4 small and 1 large zucchini/summer squash, chopped
1/4 C daikon radish, minced
1 large tomato, chopped
1/4 C white wine (or 1 T white wine vinegar)
1 T lemon juice
2 C Tomato and Savory Polenta
3-5 C vegetable stock (or as much as you’d like to get it to the thickness you’d like)
pinch cayenne
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 t dried savory, crumbled
Instructions
Heat a soup pot. Add olive oil. When oil is hot, add all veggies except garlic and tomatoes. Add a pinch of salt and cook over medium heat until veggies are beginning to get tender, about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Add garlic and cook 2-3 minutes. Add wine and cook 2-3 minutes.
Add tomato, polenta, stock, and remaining seasonings. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 30-60 minutes, or until all veggies are tender and soup is to your desired thickness.
(Optional: If you have squash haters, you could blend the soup.)
It’s feeling a lot like summer ’round here. The weather is hot and the food is light, fresh, and simple. I’m totally not opposed to a summer soup. Not at all. But, there’s definitely a time and a place for salads, barbecues, spritzers, and watermelon. And that time is now.
Once you’ve eaten a few bites, you can finish unpacking the rest.
My Uncle Jake makes these incredible ribs. I’ve never made them myself, because I don’t know if I could do them justice. Someday maybe I’ll attempt them. But for now, I’ll just hope that the next time we visit he just happens to make them (I may or may not send an email to hint at this wonderful idea).
My Mom has been making Potato Salad for as long as I can remember. It’s one of my favorites, and I think it’s also one of hers. I made it on my show once, with a few modifications. Both versions are delicious, so you can’t really go wrong.
If you want a one dish wonder that’s perfect for a picnic, a potluck, or just dinner on the patio, try this Summer Veggie Quinoa Salad. I could just eat and eat and eat salads like this. I may not be content to only ever eat salads, but for a meal, once in a while, I love an array of wonderfully delicious salads!
I could also say there isn’t much better than this Strawberry-Balsamic Tart. I guess I’ll just have to have two favorites. Maybe you could just serve both for dessert. I’m cool with that.
As a kid, I remember my mom making Zucchini Bread. She called it “Zoo Bread”. I wonder if she thought that if we didn’t hear the word “zucchini” we might eat it. We did. However, I don’t remember feeling fooled… I think we might have known what was in it. We liked it because it was good.
Today I’m making Roasted Stuffed Squash. But, if it helps anyone in your home to eat them without a fuss, you are welcome to call them “Zoo Boats”.
Or maybe if someone thinks they don’t like squash, but gets to help scoop out the middle, they will be so proud of themselves that they will insist on eating some. Insist.
I used leftover rice. Quinoa would also be delicious (and would add more protein). Adding Italian sausage or ground beef would be great too.
This is kinda like a switcheroo on the classic Stuffed Pepper or Stuffed Tomato. Hey! Why not get creative and make a few different kinds of stuffed items – Peppers, Tomatoes, and Squash! Everyone could have their favorite.
Unfortunately, now I’m craving Zoo Bread. Guess that’s what I’ll be making later on today.
Happy Eating!
Roasted Stuffed Squash
Recipe Type: Main, Side, Vegetable, Vegetarian
Cuisine: Italian
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 2-4
Roasted squash is stuffed with rice, peppers, and onions, then it’s topped with basil. It tastes like summer.
Ingredients
1 medium or large summer squash, sliced lengthwise, center scooped out
1 T olive oil, divided
to taste salt
to taste pepper
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 C (heaping) cooked rice
1 large tomato (about 1 C), chopped
pinch red pepper flakes
1 t fresh oregano, chopped
1 t fresh basil, chopped
1 t fresh thyme, chopped
1 t fresh sage, chopped
1 T lemon juice
1/4 parmesan cheese, grated
1/3 C gruyère, grated
fresh basil, chopped (for topping)
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 350F.
Scoop out center of squash. Rub with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place cut side down on a baking sheet. Roast for 15 minutes (or until tender).
Heat a pan, when it’s hot, add remaining oil. When oil is hot, add onion and pepper. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add rice, herbs, seasonings, and tomato. Cook over medium to medium-low heat for 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat. Add lemon juice and parmesan to rice mixture. Stir and taste. Adjust seasoning if desired. Spoon rice mixture into squash. Top with gruyère and return to oven for about 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
Serve topped with fresh basil. (Could serve whole, or cut in pieces to serve more.)
Notes
Cooking time is actually about 15 minutes because rice mixture cooks while squash roasts. You could save the scooped out portion and add it to the rice mixture, or save it to add to some soup or a pasta sauce! Recipe has since been adapted to include fresh herbs rather than dried. If using dried oregano, basil, thyme, and sage, reduce to 1/4 t of each.
I spent a good portion of my day with hands submerged in sudsy water. Washing glasses, plates, bowls, spoons – treasures that we found at an estate sale over the weekend. Cupboards and shelves had to be re-arranged to make room for my new toys. This delights me.
I spent the last 30 minutes pulling dried herbs off their stems and pouring them into labeled jars. Chocolate mint, thyme, savory – the smell lingers on my hands and it is divine.
I spent a while at lunch reading a book about cooking. I have two going at the same time. I stop one for a while and pick up the other. One, The School of Essential Ingredients, is a second hand book that Tim found for me. It’s a novel about cooking. And so far, the way the author describes things resonates so perfectly in my brain. It makes me want to shout, “exactly”! She puts things into words that I would have never known needed desperately to be described.
And then there’s the book that I am reading along with pen and paper close at hand, so I can jot down ideas. “An Everlasting Meal” by Tamar Adler. It makes me long for simpler times. But, at the same time realize that I have everything at my fingertips to create what I’ve begun to crave… Good olive oil, homemade bread, vegetables, cheese, salt… This will probably make up tonight’s dinner.
I’m on the first chapter, entitled, “How to Boil Water”. I thought I knew, yet I’m learning so much. I’m feeling a renewed desire to cook, to spend hours in the kitchen – creating, learning, boiling, stirring… tasting.
One of my favorite lines so far, “…fresh vegetables can be just as beautiful when they’re pale and faded. Nature isn’t persistently bright; it wears and ages.” The simplicity in these words takes my breath away.
Hope your days are filled with your own versions of these simple joys.
We ordered four extra pints of strawberries and 2 pounds of blueberries with our Abundant Harvest Organics box this week. My intention was to do something fun with them. The blueberries are almost gone. They are insane on the good scale. (What does that even mean?!) It’s taken us 3 days. Cool. Strawberries are all gone, but we only ate a pint raw because I decided to make jam.
It was random, made on a whim. Yesterday I was at the grocery store and saw a box of half pint canning jars and bought them. I had other things to do, but I would rather cook than tackle my to-do list. So I turned off the computer and turned on the stove.
I don’t have a canning set (you know, the boiling kind), so I opted to make freezer jam.
Good golly and good night I’m glad I did.
With freezer jam (my Mom told me this yesterday) you don’t actually have to cook the fruit. That’s why it often has such a fresh taste. Well, I was making it up as I went along and I didn’t know that I didn’t have to cook the fruit, so I did. It was a good decision.
This jam is made with honey, maple syrup, lemon, and berries. That’s all. No pectin, no granulated sugar. And it is aaaaaaaaaamazing… in my opinion.
I keep going to the fridge to get a spoonful. I have a feeling that this jam isn’t going to last very long.
On a totally unrelated note, my all-time favorite show, The Office, ended forever last night. I cried. A lot. And I ate French Vanilla Ice Cream topped with Strawberry Jam. It didn’t fix anything, but it tasted really good.
Last modified on 2013-05-22 20:32:54 GMT. 2 comments. Top.
Strawberry Jam
Recipe Type: Condiment, Sauce, Stove Top
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Made with honey, maple syrup, lemon, and strawberries, this jam is delicious and sweet!
Ingredients
3 pints (heaping 4 C) strawberries, hulled and roughly chopped
1 1/3 C honey
1/3 C maple syrup
1/4 C lemon juice
zest from 1 small lemon
Instructions
Put a plate in the freezer. Combine berries, lemon zest, honey, and syrup in a large pot. Mash with a potato masher. Bring to a rapid boil (spoon stirring is unable to stop the bubbling) and boil, stirring often, for 3-5 minutes.
Reduce to medium heat and simmer for 20 minutes (or until jam is to desired thickness – to test put a small amount on the chilled plate to cool quickly and check thickness), stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon.
Remove from heat. Stir in lemon juice.
Let it stand for 5 minutes. Ladle into clean half pint jars, leaving about 1/2 inch of space at the top. Wipe any jam from the lip of the jar and place lid on. Let stand for 15-30 minutes and then place in the refrigerator. Cool completely and then place in the freezer.
