in a little bit of olive oil, just to get a light crust, then transfered them to a foiled-lined cookie sheet with a baking rack on top, and baked at 375 for about 20 minutes.

I sliced up a ripe tomato & layered with the squash a squeeze of lemon juice & a drizzle of olive oil.  Finally, a shaving of parmesan cheese.
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I actually decided after  I took this picture to make 2 layers to this. So each serving had 2 squash & 2 tomatoes, but I forgot to take a picture ;(  But no worries.. I’ll be making these again very soon, so I’ll sneak a  complete picture.

This week we also picked beans at the farm. There were purple & green. I found  a recipe from Paula Deen Green bean bundles

I wrapped them into cute little packages & placed them along side of my charcoal (under the grate) for about 12 minutes. I can’t begin to describe the flavor of these. They were light, slightly smokey, tangy form the lemon and sweet from the butter.  And overall, just plain fun!!!

Even Ryan who isn’t overly crazy for green/ purple beans, ate every last one.

Now here is an interesting fact that we learned last night, the purple beans actually cook to green ! Go figure!

These were out side dish to go with our Ultimate Chicken Kebobs. I didn’t make the salad part, and changed a few things. I used both sweet & spicy Italian sausage & I par-boiled them for a few minutes, and let them cool before threading. I also grilled some of the bread on it’s own, which was good, because the bread on the skewers  was just a little bit too well done ( no worries, not so bad that we didn’t eat it)

Even thought the bread on the skewers was a cooked a little much, I would still do it again because the flavor & juices form everything together made this just wonderful!

my ONLY complaint was that there weren’t any leftovers ;(

I leave with with some flower pics from the farm this week…..

One one my family’s favorite ‘condiments’ is pesto.  It is so easy to make & the combination of flavors is just wonderful.
We put it on pizza, bread, chicken, pasta and more.
It also freezes well. I freeze pest in ice cube trays then pop them into a zip lock freezer bag when frozen. Anytime that i need a small amount of pesto, I just defrost a pesto cube!

( I think that you are supposed to be able to do this with leftover wine as well, but we usually don’t have ‘leftover’ wine…)

Here is a basic recipe for  Basil Pesto

1 garlic clove; chopped
2 cups fresh basil leaves; loosely packed
1/4 cup pine nuts; toasted  (be careful, they can burn quickly)
approximately 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated parmesan
salt & pepper

Place garlic, basil, pine nuts in the bowl of a food processor. Whir until mixture is pureed.  Slowly add olive oil to desired consistency. Stir in parmesan cheese & season with slat & pepper.

I was not able to make this today because we forgot to pick up the pine nuts, but this is the recipe that I use. Classic!

One of the greens that we’ve received in the last few weeks from Plato’s Harvest is arugula.  I absolutely love arugula!! I has a peppery bite to it..  yum!

While it is great as a salad base ( with goat cheese 😉  I wanted to try to use it in another way as well. I found this recipe for arugula pesto.

I did not have pine nuts, so I used pistachios instead. After I shelled them I toasted them. And tasted them. 🙂

The flavor of this pesto is amazing. I think that the blanching of the arugula is to keep that bright green color. I have a tray of it in the freezer right now!!

I’m sure that I will have many more pestos to post  before the end of the summer……

Next up… zucchini!

oxox

It’s feeling like summer!!!   Here is the board stating what we receive at the CSA!!!

We’ve had quite the heat-wave here in the Northeast… This kind of unbearable heat calls for some chilled foods, in my opinion..

with all of the yummy veggies & herbs, I set out to create!!

The first recipe that I made was Quinoa Tabboouleh.
Quinoa is an ancient grain that is an excellent source of protein. Click here to learn more about quinoa. If you haven’t had quinoa before, I urge you to give it a try.

Here is the recipe 😉

1 cup quinoa
leaves from 1 or 2 bunches of parsley; minced
4-5 scallions; minced
1/4 cup mint leaves; minced
zest & juice of 1 lemon
1 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 cucumber; seeded & minced
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Rinse quinoa well under cold water. Bring water to boil in a saucepan & add salt. Add quinoa. boil for about 15 minutes then drain & cool.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl & chill.

enjoy!

My mom came over for the 4th of July &  brought gazpacho that she had made. It was delicious! This is the recipe that she used.

I went to make it later in the week & was missing some ingredients. Since I still can’t drive, I had to improvise, so here is what I used.

1 28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes with their juices
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 red bell pepper; roughly chopped
1/2 cup celery; roughly chopped
2 small cucumbers, roughly chopped ( these were the first of the season form Plato’s Harvest… so)
delicious!!)
1/2 red onion; roughly chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded & chopped
2 garlic cloves ( fresh from the farm they were amazing!)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
Fresh basil & parsley.

I put everything except the basil & parsley in the blender & blended until it was almost pureed ( I like mine a little bit chunky, if you prefer it smooth then completely puree.

I added the basil & parsley & pulsed just to chop it up a bit.
I chilled it for a few hours.
It came out great. Both recipes were very tasty.

I had it with a dollop of fat free Greek yogurt, a squeeze of lemon juice & some fresh cilantro. I ate this for lunch all week. It was a great way to stay cool… and of course, eat my veggies!!

I have many more recipes that I  will be posting soon… stayed tuned!

I’m still a week behind, but I’m about to catch up 😉