Dinner with Deb

Two lovely ladies joining me
for a meal! What could be better?

This baby is bringing out in me a desire for friends and home. . .and food! That's a lot of fun! We got to enjoy a weekday dinner with our wonderful friend, Deb. I don't know why, but having friends over for dinner on weeknights is such a fun thing - maybe because it feels a little naughty (friends on school nights was a big 'no-no' in my childhood home).

We had a really yummy, but super simple meal of pasta with chunky vegetable sauce, salad, and garlic bread, heavy on the garlic. I did make the salad dressing myself, but following the recipe made a very thick (thick like pudding) dressing that I really had to doctor up to make it applicable to a salad.

Michele made the salad - so good!
And, yes, those are more of our
volunteer tomatoes!

The pasta sauce was actually made in response to a comment Michele made when we had the Tomato Venus Soup I shared the recipe for last week: "Yum, this would be good over pasta!" At the time, I thought that although it was a kinda thick soup it was far too soupy for a pasta sauce, but the idea stuck with me. To make it more sauce-appropriate, I chunky-cut a bunch of veggies (carrots, zucchini, broccoli, green peppers, red onion, and pretty much anything else I had in the crisper) and sauteed them up, then I went pretty much along with the recipe for the soup - just didn't garnish it with butter or sour cream at the end. It turned out really good and was an excellent way to clean out those last bits of half-used veggies in the fridge!


I really love this chunky sauce! And it's really pretty, too!



Tomatoes and Other Yummies: Recipes Galore

I have a few more recipes to share from my recent abundance of tomatoes. Actually we've only had a moderate number of tomatoes, but they've been SO good that I've been building meals around them and it seems for the last few weeks, every meal has been tomato-heavy. I hope you enjoy these yummies.

from Cooking Like a Goddess (my favorite cookbook):

Tomato Venus Soup - can be served warm or cold
1 Qt can of crushed tomatoes
3-4 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup oil-packed sundried tomatoes, drained and chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion (I had used 1/2 a Vidalia onion in another recipe, so I substituted that for the red onion and it was DELICIOUS!!)
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil, or 1 tbsp dried
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1-2 tbsp melted butter (optional and only if the soup will be served warm)
sour cream as topping (optional)
I also added a dash or two of cayenne (of course!)

In a bowl if serving chilled or in a saucepan if serving warm, combine all ingredients down through the black pepper. If you are serving warm, simmer for about 10 minutes, then, if desired (oh, you desire, it's so good!) add 1-2 tbsp of melted butter. Warm or cold, it's yummy to top each bowl with a dollop of sour cream and basil leaves.

Tomato Venus Soup

I paired this soup with the following salad:
from new vegetarian cuisine (another favorite cookbook):

Cherry Tomato Gazpacho Salad (using those lovely volunteer tomatoes from my garden!)
1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup peeled, seeded, and diced cucumbers
1/2 cup diced zucchini
1/2 cup diced sweet red peppers
1/4 cup chopped Vidalia onions
2 tbsp red wine vinegar (I used balsamic since I didn't have red wine vinegar)
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp minced shallots
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp finely minced jalapeno peppers
1/4 tsp Mrs. Dash
1 cup of garlic croutons

In a bowl, mix together everything from tomatoes down through onions. In a seperate small bowl, whisk together every else except the croutons. Pour sauce over salad and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Divvy up and top each serving with croutons. Yummy!!

Cherry Tomato Gazpacho Salad

Later in the week we enjoyed the following:
also from new vegetarian cuisine:

Mexican Stuffed Potatoes
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup drained canned Mexican-style corn
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (I left this out since Michele and I are not fans of cilantro)
1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp minced red onions (again, I still had some Vidalia left over, so I used that)
2 tbsp minced scallions
I also added diced zucchini since I had some and thought, "why not?!"
1/2 tsp ground cumin (I really hate cumin, so I left it out. Used my customary dash or two of cayenne instead.)
2 large baked potatoes, warmed (I used this technique to bake my potatoes)
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream (optional)

In a bowl, mix everything from the beans down through the cumin. Cover and refrigerate for at least one houe. Split the potatoes lengthwise and top with the salsa. Cover with cheddar cheese and pop in the microwave or oven to melt. Michele and I never pass up an excuse to have sour cream so we added a lovely dollop to the top of each. Also, I quadrupled the recipe to make enough for the week and baked 10 potatoes and just stored it all in the fridge. The longer the salsa mixture sits the more intense the flavors (i.e. the yummier it gets!!)

Mexican Stuffed Potatoes

A Simple, Garden-Grown Meal

A delicious, simple, garden-grown meal!

I don't always take pictures of my meals, though it seems that I do throughout the summer when that meal is made up of garden fare. This meal was very fun. I made mini grilled cheese sandwiches with tomatoes from our garden and asiago cheese. I paired it with a pickle slice I made from a recipe a friend sent me - oh yum! - and some tomato slices that didn't fit in the sandwiches. It was a simple, fun, and fresh meal for a lovely Sunday afternoon.

The pickles we so fun to make and they came out so crisp and delicious. The recipe is from a very popular local restaurant to which Michele and I have never been, but we always mean to go. It's a barbecue place, but I think they have something vegetarian. Regardless, their pickles recipe creates a divine pickle!

Dinosaur BBQ Garlic Dill Pickles

Green Goodness

I've been busily working away to prepare for my show, but I've taken lots of time out to enjoy the lovely weather and to make yummy food for myself (and Michele, if she's home). Recently, I made the most delicious Spinach Soup. I grabbed a recipe card from the grocery store and made this super easy, super delicious soup in about 15 minutes! I've found the recipe online to share it with you all as well. Oh, it's so good. I added a dash (or five) of cayenne pepper to give it a kick & it put it over the top. Just a note of a couple changes I made, if you do decide to use the recipe I've linked here:

1. I used vegetable stock, instead of chicken stock (of course).
2. I used Mrs. Dash and salt instead of the special seasoning salt the recipe called for (personally, I love Mrs. Dash and use it in place of pretty much every seasoning called for in savory recipes!).
3. I added the aforementioned cayenne pepper.
4. I omitted the poached egg that adorns the soup when finished.

If you decide to make it, please let me know how you like it! I felt like I was eating liquid sunshine (albeit GREEN liquid sunshine)!

Carrot Dogs - OH YEAH!!

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this, but I REALLY LIKE CARROTS. Well, today I was perusing my friend Carol's facebook page and she was saying one of the reasons she likes Rochester is "homemade Mac and Cheese Hot Dog with bacon, next to the Farmer's Market where you can also eat Carrot Dogs." Most of the text was just 1s and 0s to me once I saw "Carrot Dogs." I had to find out more, so I went to The World Carrot Museum, which has a page dedicated to Carrot Dogs on their site - which you should totally visit, it's SO interesting! I'm definitely trying these, so, anyone visiting me this summer for a cookout be forewarned: that's probably not a beef, pork, turkey, or tofu dog on your bun! (That wasn't at all meant to sound as dirty as it sounds!)

Home-Lovin' Bread

I made bread yesterday - real yeast and flour, rising bread. My sister makes bread all the time, but this is a second time in my life kind of event for me (zucchini and banana bread count as bread, but I'm talking about yeast-kneading-rising kind of bread.). At work on Friday, I had this fleeting thought: "Mmm, I would love to make some sweet potato bread. I wonder if I can find a recipe for sweet potato bread." And, of course, through the wonders of google, I found about a million recipes. I chose one at random: Sweet Potato Prune Bread. The uniqueness of that combination was right up my alley, though I decided against the prunes because I didn't have any at home. I went with apricots (because I 1. have a HUGE bag of them, 2. LOVE dried apricots, and 3. couldn't resist the orange theme of the apricots with the sweet potatoes - hey, it IS my favorite color!) This bread couldn't have turned out better if it had been made by someone who knew what she was doing! It is DELICIOUS!! If you decide to try the recipe as written, I'm sure it will be amazing, too, but I did make the following 3 substitutions: used soy milk instead of skim, apricots instead of prunes, and maple syrup instead of honey. My version is vegan, which excites me because my very favorite vegan friend, Cindy, LOVES sweet potatoes and this will definitely be something I make for her next visit! For now, I'm trying to save some for Michele (who will be home for Valentine's Day!!), but it's so good, I'm having a hard time staying away from it!!

Lazy Day

I shamefully didn't even get out of my pajamas today. I watched an episode of Voyager (my favorite Star Trek after TNG), chatted with my neighbor, Rita, in the garden (yes, in my jammies), made two tote bags, and accidentally made tomato sauce/tomato soup. So, although lazy, I was productive. OK, OK, you are wondering how a person accidentally makes tomato sauce/soup, right? Well, it can easily happen when said person decides to stew tomatoes, but doesn't know how and doesn't Google it and just decides to throw a bunch of tomatoes, onions, garlic, and green peppers into the Crock Pot and forget about it for ten hours. The lovely mess is definitely tomato soup or sauce and pretty darn tasty soup or sauce at that!

On a slightly related note, over these past months, I have tried to inure myself to the drudgery of chores, like the trash and litter boxes, with some success. The need for this will hopefully be coming to an end. Michele has been hired by a new trucking company for a regional route that will bring her home weekly!! Yippee!! Now, my only hope is that her weekly home time coincides with trash day! Hey, a girl can hope, right??!!

Michele's Send Off Treats

Michele heads out tomorrow morning, so I was no gadabout today. Since I always like to send her off with some healthy, but yummy treats, instead of playing all day, I got busy.

Her treats this time had a nutty, chocolatey theme. I made her granola, as I usually do, but this time she didn't want any fruit, just nuts. This is a real nut-lovers granola with peanuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, sunflower seeds, almonds, and coconut. She says it's delicious, but since I can't eat walnuts or sunflower seeds, I have to take her word for it.

I also made her chocolate fruit and nut clusters. It's dark chocolate with pieces of dried cranberries and apricot and pecans. I did try these, even though pecans make my mouth itch. They were very, very worth it!!

Last, but not least, I made her chocolate chocolate chip zucchini bread. Oh my, is it delicious!! The recipe makes two loaves, so one is staying here with me. I used zucchini from the garden, so it's an extra special treat to send her off with. I like to know that she'll have little bits of love to see her on her way.

In a related note, Michele has another chance for a regional route that would get her home every week. If you pray, please send up some prayers for that to come through.

Not being one to flout convention (yeah, right), I decided to use my garden tomatoes and basil in a very Italian dish: Capellini-Tomato Pie. Oh boy, was it delicious. One would think that it would be no surprise that tomatoes and angel hair pasta would be good. The thing is, the pie is baked in a "crust" of cabbage leaves. I will admit that I was just a bite nervous about the combination of cabbage and pasta, but it was amazing! Tomatoes were really the name of the game in this recipe. I even made my own bread crumbs using sun-dried tomato bread (and then I missed the part of the recipe that said to sprinkle the bread crumbs on the bottom of the pan before layering in the cabbage leaves! I just mixed them with the Parmesan cheese and put the mixture on top - yummy!) The recipe claims that it is better the second day and that is definitely true.

As you can see, I still have a host of tomatoes left, so I may make this again for next week's dinners. I have a couple eggplants (gifts, not grown by me) I may throw in, too, so we'll see how that goes. Mmmmm, I am so enjoying being a gardener!!

Tomatoes, Two Ways

Yesterday, I ate the juiciest, sweetest, most delicious tomato I have ever tasted. One of my Sweet Cherry 100s was a really vibrant red and I just had to try it. It was like tomato heaven exploding in my mouth.

My Best Boys are very prolific, but still very green. I read some advice that removing some of the fruit will divert all the energy to those left on the vine and they will red up faster, so I made plans to have more fried green tomatoes and came up with a new recipe (if not new, then one I'd never heard of before): Fried Green Tomato Parmesan. It's like Eggplant Parmesan, except with green tomatoes instead of eggplant. Now the only problem was that I had no idea how to make Eggplant Parmesan. I didn't let that stop me, however! I made the tomatoes just as I did before, except I added Parmesan cheese to the flour coating, then fried them up. I also made my homemade pasta sauce - though not with any produce from my garden. Arranged over some angel hair pasta, the Tomato Parmesan and sauce were scrumptious!!

And, regarding the reddening of the rest of the Best Boys, I picked the tomatoes for this recipe on Sunday and when I got home from work yesterday, one of the tomatoes on the vine were tinged with red! So, those few I picked made a sacrifice for their tomato brethren and I ate them with gusto for their valor.

Fried Green Tomatoes

While fixing the stakes on a couple of my tomato plants, a few tomatoes fell off. I read up on this and learned that sometimes in cooler weather, the part that connects the tomato to the plant weakens and heavier tomatoes can fall off. So, I brought these inside and decided to let them ripen on the counter. Impatient as I am to eat some tomatoes, I decided to make fried green tomatoes. Yum!! Now, having the desire to make them didn't automatically translate into having the knowledge to make them, so I did some thinking. I also did some remembering. Now, in the movie, Fried Green Tomatoes, I remember them making them like my mom makes fried chicken: dredging them in flour. I also seem to recall that they dipped them in and egg bath first. Well, I don't often have eggs in the house, so I figured I'd make them using my vegan fried chik'n recipe, which uses a combination of seasonings, flour, and liquids as a egg-type bath that you did the "chicken" in before the flour. Well, that's what I did and, boy howdy, were they yummy!! Now, I will be hard pressed to leave the tomatoes on the plants to ripen. I think I want fried green ones on a regular basis!

Beet-y Delight

This morning, I noticed that two of my beets were showing their shoulders above the soil (I've been ready a lot of gardening message boards and blogs to find out when my beets and carrots will be ready and they say that you'll see their "shoulders" above the soil level.) Well, one of them looked pretty tiny, so I decided to leave them both in the ground. When I got home this afternoon, a pesky squirrel had picked the tiny one and eaten half of it! I was steamed and decided that I would pluck up the larger one for myself before he got to it!

So, I had a beautiful beet for dinner tonight. Yum!! I, unlike Squirrel Nutkin, ate every bit of that beet, too. I baked the beet itself in a little casserole dish with a couple tablespoons of water. My vegetable book said to leave 1 inch of stems and the root end and to not peel it before baking, so I didn't. When it came out of the oven the peel rubbed right off and the shoots were really tender and yummy. I also steamed the greens, then ate both the beet and greens with a little pat of butter. Oh, so good! Now, I didn't waste the stems - I ate them raw - they were good, too and reminded me of very thin celery. And then, to top it all off, I poured the baking liquid into a glass and drank that really fast, like a wheatgrass shot. It was not very good at all, but I've convinced myself that what it lacked in taste, it made up for in healthfulness. All in all, I had a beet-y good time!

And, by the way, the reddening tomatoes were fine when I got home and I decided I will leave them where they are for one more day. I'm taking this one day at a time.

Roasted Green (Purple) Beans

I made yummy roasted green (purple) beans for dinner tonight. I found the recipe here: http://www.recipezaar.com/Roasted-Green-Beans-133821 They were so very good! I am searching the web for green bean recipes and having a lot of fun eating out of the garden. I can't wait for the tomatoes, peppers, squash, and cucumbers to come join the party!

These royal burgundy garden beans are so cool. They start out such a deep, dark purple/burgundy, but are really bright green inside. Then, when you cook them, they turn green, like regular green beans. It's so wild. I wish I knew what made them change color.

Busy Eating Beans

I'm sorry that I haven't taken the time to blog this past week. I've been busy eating all those beans! Actually, I have had a hard time adjusting to being back at work after nearly two weeks off - made worse by my need to work today - Friday - when I've gotten so used to being off every Friday. So, while I've been getting back in the swing of things, I've also been busily creating items for my Etsy store. I promised Michele that I wouldn't just keep making items and perfecting the store design and never open the actual store, so I have decided that I will have my grand opening when I have 10 items ready to sell. I have 8 done now, so the grand opening is looming in the near distance! I'll keep you posted.

I also harvested another batch of beans. The purple ones are again the most prolific of the three. From the first batch, I snacked on the green and white beans raw and stir fried up the purple ones - they do turn green when cooked! I think for dinner tonight, I might french cut and saute some purple beans and serve them up with cous cous and some bbq tofu or a veggie chick'n cutlet - yum yum gourmet!!