I don’t love the heat. But, one thing that I’m reminded of without fail, every year, is that I love love love hearts and giggles love summer fruits and vegetables.
Move over cabbage and beets. There’s a new tomato in town. (What? Nobody knows.)
I’ve planted a garden for the past five years. Each year I start early. I’m so excited to get those seeds into the ground that sometimes I start in January (it’s hard not to when the warm winter weather is playing tricks on me). The little plants peek through the ground, shiver a little, and then stay the same size for what seems like months and months. And then summer hits and the plants seem to mature overnight. Oh yeah, I remember each year, they like the heat. So for this reason (and possibly this reason only), I too will occasionally say that I like the heat. Because I love what it produces.
My little garden doesn’t yield all that much. Mostly, it’s fun and kinda therapeutic to play in the dirt and see what will grow. Thankfully we have our weekly Abundant Harvest Organics box to feed us, and my garden just adds a few things here and there (right now, mostly herbs – I’ve got basil, parsley, oregano, and chives that are growing happily).
This little salad is full of veggies and bread. Mmmm bread. I toasted it up, rubbed some garlic on it, ate a lot of it, and then topped it with some oil and vinegar dressed veggies.
You could use other herbs and veggies if you have favorites that I didn’t use. You could omit the green beans and add more tomatoes. You could use basil instead of tarragon. You could add chicken, bacon, steak…
Oh great, now I’m hungry again.
Whatever you use, this is a great summer meal that can be made in no time at all. If you leave the bread separate from the veggies and dressing, you could take it along on a picnic. Or you could just eat it at your desk while you write a blog post, frantically stuffing as much into your mouth as fast as your can, for fear that you will never eat anything this delicious again… oh wait, that was just me.
Does it count as a salad if there’s no lettuce? I think so. Combine some day old bread with fresh summer veggies, and you’ve got dinner!
Ingredients
1 loaf bread, sliced (will end up with about 7-8 C when it’s chopped)
olive oil
pinch salt
pinch pepper
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 C summer squash, grated
1 carrot (1 C), grated
1 C green beans, cut into 1″ pieces
2 T red onion (opt.), chopped
1/2 C cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 C tomato, chopped
1 C parmesan cheese, grated
Dressing: 1/2 to 1 T fresh tarragon, chopped
1 T fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 t chives, chopped
1 clove garlic, diced or minced
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
2 T balsamic vinegar
1/4 C olive oil (or more – to taste)
Instructions
Arrange bread on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 350F for 10-15 minutes, or until slightly toasty. Rub each slice with the clove of garlic. Cut into chunks.
Whisk dressing ingredients together. Toss with veggies and cheese.
Right before serving toss veggie mixture with bread. OR place some bread on a plate and top with veggie mixture.
Does it count as a salad if there’s no lettuce? I think so. Combine some day old bread with fresh summer veggies, and you’ve got dinner!
Ingredients
1 loaf bread, sliced (will end up with about 7-8 C when it’s chopped)
olive oil
pinch salt
pinch pepper
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 C summer squash, grated
1 carrot (1 C), grated
1 C green beans, cut into 1″ pieces
2 T red onion (opt.), chopped
1/2 C cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 C tomato, chopped
1 C parmesan cheese, grated
Dressing: 1/2 to 1 T fresh tarragon, chopped
1 T fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 t chives, chopped
1 clove garlic, diced or minced
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
2 T balsamic vinegar
1/4 C olive oil (or more – to taste)
Instructions
Arrange bread on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 350F for 10-15 minutes, or until slightly toasty. Rub each slice with the clove of garlic. Cut into chunks.
Whisk dressing ingredients together. Toss with veggies and cheese.
Right before serving toss veggie mixture with bread. OR place some bread on a plate and top with veggie mixture.
I had one goal on Friday: Make our friend cry on his birthday.
Wait! It’s a good thing.
He loves spicy food. We were invited to a birthday dinner and I offered to bring something. I thought that it could be fun to come up with a Spicy Roasted Potato Salad that would make even his eyes water.
And then I realized that the rest of us, with little to moderate tolerance for spice, might not appreciate the gesture.
1 jalape̱o, halved (seeds and ribs removed if desired Рuse gloves or scrape out with a knife)
Dressing: 1 T fresh chives, chopped
pinch cayenne
pinch red pepper flakes
1/2 smoked paprika
1/2 t sweet paprika
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
1 T lemon juice
1/2 T dijon mustard
1/4 C mayo
3/4 C Greek yogurt
2 T olive oil
6 cloves roasted garlic, mashed
Instructions
Cut the top off a head of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and wrap with tinfoil. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes. Let cool. Squeeze pulp from skin. Mash.
Toss potatoes with 3/4 t salt and 1 1/2 T olive oil. On two baking sheets, roast at 350F for 45-60 minutes, or until potatoes are crispy outside and tender inside (different types of potatoes may vary the amount of cooking time needed). Rotate the baking sheets halfway through to ensure that both pans are ready around the same time.
Place jalapeño cut side down on a baking sheet. Toss beans with remaining olive oil and 1/4 t salt and sprinkle around jalapeño. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Let beans, potatoes, and jalapeños cool completely in the fridge. Chop jalapeño into small pieces.
Whisk dressing ingredients together.
Toss potatoes, beans, jalapeño, and dressing together.
1 jalape̱o, halved (seeds and ribs removed if desired Рuse gloves or scrape out with a knife)
Dressing: 1 T fresh chives, chopped
pinch cayenne
pinch red pepper flakes
1/2 smoked paprika
1/2 t sweet paprika
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
1 T lemon juice
1/2 T dijon mustard
1/4 C mayo
3/4 C Greek yogurt
2 T olive oil
6 cloves roasted garlic, mashed
Instructions
Cut the top off a head of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and wrap with tinfoil. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes. Let cool. Squeeze pulp from skin. Mash.
Toss potatoes with 3/4 t salt and 1 1/2 T olive oil. On two baking sheets, roast at 350F for 45-60 minutes, or until potatoes are crispy outside and tender inside (different types of potatoes may vary the amount of cooking time needed). Rotate the baking sheets halfway through to ensure that both pans are ready around the same time.
Place jalapeño cut side down on a baking sheet. Toss beans with remaining olive oil and 1/4 t salt and sprinkle around jalapeño. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Let beans, potatoes, and jalapeños cool completely in the fridge. Chop jalapeño into small pieces.
Whisk dressing ingredients together.
Toss potatoes, beans, jalapeño, and dressing together.
