Summer food

The vegetables have been incredible this year. Not my own - they taste good but are hardly prolific. The CSA's veggies though, those are awesome. Since I have my own kale, lettuces, green pepper, jalapeño pepper, and tomatoes I've been able to ignore these on the farm stand. Instead I've been getting Swiss Chard, zucchini, spring onions, beets, carrots, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and eggplant just to name a few. And I've been making the tastiest dinners! Quiche with radishes, kohlrabi, chard, kale, onions, and (of course) a bit of bacon. Lo Mein with lots of greens, bok choy,  and savory veggies (and a bit of pork). Stir fry rice with greens (again), kohlrabi, radishes, and sweet peas. Pasta dishes with light cream sauce and tons of veggies. Pizza! I don't bother with red sauce in the summer; all my pizzas are green - EVOO, garlic, and spring onions to start. Then herbs - basil, oregano, rosemary - with chopped kale, chard, collards. Top it with tomato slices and the smallest amount of fresh mozzarella. Oh. My.

And pesto! I grew lots of basil. Two seed packets that all came up plus a couple starts from the market. And I still needed more. We eat it fresh, it never has time to hit the freezer. Pesto pasta with green beans is fantastic. Pesto on pizza. Pesto on homemade bagels with a slice of tomato and fresh mozzarella that you broil just until heated through (I was particularly pleased with this one as everything but the cheese came from my own efforts); (plus it was yummy). I like to make my pesto with basil, arugula, and kale; mostly basil but the other greens give it a bit of spice and depth.

I harvested all of my jalapeño peppers today and got many more from my CSA share. Came right home and made candied jalapeños. Canned a few jars and kept the excess canning liquid to use this week on baked chicken breasts. It's a fantastic glaze and I'll make a nice pico de gallo to serve with it.

I've got visions of a summer vegetable risotto too. With fresh baked Italian bread. And summer greens in a light vinaigrette. There's not much better than the summer bounty and we're deep into it now.