Tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, peppers

So many wonderful tomatoes, summer squashes, and peppers that you just can't keep up?  And maybe you don't have much time to cook them, either.  Here are some things you can do:

First, get out your crock pot, if you have one--mine is gold-colored and harkens from the seventies, but it's still perfect for these times.  Select the tomatoes least likely to make it to the end of the day, cut out the stem area, and fill the crock pot with them.  Set it to low and let it go overnight.  In the morning, the skins easily slip off and you can pop them into the freezer just as they are if you don't have time to do anything else with them.  In the winter use them to make sauces and soups and enjoy the warmth the stove provides as they cook. 

If you have too many cherry tomatoes and summer squash, here's an idea that is way more than the sum of its parts.  Fill a large sauté pan with whole cherry tomatoes and summer squash (yellow or green), cut up into rough chunks (about 40% tomatoes, 60% squash).  Simmer until everything is very, very soft, and then put it all through a food mill (or food processor).  It makes a wonderful soup, which can be frozen. 

And as for extra peppers, while I was cooking the tomatoes and squash as above, I put three peppers at a time directly on top of my gas burner and blackened them.  After putting them in a covered bowl for a short time, the skins were easy to peeled off, and I froze the resulting roasted peppers for later.

Eggplant, tomato, peppers, onions

Roasted Ratatouille

I have never been a truly enthusiastic fan of ratatouille--that is to say, I eat it, but usually try to make sure there is something else accompanying it to increase the "meal satisfaction" level!  However, I've discovered that with essentially the same ingredients I can make a dish that is much more satisfying and also a great starting point for other really good dishes.  Here's how:
Get out a large roasting pan and fill it to the top with:  eggplant (quartered and sliced), onions (coarsely chopped), tomatoes (cut into chunks, not peeled), peppers (red or green), garlic cloves (5 or 6 coarsely chopped).  Sprinkle with salt and add several tablespoons of olive oil; mix it up (I use my hands) so that the vegetables are coated. Put it into a 350 degree oven and roast for a couple of hours, until the volume is reduced by at least half and the liquids have evaporated.  This will mean that the sugars within the vegetables will have caramelized and all will be meltingly tender.  Now you have a dish that will keep very well in either refrigerator or freezer, and with very little prep time can be turned into lunch or supper:

• Spread on a pita bread and top with the cheese of your choice; broil until cheese is melted.
• Cook up some pasta and mix with the ratatouille; add grated cheese and serve.
• Layer ratatouille and either hamburger, chicken, beans, cooked rice, or cooked lasagna noodles; top with cheese and bake until cheese melts.
• Spread on crackers for an appetizer; top with black olives.

Notes:

• The key to success here is to eliminate as much of the water from these veggies as possible without causing them to stick to the roasting pan.  That may take some time in the oven, so do it on one of those cool August evenings when you don't mind the heat from the oven--and then, cook a chicken or some potatoes or apple pie while you're at it to get the most out of all that heat! 
• I usually use the following proportions (approximately):  for each eggplant, include 1 or 2 peppers, 1 or 2 onions, 3 or 4 tomatoes.

Tomatillos, ground cherries, cilantro, peppers, tomatoes...

These are the elements of a very easy and delicious salsa. Place the following ingredients into a food processor: tomatillos (I used two good-sized ones, because that's what we got in this week's share), ground cherries (again, I used the whole share amount--probably about a cup), 2/3 cup of cilantro, 4 cloves garlic, 1 small onion, 1 small pepper, 1 small tomato, 1 t. salt, and juice from one lime.  Pulse until the texture is the way you like it.  I love this salsa!

Notes:

• You can make this as hot or mild as you'd like, depending on whether you use bell peppers or jalapeno, poblano, etc.--or any combination.
• Salsa is a very flexible sort of food, so amounts and ingredients can vary quite a bit and it will still be delicious.
• Serving suggestion:  mix the salsa with leftover corn, taken off the cob, and seasoned black beans; serve on a bed of greens for a wonderful summer salad.

Eggplant, zucchini, summer squash, pepper

This recipe from Cooking Light, July 2007 uses many of the veggies we are storing in our refrigerator at the moment.  The recipe calls for a red pepper, but green peppers work fine also. It is a delicious, colorful salad that is lighter on the greens than many summer salads.

Grilled Eggplant Stack:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/grilled-eggplant-stack-10000001634738/

Notes:

• I have put a shorter "stack" of these vegetables, along with the dressing and a slice of mozzarella, on a split focaccia and had it as a sandwich.
• The dressing is very good for grilled vegetables of all kinds, as well as for other vegetable salads, especially those featuring beans.

Summer squash

Yes:  your children WILL like summer squash prepared this way! 


http://www.marthastewart.com/314971/lemon-zucchini-cornmeal-cookies

Note:
I used the yellow summer squash instead of the green zucchini that is called for in the recipe, because the yellow looks like lemon, and the cookies are subtly lemon-flavored.  The zucchini version is delicious, but flecks of green in cookies may raise too many suspicions among the vegetable-averse.  The summer squash is undetectable!

Zucchini...again!

More specifically, "Chicken Salad with Zucchini, Lemon and Almonds"

1/3 cup dried raisins
2 T. olive oil
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
1/8 t. ground cumin
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
juice of half a lime
Salt and pepper
two or three zucchini (2 lbs. total)
about a pound of cooked chicken
3 T. almonds, toasted
2 cups salad greens, sliced into strips

1. Soften the raisins in hot water for about 10 minutes, and then drain.
2. In a large nonreactive bowl, combine 2 T. olive oil with the garlic, cumin, lemon zest, lemon juice, lime juice, ½ t. salt and ¼ t. pepper.
3. Cut zucchini into 2-x-½-inch sticks and add to the bowl along with the raisins.  Let stand at room temperature for two hours, stirring occasionally.
4. Slice the chicken into strips and place in a large, shallow serving bowl.  Add the marinated zucchini and currants, toasted pine nuts, and greens.  Toss lightly and serve right away.

Notes:

• The original recipe is from Food and Wine's April 2009 issue, and I have changed it and simplified it beyond recognition, but still...credit where credit's due!
• The original recipe calls for marinating the chicken in lemon, olive oil, and shallots, and then sautéeing it.  I'm sure it would be delicious, but I had cooked chicken all ready, so I used that.  My chicken had been roasted, but grilled chicken would also have worked well. 
• The original recipe called for lemon, but I used half lemon and half lime, because that's what I had on hand.
• The original recipe called for pine nuts, but I used almonds, because that's what I had on hand.
• The original recipe called for currants, but I used raisins, because...yes...that's what I had on hand.  (Did you know that what we know as "zante currants" are really just very small raisins?  They are not actually related to the currant at all.)
• The original recipe called for baby arugula, but I had leftover romaine from a previous share, so that's what I used.
• The original recipe called for adding a 1-inch piece of preserved lemon, peel only, slivered--but really, who keeps that on hand? 
• I guess it must be obvious by now that I don't like shopping for ingredients.  But it worked out anyway; maybe next time I'll have different ingredients available and it will be a whole new dish...

Zucchini, summer squash, dill

Very short entry this time, for a recipe that's really delicious (and not mine).  It comes from the New York Times "Recipes for Health" series. I've made it several times (and it's got to be good to be worthy of repeating, with all the wonderful possibilities in the world of cooking good food!). It uses zucchini and dill, both of which we have an abundant supply this week.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/25/health/nutrition/25recipehealth.html

Note:

• I've made this dish with phyllo, and I've also made it with regular pie crust.  Both are good.  It is essentially similar to spanakopita, but made with zucchini (and/or summer squash).
• It is important to squeeze all of the water out of the shredded squash before making the filling.  I usually save this water and add onions, carrots, etc. to make a soup stock, which gets tucked away in my freezer.