End of Summer Garden Sides and Salads

Still pulling stuff out of the garden?

I find that I still have tons of produce that needs to either be canned or eaten ASAP.  Here are some more of my favorite recipes to help that along...

1. Green Bean Tomato Salad
Ingredients:
1 pound green beans
1 pound cherry or grape tomatoes
1 large shallot
2 T red wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste
1/3 C EV olive oil

Directions:
1. Clean and cut beans.  Parboil for 4 minutes in salted water.  Drain and spread to cool.
2. Clean and half/quarter tomatoes.
3. Make vinaigrette -peel and mince shallot, add to vinegar, salt, and pepper.  Whisk in oil.
4. Store separately.  Mix just before serving.
5. Garnish with fresh herbs (basil, parsley, etc.)

2. Dilly Cucumber Salad
Ingredients:
1 large English cucumber, sliced thin
1 1/2 T EV olive oil
2 T red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 - 3/4 tsp sugar or honey to taste
1/4 C chopped dill

Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients, except cucumbers.
2. Store until ready to serve, mix in cucumbers.

3. Apple and Celery Salad
Ingredients:
4 large apples, peeled and diced
2 C celery, cut small
1/2 C mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 T water to thin
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Mix dressing
2. Combine over prepared apples and celery.

Garden Sides and Salads

I've been harvesting up like a fiend, and was entertaining last weekend.  Being as I didn't want to buy anything (or much of anything), I pulled together what I could find from the garden and pantry and made due.

1st Dish: I made beet salad.  But, I've made (and you've read) that before, so I won't bore you with those details again.  But, for the record, it's good EVERY time you make it.  And people don't seem to bore of it, so double bonus.

2nd Dish: Yellow squash casserole.
Ingredients:
3 medium squash, sliced
1/2 stick of butter (4T), melted
1 small sweet onion, diced
about 20 saltines, crushed

Directions:
Saute onions.  Boil squash until al dente (not soft).
Combine veg with about 1/4 of the cracker crumbs.
Place in greased 8x8 dish.  Top with remaining crackers, then top with melted butter.
Bake at 350 until the crackers turn golden.  Everything is already cooked, so it's just to combine the flavors so nicely.

3rd Dish: Cucumber, Tomato, and Feta Salad

Ingredients:
4-6 Roma Tomatoes, diced large-ish
2 Cucumbers, diced large-ish
1/2 C Feta crumbles
Dressing Ingredients:
2 T red wine vinegar
3 T olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste




Directions:
Combine first three ingredients in a bowl.
Whisk dressing ingredients.
Toss everything together just before serving.

Recipe to Share

For my mom's Pampered Chef party, we made A LOT of food.  My mother has seven siblings, and I think she still cooks for a family of 10, laying heavily on boys at a 6 to 4 ratio.  We prepared food for 12 guests, but probably could have easily served 25.    My mother also has a plethora of cookbooks.  Every year she gets rid of a bunch, but they multiply like rabbits left to their own devices.  She's currently into smaller cookbooks, like the yearly magazine sized ones.  Unfortunately, the one I took this recipe from doesn't seem to have an online equivalent, so, thanks for the patience!

I wasn't in the room when she was prepping this dish, since I had my own to make, however I can tell you she did add extra salt and pepper to make it to my taste, and the parsley was far more chopped in her dish than in the cook book's picture!  For the chicken, mom just bought a roaster from the grocery store and chopped it up.  Delish!!

As you can see, it's served in one of mom's (and dad's least) favorite "cabbage leaf" bowls.