Farm Fresh

beans, carrots, cilantro, corn, eggplant, gourmet greens, lettuce, onions, poblano peppers, sweet peppers, zucchini, tomatoes

What’s for Dinner?

My tomato worries back in June, July, and even August, were simply unfounded. This, after two straight years of the biggest, bushiest, greenest tomato plants you can imagine…minus any tomatoes to speak of. Now, a veritable tomato frenzy, and it feels just crazy! Crazy that all is takes is one morning at the farmer’s market, talking to the farmers and picking just the right plant or two.  Or twelve.  And an hour in the yard, finding the sunniest possible home for them.  And now, four months later, after doing really not much to them all summer, here we are. Tomatoes, of every kind, color, shape, and size.

It gives me a little chuckle, then, when my CSA farm truck unloads more tomatoes! Yes, we eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but one family can only do so much. In this week that straddles summer and fall, we’ll all feel a noticeable shift I’m sure.  Apples, pears, and pumpkins will be in the air. So tempting, but I’m (necessarily) devoted to tomatoes at every meal, and digging up my favorite sauce recipes.  Frozen in gallon zip-loc bags, there’s nothing better than getting home on a cold, wet, fall or winter night, knowing you’ve got a stash of summer’s best tomato sauce in your freezer!

Friday – TV trays, movie, & pizza

classic margherita pizza (The Splendid Table)
the mothership tomato salad (Food Network, Jamie Oliver)

Saturday – baba ga-what?

breakfast:
carrot-apple muffins (Williams Sonoma)

dinner:
baked falafel (Mark Bittman)
baba ganoush (Katherine Deumling, SIO Blog, Wk. 17 2013)
simple greek salad (Bon Appetit)

Sunday  –  hello fall!

flank steak with cilantro-almond pesto (Cooking Light)
rice stuffed tomatoes (The Smitten Kitchen)
oven roasted green beans (Food Network, Emeril Lagasse)

apple crisp (Martha Stewart)

Monday – kicked up tomato soup

roasted tomato soup with poblanos (Whole Foods Market)
gourmet greens salad
baguette

Tuesday – taco tuesday, again

tacos with black beans
stovetop corn with poblano chiles (New York Times)
late summer salsa mexicana (Rick Bayless)

Wednesday –  OK to cheat

pasta with no-cook tomato sauce & fresh mozzarella (Cook’s Illustrated)
salad with red wine vinaigrette (Martha Stewart)
roast chicken

Thursday –  one great rat(atouille)

ratatouille (Alice Waters, The Art of Simple Food)

More Menu Musings…