swiss chard

swiss chard as a one-dish meal

We finally out foxed the rabbits with a fence and the chipmunks are full of my pea plants so this year we have swiss chard . this recipe can be a complete meal with the addition of beans or a side dish with out them.

ingredients:
1 bunch of swiss chard, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic scapes, chopped (i freeze them but garlic works just as well)
1 onion chopped
2 plum tomatoes chopped
8 basil leaves, chopped
1 can beans rinsed (optional)
1/4 teaspoon tony chagere's seasoning


          saute onion, garlic or garlic scapes over medium heat until lightly browned.

while the onion is cooking, chop the chard, tomatoes and basil, keeping them separate

                                    add the chard to the onion and saute for a few minutes

 add the tomato and allow to cook for 5-8 minutes, stirring gently. add the basil cook for another minute. add the seasoning. just use salt and pepper if you do not like a bite.  at this point the dish is done and ready to serve unless you wish to add beans.

         my choice is butter beans but cannelloni, black beans or any other would work

                               add the beans and allow to cook until the beans are heated through


enjoy!

a zucchini one-dish meal

                                                   look out...here comes the zucchini!

 it is zucchini season and i picked an arm load this morning! i planted a row of them because my family is here and everyone loves them. for years i have sliced them and sauteed them in a bit of olive oil with onion and garlic as a side dish. it is still an easy way to serve zucchini but i wanted to make it a one dish meal but we will get to that in a minute.


the happiest plants i have ever grown!those tomato stakes are 6 feet

our share of today's harvest

yesterday i cooked italian sausage from a butcher shop in auburn called indelicato's. it is the best. i sliced 2 of the cooked links, added 1 vidalia onion sliced thin. put both ingredients in my skillet with a tablespoon of olive oil. i cooked them over medium heat until the onion was soft.

 

 then i fired up the heat and added the sliced zucchini. keep turning until the zucchini is cooked to your liking. the higher heat will keep it from getting watery and allow it to brown slightly. when it is done cooking, season to taste. only then add salt  and freshly ground pepper.



1 cup of shredded parmesan cheese

add the cup of shredded cheese and it is ready to serve. the cheese will melt by the time you have finished the blessing.

                                     served with zucchini corn bread that i made a few days ago


                                                                             ENJOY  !                                                                            

2 garlic scape recipes /pesto and potato salad

a basket of garlic scapes from the neighbor's garden

i hope that you still have some garlic scapes hanging around in the fridge or freezer. they still had them at the farmers market last week. meant to post this a week ago but we had a week-long celebration for my mother's 92nd birthday. her birthday is the 4th of july so i decided to create a red, white and blue potato salad

red, white and blue potato salad

before we get started on the recipes, let's get started by placing the scapes into a food processor and grind them till they are fine.

now we are ready to rock and roll/ fresh from the food processor

garlic scape pesto

ingredients
1 cup ground scapes
8 basil leaves
1/3 cup pine nuts
3/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup pecorino romano cheese
salt or not...i add it when i serve it with the pasta

place all the ingredients in the processor and blend till it is a paste

all the ingredients ready to process

remove from the bowl and place in 1 cup containers which is enough for 1 pound of pasta. i tripled the recipe and got these 5 containers. top each container with a little olive oil to keep the air from getting to it.
at this point, it can be used, stored the the frig or frozen for winter use.

when i serve it with pasta, i remove it from the frig and let it come to room temperature. just before the pasta is cooked, place about 1/2 cup of the hot pasta water in the serving bowl and stir in the pesto. it will then be easier to mix with the cooked pasta. i do this for all the pesto recipes that i use with pasta.


finished garlic scape pesto

my family always expects my potato salad to be served on the 4th. (that potato salad is in an earlier blog) we always have 16-30 people depending on the year. this year it was a mere 18 for the birthday party.

i wanted to try something different and i found these wonderful small potatoes and they were already a mixture of red, white and blue potatoes. what could be more perfect and in a 5 pound bag to boot! what follows is a very simple recipe and everyone seemed to enjoy it
red white and blue-garlic scape potato salad

5 pounds small potatoes(i used the three colors but red or yukon gold would do)
8 stalks celery, minced
1/2 cup garlic scapes, processed
1 bunch parsley, minced...FRESH ONLY
1cup good quality olive oil
1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
salt and pepper to taste

clean and cook the potatoes.do not peel them. this is a skins -on -potato salad... boil for 17-20 minutes only. they will continue to cook as they cool. drain and let come to room temperature. cut into desired size. add the rest of the ingredients and gently mix. adjust seasonings and chill.

ENJOY!