And I love this idea that I’ve seen in lots of places – and when you’ve tired of tomato salads and tomato sandwiches (yes, it could happen!), you may be looking for an idea for those gorgeous big tomatoes. Easy, elegant – a fabulous quick supper, brunch or yes, breakfast dish.
A quick note about the melons, if it isn’t too late – don’t throw away the seeds. Grinding them up in drinks like liquados is a traditional Mexican technique. The seeds become a thickener. This recipe was adapted from one published in Gourmet in 2008.
A note about your okra. There’s been lots of conversation about okra recently, especially with the bounty Suzanne was offering last weekend. Fried okra is great, but don’t think of it as a side dish alone. I loved these suggestions from the July issue of Southern Living.
This week’s box left me in a quandary (which is not why I’m late). Talk about tomatoes? Corn? Melons? Blueberries? Okra? Pinkeye peas? And just what is the difference between pinkeye peas and all those similar varieties like blackeye peas and lady peas and crowder peas … all variously known as southern peas, field peas…
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And when you tire of corn on the cob, how about creamed corn? Some of us grew up only eating creamed corn from a can or a tube in the freezer case. How about making your own?
I’m delighted each week with the little bag of okra. I’m the only one in my house who likes okra, and I am glad to have it all to myself. But there was one year I grew a row in my garden, and each week harvested six pounds of okra. For weeks and weeks … six pounds of okra, every week. At that time there were three of us at home who liked okra, but even so, after a week or two, nobody really wanted okra with every meal and we needed an alternative. And so we made okra pickles. JCT Kitchen’s Ford Fry will be demoing okra pickles with Bloody Marys this weekend at the Peachtree Road Farmers Market. Yum.
Here’s a recipe that Steven Satterfield of Miller Union gave out earlier. Your little bag of okra is probably just enough for this recipe. You can make these pickles and just keep them in the refrigerator, or for shelf life, carefully boil the jars and lids and then process the pickles in boiling water for 10 minutes before storing in a cool place. Properly processed, they’ll keep for about a year.
Serves 4 as a main dish Preheat the grill. In a medium bowl, toss the shrimp with 2 tablespoons lemon juice, paprika, salt and pepper; marinate at room temperature for 5 minutes. Thread the shrimp onto metal skewers or wooden skewers that have been soaked in water for at least 30 minutes. While shrimp is…
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Adapted from a recipe by Martha Rose Shulman who writes the “Recipes for Health” series for the New York Times.
This refreshing summer salad can sit in the refrigerator for a few hours without deteriorating, so it makes a great choice for bringing to work or to a summer picnic. There was a hot pepper in my box which I will use for this recipe, or you can substitute one of the other sweeter peppers. Since the cucumbers in my garden are coming in like crazy, I’ve got everything I need for this salad. And of course you could substitute bulgur or some other grain for the quinoa.
The crumb-cheese filling recipe below would be just as good stuffing the tomatoes or peppers.
If you think your squash might be a little mature and need some tenderizing, scoop them out and then boil for about 2 minutes in a mixture of water, garlic and whatever herbs you have on hand or that go with your filling. Drain upside down while you prepare the filling.
And this recipe for tomato soup was a fabulous surprise. No cooking at all, and absolutely delicious. I served it to Marcia, MellowBellies’ intrepid photographer, this evening and she kept saying, “It’s so sweet!” That was just because of the fabulous MellowBelly tomatoes. You’d only want to make this when you have really wonderful summer tomatoes. But it couldn’t be easier and I think it will keep for several days in the refrigerator. It does separate when it settles, so just shake it up before serving. The recipe came from the August 2010 issue of Woman’s Day magazine.
