Best Garden Goodies (or What I Learned This Summer)

Posted by Deb Puchalla

My son starts first grade next week and has to bring a vacation show-and-tell -- a picture, a trinket, a book -- and describe to the class what it taught him. If the assignment were mine, I would bring a cloth shopping bag overflowing with veggies, fruits, and herbs from the farmers' market, enough to share. Because I'm not quite ready for summer to end. And because a single bag of the freshest produce can equal a whole bunch of delicious memories.

This year, our town hosted a weekly farmers' market just up the road, so I always had something superfresh to make close at hand, whether I was cooking weeknights for the boys or on weekends for friends. Each visit reminded me to use the brightest, just-picked ingredients. And coupled with a suggestion from my friend and mentor, Margaret at A Way to Garden, that our garden and food worlds ought to collide, a season-long online party was born.

At Everyday Food, we're always blown away by how intense in-season produce tastes, so we highlight it on our site and in the magazine. We're good at this because we're out and about -- what inspires us inspires you. This summer, Adina's flashbulb summer-food memory is of corn chowder with fresh Jersey corn at the shore. "It was like eating corn on the cob with a spoon," she says.

Our assistant food editor Susan spent Saturdays selling produce at a farmers' market up in Pleasantville and put together a beautiful photo essay showing the wares (and suggesting many recipes showcasing beautiful corn and carrots and beans and herbs and...). Caroline has been busy at her food co-op, preserving veggies as she stocks the freezer for her husband's busy law-school nights. Sandy's takeaway was tomatoes -- 25 pounds of seconds, actually, and tons of her mother-in-law's tomato jam, put up and shared (hey, where's mine?).

Me? I won't soon forget the simply steamed Rhode Island corn we had on vacation with friends, and the unbelievable just-caught cod topped with juicy, sweet tomatoes.

Beyond our walls, our parties helped us discover another bounty of recipes: those harvested from old and new friends. (Thank you, again, Margaret.) If it weren't for our Garden Goodies, Kathy at Cold Climate Gardening and I never would have met. And my Twitter pals Jaden, Andrea, Dianne, Diane (she's relishing relish this week; check it out) and I never would've had a conversation longer than 140 characters.

The series started with herbs (even I grew some of those), like basil and mint and parsley, with boatloads of pesto as a payoff. I was thrilled to see some new faces from the garden world visiting with us, sharing hints from well-loved recipe cards typed with sun-kissed hands. Zukes and cukes were next, and memories of my mom's unbelievable zucchini bread came flooding back. Green beans were a real lesson to me as I often steam them or saute them with garlic but saw so many new ideas to try; I never considered wrapping them in prosciutto as Karen does. I still can't wait to taste the salty with the fresh.

We followed up, a tiny bit prematurely in retrospect, with tomatoes and then last week gathered all sorts of corn ideas.

Time flies when vegetables are fleeting. But I still need to try more, more, more! On the roster for the next couple weeks at chez Puchalla: Colleen's chimichurri flank steak (with pesto), Dan Koshansky's refrigerator pickles, Jaden's shrimp and zucchini stir-fry with crispy basil, Amy Goldman's spaghetti with cherry tomatoes and toasted crumbs, Rachel Ann's summertime chili, Christie's corn salsa, and Anita's corn custards.

Better hop to it, I suppose. But before I do, I'd love to hear your comments below. Should we keep this party going? What would you want in round two? What other get-togethers would you attend? And, don't forget links to your recipes; there are lots of meals to plan and cook and I find lots of inspiration in EDF but also in hearing from our fans.

In the meantime, I'm concentrating on enjoying summer's sunset -- quick, the new school year is around the corner! Margaret, for her part, has a tempting veggie soup that makes all that produce work for you. And Sandy put together a post with vegetable chowder, ratatouille, and tomato sauce. We all want to share our own tasty ways to make these lazy, hazy days last until show-and-tell and beyond.

OUR GARDEN GOODIES SERIES
Pesto
Zukes and cukes
Green beans
Tomatoes
Corn

A big thank you to Alison Sickelka and Regan Burns on our web team for helping this print girl make this happen! I hope you'll continue to visit us here and on Twitter.

Comments

[Kiki]

Nice work! The summer in food. You really helped me cook with the harvest from my very first garden.

[Cate O'Malley]

Yes, definitely keep the online party going, especially since I'm late to this one. :) My basil grew like mad this summer, so I've been finding lots of recipes to use it up. I think my favorite summer recipe is Panzanella. Next up - planning a Fall Fling sometime in September.

[Christie @ fig&cherry]

Yes, keep it going Deb! Such a great series. Round 2 - how about different grains (polenta, quinoa, couscous)? Healthy and filling!

[Karen at Pecked by Ducks]

How about squashes/pumpkins ect? We are coming up on the season! Here is a curry pumpkin pie recipe to get us going.

http://peckedbyducks.com/2008/08/28/tears-and-pumpkin-pie/

[Dianne]

This has been such a fun exercise and I've seen so many amazing recipe! Perhaps continue with fall ingredients??

[napa farmhouse 1885]

yes..let's keep this party going..i have added most of the recipes from the past few weeks to my collection..fall fruits and vegetables would be a big help too...and loads of fun!
best,
diane

[Andrea]

Yes, keep it going! This has been a lot of fun. Apples are ripe for harvest in September...

[Lisa]

I really enjoyed the beautiful slideshow! You should do something similar for the Fall season. I bet the colors would look incredible. Great work as always!!!

[Julie]

All these recipes are good.....but missing one important thing. I'm a calorie counter, and my husband is diabetic. Therefore, I don't use any of these recipes at this web site. If they are here and I am missing them somewhere, please let me know.

[Christie @ fig&cherry]

I agree with the pumpkin / squash idea. I can never get enough of those!

Here's my favourite pumpkin soup of all time:

http://www.figandcherry.com/recipes/my-favourite-soup-of-all-time/