July is wrapping up and August is upon us. In many parts of the country produce is abundant!
Because there are never enough food threads, thought I’d start one what uses the foods of summer. Fruit or veggie plentiful. Cold or hot. Grilled. Farm to your table!
In the Midwest it’s corn season. Can’t get enough. I also love corn raw.
I made this recipe tonight and it’s DELICIOUS and simple.
I added more veggies: raw summer squash, broccoli, cauliflower, halved grape tomatoes and some massaged kale. Make it as is, or add your own touch. I think any of these things would also be great in it: bacon, avocado, chicken.
I used chili lime seasoning from Costco for the seasoning. I would say the chopped jalapeño and the cojita cheese are a MUST. I didn’t grill my corn but sautéed it lightly off the cob in a cast iron w/olive oil.
I love homemade pesto. In the summer I like to get fresh heirloom tomatoes from the farmer’s market and burrata and make a salad of burrata, tomatoes with balsamic, olive oil, fresh basil, pesto and salt and pepper. It tastes like summer to me!
Try arugula pesto. I actually prefer it than straight basil pesto. Put a LOT of lemon juice in.
We had a big Greek salad for dinner. I love that. Not really Greek I guess. I added chopped mint, slivered almonds, extra feta. Oh, and my hubby and son made lemon kabobs and put them in the bowl with the salad, so it was a meal in a bowl. I dislike lamb, but it was still enough food for me.
“Pesto” to me just really means a blend of a choice of greens, nut, a good parm or equivalent cheese, olive oil, garlic, salt/pepper, lots of fresh lemon juice.
I’ve made it with greens like basil, spinach, garlic scapes - arugula would be great!
I made pesto a week or two ago for guests and had it with ravioli and broccoli.
Yesterday however some friends came over and I did a Greek salad lunch. With farmers market greens, I had separate bowls of feta, kalamata olives, cooked green beans, sliced tomato, cuke, pickled beets and deviled eggs. In addition, I heated up some of the Costco frozen gyro meat. A friend made a Greek salad dressing and we sat in the yard nibbling for hours. We saved the carb allotment for dessert.
I just posted this in the garden thread, but might get some help here also for people who might not read that thread:
Does anyone have a good cucumber salad recipe , one that is not spicy and is vinegar based?
I have a bunch of cukes from my garden and having dinner with my parents/siblings for my mom’s birthday tonight. I said I’d bring a cucumber salad, among other things, to use up some of my cukes. Someone gave me a Thai recipe, but I noticed it had jalapeno in it. My mom does not like spicy. I know I can remove the seeds, but I’d rather find a recipe that’s like vinegar, sugar, etc since we are having sort of an Italian meal. I’m also bringing caprese with my garden tomatoes and basil. A google search found a couple of recipes for cucumber salad but with mixed reviews.
A really simple one is to just cut up cucumber and onion (you could add other veggies as well), mix with sour cream and salt and pepper. My mom would make this and it tasted so good!
@abasket I could if I don’t find another tried and true recipe, but I was hoping someone would have one of those “old-fashioned” recipes that used to show up at cookouts from my youth. I tried both of my neighbors, who have made the type of salad I’m looking for, but one never responded and the other said she’d call me today, but she’s working and probably won’t remember. And I need to make it soon since it’s for tonight.
Normally I don’t wait until last minute, but yesterday was a bit of chaos here that had me out of the house most of the day, so didn’t have a chance to focus on tracking down the recipe like I had planned. Editing to add that part of the chaos was an unexpected car problem that has me without a car all day so I need to make due with what I have on hand (I do have both dill and mint in my garden, but no cilantro which the Thai recipe uses).
I would just chop up the ingredients you want to use, add the dill, a protein if you want (chicken, chick peas, a good sharp cheese), season with salt and pepper and then pour over your favorite salad dressing that is vinegar based.
@Tiredofsnow thank you - that is exactly what I was looking for. I love PW - most every recipe I’ve made of hers has gotten thumbs up from my family.
Thanks all for the other suggestions. I have plenty of cukes so will try the other suggested recipes in the future but for this particular occasion I had specific flavors in mind (trying to accommodate a vegan SIL and my mom who doesn’t like spicy).
Of course! I looked in my Hyde County (eastern North Carolina) cookbook from 1980 but I don’t think they thought it needed a recipe - just how they served cucumbers!
I like to take cucumbers, red onion and ripe tomatoes add balsamic vinegar, a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper. I refrigerate for about an hour then serve it.
Turkish Tomato Cucumber Salad you can 1.5-2x recipe for 5/6/7 people
6 Roma tomatoes seeded and diced
5-6 medium Persian cucumbers or 1 large English cucumber diced chopped into 1/2-inch dice
1 medium white onion chopped into 1/2-inch dice
1 yellow or orange bell pepper or anaheim/poblano for those who dont like Bell peppers chopped into 1/2-inch dice
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice more to taste
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ cup finely chopped flat-leafed parsley
Feta
Chop veggies into 1/2-inch dice.
Combine chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and peppers in a medium bowl. Sprinkle kosher salt over the top and stir.
Drizzle the olive oil over the veggies and stir gently but well to coat everything with the oil.
Drizzle the lemon juice over the top and sprinkle with the pepper and the parsley. Again, stir gently but thoroughly to combine. Taste and season, if needed with more salt and pepper and/or lemon juice. Allow to sit for 15-20 minutes before serving to allow flavors to
For easy cucumber salad with an Asian twist, or not, slice and dress with Japanese seasoned vinegar. To add Korean flavor, add roasted sesame seeds and sesame oil.
We are drowning in tomatoes–a happy problem. Eating a lot of fresh tomato sauce on pasta or with eggs, tomato sandwiches, tomato salad (usually tomatoes, garlic, onion, EVOO, balsamic, sometimes mozzerella), etc.
Also cooking all sorts of ways to freeze, or just seeding/peeling/chopping to freeze.
Also using cherry tomatoes with green beans (not as much of them coming right now) for Mark Bittman’s beans which I could eat every day.
And pesto–at least once a week. Have frozen about twenty-five basil/oil portions to have it all winter long. Fam favorite.
Waiting on the zukes which were planted late, and the squash.