Summertime Shakshuka - Conquering the Tomato Patch !

Sooo. Last evening, I kiddingly posted to my FB account the alarm, "Tomatoes ! They're coming out of the woodwork ! Help !!!"  After a day of canning three quarts of salsa, there were still some ripe tomatoes to be used.

Gazpacho - Cool Relief From the Heat

Another healthy way to use the garden's bounty! This is Ina Garten's recipe with a bit of a more traditional adapting. The gazpacho is very smooth, has the addition of a piece of artisan loaf that has had the crust removed and a wee bit of cumin as well as that Kosher salt and black pepper. The garnishes resemble a pico de gallo atop the bowl of soup ... cold crisp and the perfect start to a meal with a glass of cold Pinot Grigio on the side and tortilla crisps with guacamole.

Stewed Summertime Veg - Pisto

Summertime vegetables are starting to come into the supermarkets and soon they'll be mounded up at the local farmer's markets too! That makes this tapas dish perfect for using the best of the best fresh veg! I love the color and flavour that a bit of smoked paprika gives this particular pan of Pisto. 

Pimento Cheese and a Good Book !

Nothing smacks of Down South snackin' like a bowl of pimento cheese and a sleeve of crackers !
I thought I had posted this basic recipe in the past on The Spice Garden, but when I went looking for the recipe today in the labels, it was nowhere to be found. Hmmmmm.

Red Lentils and Peppers

Late summer here and I'm beginning to have a hankering for soups, stews, and slurries, but the reality of all the garden produce that is stacked up on counters and chilling in the fridge cannot be ignored. So this evening super chilled cucumber fast pickle cools the palate between bites of this simple lentil/pepper slurry on a bed of caraway rice.

Hot Italian Chicken with Peppers

Anyone who knows me, knows that I absolutely adore Diana Henry's take on cooking - good basic ingredients, not a lot of fussing about, pairing side dishes that create a soul-satisfying meal. It seems to be her trademark. She also seems to be drawn to foods from the cultures that rim the Mediterranean Sea. In that respect, she is my soul sister, I swear to God.

Michael Anthony's Pepper Stew

If you were to serve this pepper stew with a bowl of rice, it could be a main  course. We opted to have it along side baked chicken breasts that were stuffed with cheese and ham. So it served as a vegetable side dish. Either way, it was delicious!

Re-Fried Bean Stuffed Poblanos with Queso

Need an easy dish to share at a summertime patio party? These peppers were a cinch to make and travelled nicely to the pool party we hung at over the weekend. The colors are great in this dish. I didn't photograph the finished dish, as we all know what a cheesy topping looks like, but at this point in the prep, I had to snap a photo because the peppers were so pretty and perfect. 

Roasted Red Pepper and Carrot Soup

This is a soup that really hit the spot this week. I have needed to be on a simple soft diet for a few days, as I've been in the hospital to have a gall bladder procedure. Consequently, I am shuffling around the house with a pillow held to my mid-section, and a supply of easy meals in the fridge.This soup was made on Thursday morning just before I headed to the hospital. It has been lunch and late night snack after my return home.

I first thought that this would be a tomato based soup when I saw the recipe title, but no. This is a thick and rich carrot and red pepper soup with just a hint of tomato and a good dose of curry. The consistency is smooth and velvety, as the soup is pureed in the blender before going back into the soup pot to sit a bit and mature the spices. I told SB that the next time I make it, I'm going to throw a few handfuls of cooked rice and a handful of chopped parsley into the soup just before serving.

Peperonata

So, summertime is here. Sometimes, I hate cooking when the heat is intense and the humidity builds. On those evenings, it's always good to have an easy out. In our case, this week's first real hot spell inspired me to make a batch of peperonata to have with semolina toasts. An easy salad of greens from the garden added enough bulk to the evening meal to make us happy.

King Ranch Casserole - The Dinner That Keeps On Giving

Disclaimer: This is one HUGE recipe! So ... let me start right out by saying I will make half the recipe the next time I make it for SB and I! The next thing I will say is that it is hard for me to photograph casseroles, as they tend to be a good old mish-mash of wonderful ingredients. This classic of southern style cooking is no exception.

Dog Days and Tapas ...

It was so hot yesterday. These are the dog days of summer. The late summer sun bakes everything and the gardens go blowsy and the grass is parched in places. The Corgis rush out the back door full of energy and drag themselves back after a brief run around with their tongues hanging low. They flop ... and pant ... and drop off to sleep.  They inspire me to do much the same. I get things done in spurts and then flop and pant ... talk about people resembling their pets!

Sweet Peppers Stuffed with Turkey, Prosciutto, and Cheese

We're having work done on the kitchen this week ... a new floor is will be taking the place of the age-old linoleum with cracks and spots. There will be ceramic tile to replace it! Kitchen construction, however changes my cooking routine. No puttering around out there! Any cooking that gets done is done during the hour that the guys take in the middle of the day for their lunch break ... so I plot during the morning and dash out and around their gear as soon as the truck leaves the dooryard. I mop the counter and pull things out of the cupboards, search for counter top staples among the boxes and bins and put together crockpot meals. The crockpot goes on the dining room table for the  afternoon ... out of the way of tools and elbows and dust.

The guys come back after their lunch and bang and saw and rip and tear and while they do, a nice smell starts to fill the air... something other than wood chips.

Tapas - Sunday Lunch

A Sunday luncheon party with friends makes for fun nibbling. Making a few tapas platters is the perfect way to let those who are hungry knosh and those who are dieting nibble. Enough said. There's a bit of the decadent and a bit of the conservative here - roasted potatoes with shallots, garlic, rosemary and alioli for dipping, salmon in a roasted red pepper sauce, a cool chicken salad with raisins and pignoli, a platter of black olives and Manchego served with a flatbread bedecked with artichokes, onions, pimientos, and bits of black olive, Spanish Rioja and beers ... and that Coconut Lane Cake for dessert with tea or coffee.

Peruvian Quinoa Stew

And now, for a little something different ... for me, that is. Quinoa.

Building a Better Pizza ...

 ... vegetables and lean meat under some cheese

I love thick snowy white crusted pizzas that are loaded with cheese and sausage and peppers and mushrooms, but ... my backside and midriff don't so much. Sooo ... I'm making a pizza with a higher fiber crust, some very lean chicken, broccoli florets, red pepper slices, a bit of onion slivers, a more reserved amount of part-skim mozzarella ... and some herbs and garlic.  I'm also cutting way back on the amount of olive oil that gets slathered, the dollops of basil pesto that would get dropped, and the salty black olive bits. I'll def miss those salty bits and all that herb-y slather, but ... this will still be a great pizza!

Hungarian Csirke Paprikas

What is that under all that orange, you ask? Thick slices of chicken breast that have a warm bath of sweet red peppers, a hefty amount of sweet paprika, soft onions, and plum tomatoes in a chicken and sour cream sauce .... this is Csirke Paprikas - Hungarian Paprika Chicken.

This is a meal for a cold, raw night - a meal to be eaten by candlelight - a meal that calls for a nice crisp white wine ... its soft and silky sauce is perfect with buttered egg noodles. An easy roasted vegetable side or a simple plate of salad greens completes this meal. This is comfort food.

Roasted Pepper Soup with Garlic Toasts

                                                       


This month Dom has challenged us to make a vegetarian soup that can be shared on the Belleau Kitchen's Random Recipe challenge and on Tinned Tomatoes'  No Croutons Required monthly challenge. Dom and Jacqui have chosen the perfect challenge for those of us entering 'soup season!

This is an easy challenge, if you have a copy of The Soup Bible. I picked this cookbook up this summer when our local Borders was having its closing sales ... sniff, sniff. I hated to see a bookstore closing, but was eager for the deals ... don't judge me. I felt bad picking through the cook book aisle, kind of like a gleaner at the end of harvest time. Many other images come to mind too , but we'll leave it at that.