Summer Recipes

A few people have noticed that I don't post many recipes these days. To be honest, it's not that I don't have more recipes up my sleeve, or a binder full of things I want to try. Instead it's more, how can you cook when there is all this to eat????

I pretty much spend the entire summer eating whatever I can get my hands on from the local farmer's market and the farm that sells produce down the street. We had a rough start to our summer (think, howling rain, wind, noah-get-the-ark kind of weather) and so our summer vegetables took a huge hit. We are only now, in the past few weeks, really starting to see the tomatoes and cucumbers and zucchini arrive. But oh how I have waited for this.

My favorite summer recipes consist of those gorgeous tomatoes, sliced thin and sandwiched between two slices of rye bread, lightly kissed with mayonnaise. A little salt, a little pepper... voila! Lunch.

Or something equally as refreshing? Horiatiki, also known as "peasant salad". Get ripe, luscious tomatoes, cucumbers, some red onion, and olives if you like them. Give everything a rough chop and throw it in a bowl with some feta and vinaigrette drizzled over the top. Done. It is HEAVEN in a bowl and a beautiful way to showcase the freshest ingredients you can get from your farmers market.

Or if you really must cook? Try these little green gems.

These, my friends, are padron peppers and what has been the bulk of my diet for the past week or so.

You can get them around here at the farmers markets and local farms. They are amazing little Spanish peppers that you cook up with olive oil and sea salt. That's it. Give 'em a quick saute, get 'em nice and blistered and deflated and you are done. Grab a big bowl, settle down in front of a movie, and hell, it's better than popcorn. They are generally very, very mild, however, there will be a hot one here and there amongst the group. 

All of these things are local, fresh and delicious ingredients. Why slave away over a hot oven or stove top when you can whip up these dishes in a few minutes and enjoy the remaining days of summer? Or rather, remaining day of summer, since Fall officially starts tomorrow. Soon enough we'll be wearing sweaters and making stew so enjoy it while you can!!!