Friends with Benefits

...no, not THAT kind., silly monkey!  I have a couple friends who fortunately are great at growing things that I don't, and even better, they love to share their bounty with me.  The other day my friend Chris dropped off a basket of peaches and peppers, and the next day my friend Randy gave me a bag filled with plums.  It's amazing to bite into a fresh, home-grown piece of fruit.  It tastes nothing like what you get at your supermarket.  When I was a kid, my grandparents had an orange tree in their backyard, and I ate as much as it would give. They were the sweetest, juiciest oranges I've ever eaten, and I've spent many years since trying to find one at the farmers' market that gives me that same rush of flavor.  It rarely happens, but perhaps it's just that reality is never as sweet as our memories.  But my love of home grown, just-picked produce comtinues to this day.

With more than enough of these to just eat as is, I set out to find a fun way to use them...and bring them together..... Stone Fruit Salsa!! 

Pretty simple, pretty delicious!  And all of the ingredients came from my garden, my friends' gardens or my fridge:
peaches, plums, basil, red onion, jalapeno pepper, lime juice, maple syrup (helps balance the heat of the pepper), salt and pepper.  No trip too the store.  Got to love that!  Grow, grow, grow stuff! Or at keast have friends that do!

This is going to grace grilled halibut fillets tonight, but would be equally delicious over chicken breasts, or as salsa likes to be used best, with a bowl of crispy chips.  Dig in!

Stone Fruit Salsa
Makes 2 cups

2 peaches, diced
1 plum, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
1/3 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup chopped basil leaves
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon grade B maple syrup
Pinch salt and pepper

• Mix all ingredients in a bowl and let stand 20 minutes for flavors to combine,

Yum it up!

Stuffed Zucchini.... Thai Style

I grew this little beauty! Yes, ME!  It's an 8 ball zucchini.  Not sure how big you're supposed to grow them (I'm a squash virgin); this guy is a little over 4 inches in diameter.  I was so impressed with myself and so enamoured with it that I just left him sitting on the counter for the past week, just so I could look at it and well with pride every time I walked into the kitchen.  It's like the time I fixed the GFCI outlet thingy in the kitchen (all by myself!).  I used to walk into the kitchen at night just to see the little glow of the green light.....it's the little things.

Today it was time to let the 8 ball do what it was destined to do.....feed me in a super yummy way.  I didn't want to just chop it up and put it into something...too boring.  It needs to be stuffed and baked.  First I cooked up a little brown basmati rice in coconut milk (do it!)  While that was going I sauteed onions, carrots, ginger, and a banana pepper that grew right next to the zucchini (together again).

When it was beautifully cooked, I tossed in some basil (yes, from my yard....look at me go!) and chopped tomato (not from my yard, sore subject).  I added the cooked coconut rice, a little salt and red pepper flakes (you know I like it spicy!).  Took a taste and..... yeah, the happy dance!!  So simple, so few ingredients, but such a fantastic blend of flavors.  And it makes your house smell delicious, too!!

I cut off the top third of the zucchini, and scooped out the seedy, fleshy center, then stuffed my rice mixture into it and baked it for 25 minutes.

Fortunately there was a little extra filling left over, because my mouth was watering and 25 minutes was going to be toooo long.  But 25 minutes is the perfect amount of time to cook the squash, so it's tender, but with a little bit of bite to it still, and the rice on top gets a little crispy. But cut it in half and you see all that soft, creamy filling....great textures going on here, my friends!  To make this a vegetarian entree instead of a side dish, I'll add some garbanzo beans to the filling next time (oh yes, there will be a next time!); the beans and rice combo will give you a complete protein.

What's left to say????  Dig IN!!!

Stuffed Zucchini

Serves 2 (unless you're me!)

1 8 ball zucchini, about 4-5" in diameter (or hollow out regular zucchini; filling will probably fill 4)

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1/2 cup brown basmati rice

1 can coconut milk

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 serrano or jalapeno pepper, remove seeds and chop

1 tablespoon minced ginger

1 carrot, shredded

1 small roma tomato, seeded and chopped

1 tablespoon chopped basil

Salt & pepper to taste

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Cut off the top third of the zucchini and scoop out the seeds and flesh from center to create a bowl. Reserve top.
• Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan and toast rice for 2-3 minutes.  Add coconut milk, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until cooked (Trader Joe's brown basmati takes about 25 minutes).
• While rice cooks, heat remaining tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium high heat.
• Add onion, pepper and ginger and cook until onions are softened, about 5 minutes.
• Add carrot, tomato and basil and remove from heat.  Season to taste with salt and pepper (maybe a little red pepper flakes??)
• Stir in the rice and fill cavity of zucchini.
• Bake 25 minutes until zucchini is softened.

Hey, look.....no cheese!

I gotta go eat that other half now....

Brown Thumb No More!

I am notorious for killing any growing thing (ecept my dog).  The suggestion has been made that maybe watering would help my stats.  I took it under advisement, and a couple summers back I tried growing tomatoes.  Shockingly, I was pretty successful.  Would have been more successful if I didn't live in an area flooded with little critters who coveted my crops and made off with the( literal) fruits of my labor each night while I slept, dreaming of the new recipes I would try.  But I was successful enough to get a little cocky and go for it again last summer, and added squash to my efforts.  Unfortunately it turned out to be the return of the brown thumb.  I blamed it on the weather; others blamed it on my lack of fertilizer and water.  Either way, I got nothin' (but neither did the critters).

I gave up, filled my raised bed with sand, popped in a beach umbrella, a couple loungers and some tiki torches and called it a day!

But the more I got into the idea of local and seasonal cooking, the more I thought of having my own kitchen garden.  But I was unsure and felt a little defeated.  Then a couple months ago, I helped a friend plant his beautiful vegetable garden: tomatoes, melons, squash, peppers, you name it, we planted it.  And I saw it explode in no time.  Sure, I wasn't the one tending to it, but I did plant a lot of it.....so why not try dong it for myself??

So I did, and here's what's happening in my little backyard.....

This is an "eight ball" zucchini.  I'll be using this to make my raw "raviolis".  I think I probably posted that recipe a year or so ago, so it may be time for a new and improved one.  But basically, I slice thin discs with a mandoline, soak them in a little olive oil and salt to loosen them up until they are pliable,  put a dollop of  lemon and chive infused chevre on top, fold over like a little ravioli and top with a some fresh pesto.  Sooooo tasty!  

This is my summer squash.  I already picked a couple larger ones for the Summer Squash & Corn Soup I'm making in tmorrow's cooking class.

Here's one of my peppers; not sure which kind yet, as they all look alike at this stage.  I have 3 varieties: banana peppers and sweet yellow and red.  These guys are going to be great stuffed and put on the grill when the time comes!
And of course.....my tomatoes:

Next week is supposed to get wicked hot, so I'm hoping my 4 plants start bustin' out the fruit and I see some red ones soon!  Hard to not just eat them right off the vine, but I've got lots of plans for them.  Here's one of my salsa recipes to try when these guys are good and juicy....won't be long!

Heirloom Tomato Salsa                                                                                                Makes 2 cups

2 cups diced heirloom tomatoes, about 2 large

¾ cup diced red onion

1 teaspoon diced jalapeno pepper

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons tamari

1 teaspoon cumin

·         Toss tomatoes, onion, jalapeno pepper and cilantro in a medium sized bowl.

·         Whisk the vinegar, lime juice, oil, tamari and cumin in a small bowl.  Pour over tomato mixture, stirring to combine.

·         Let stand 10-15 minutes (or longer) for flavors to develop.

·         Delicious with chips, as a Bruschetta topping, or served over grilled chicken or fish.

Believe me, if I can do it, anyone can do it!!  (Turns out they were right about the watering thing!!)  Nothing like walking out into your garden, porch, deck, balcony, whatever, and picking someting fresh to make for dinner!

Yum it up!

Look at me....I'm a farmer!

My first two potaotoes!  I'm such a proud parent!

I am notoriously bad at keeping anything alive besides myself and my dog Maxx.  Seriously.  I had a fake ficus years ago and I came home one day to find a dropped leaf  on the carpet.  But last year I managed to successfully grow 2 tomato plants, so I was feeling a little cocky and decided to try potatoes along with tomatoes this year.  I was cleaning out my pantry and found a bunch of neglected red potatoes, covered in "eyes".  So into the ground they went and two months later, I dug up my first two beauties.

As a kid I used to eat fruit and veggies from my grandparents' backyard.  Still to this day I can't find an orange in any store that is as perfectly sweet and juicy as the oranges off my grandpere's tree.  You know that the produce you buy from local farms are just better tasting than anything you could ever buy in a store.  As it turns out they are generally more nutritious, too.  But the produce you get from right outside your back door is even better than those at the farmers' market.  I think it's the added flavor of pride!

I decided to prepare the potatoes as simply as possible.  I heated some olive oil in a cast iron skillet and added a large clove of garlic, sliced in half.  Over medium heat the garlic will infuse the oil with is wonderful flavor.  I cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces and popped them in the hot oil.  After about 8-10 minutes the potatoes were cooked through and crispy on the outside.  A little pinch of salt and pepper, and call it a day.  I wanted to taste the potato, not muddle it with a bunch of other flavors.  And they were delicious!  The flavor was not overwhelmingly different from the ones I normally buy, but there was a noticeable richer flavor to them.  Again, maybe it was the pride.

I decided to continue with my "simple prep" concept and scramble some eggs to go with my potatoes.  In  the same cast iron skillet, I added a little pat of butter (don't be afraid of butter, just respect it) and tossed in some grape tomatoes that I halved. I love pan roasting tomatoes this time of year; they are so sweet and juicy, and after a few minutes in a hot skillet, their skin starts to burst and they soften to perfection. I whisked 2 eggs with a dash of milk, salt & pepper and poured it into the hot pan.  Turn the heat to low and add a little sprinkling of sharp cheddar and in a couple minutes your fluffy eggs are ready.  I topped the potatoes with the eggs. sprinkled some chopped chives and cut myself a crusty pieces of French bread.... this is a good way to start the day.  It's simple.  It's easy.  It healthy.  And best of all, it is super delish because it is all fresh and seasonal....