Butternut Squash * my favorite orange vegetable!

Carrots & sweet potatoes are great, but no vegetable revs my tastebuds quite like butternut squash. It quietly grows all spring & summer and has the most delicious sweet flesh. Butternut squash is and always will be one of my garden staples. I may only harvest a few each year but, they are worth the work & wait.

This year, I grew my squash in containers. Container growing allows me to get the seedlings outside sooner and I can move the containers if one location ends up having better sun than another.

One of the best ways to preserve butternut squash is by freezing. I roasted my squash in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Just remember to halve them, seed them then drizzle on some olive oil. Then roast, cool, and scoop out the flesh and freeze in containers or plastic freezer bags.

This squash will end up as risotto, or pasta sauce.

What's your favorite way to cook & eat butternut squash? I love it in risotto!

Eating Local: Apple Crisp

We're starting to overload on apples, but not quite enough to make apple sauce. Over the weekend I made an apple crisp that filled the house with sweet scents of autumn. Though the cinnamon, sugar & oats are not local, the apples, butter, & ice cream are! All were picked up from Breezy Willow. It's amazing what I can pick up on CSA days!

Ingredients: - 3 pounds of apples, peeled, cored & diced into 1-2 inch cubes (sadly I don't remember the exact varieties. I'm sure a Jonagold & Galas were in the mix!) - 1/2 cup of fresh squeezed orange juice - 2 tsp ground cinnamon - 1/4 cup brown sugar - 1/4 cup vanilla sugar - 8 tbsp of butter - 1 cup of oats, regular old fashioned. Not quick cooking. - don't forget to have some ice cream in the freezer!

Method: - preheat your oven to 425 - sprinkle the oats on a sheet pan and toast them in the oven for 5-10 minutes - in a large skillet, melt 2 tbsp of butter and add your chopped apples. Cook over medium heat for 10-20 mins until warmed through and soft, not mushy. Add the orange juice, cinnamon & vanilla sugar. - butter a large baking dish, then add your apple mixture. - chop your apple peels and toss them into the oven for a few minutes with the oats. I use the peels in my topping. - toss the oats with the brown sugar & apple peels and top your apple crisp. - add a bit of butter to the top, for a little extra crunch - bake for 10-15 minutes until just warmed through - top with ice cream and dig in!

The crisp was so delicious I forgot to take a final pic! Not sure what to make if we get another deluge of apples. Perhaps caramel apples for my little trick-or-treater!

Eating Local: Stuffed Mushrooms

Last week in picked up mushrooms, bread, tomatoes & spinach from my CSA. Instantly I thought, stuffed mushrooms. Though some were on the small side, they were the perfect size for my 4 year old. Here's how I did it:

Ingredients: - 8-10 button mushrooms, stems removed - 2 cups of spinach, washed & dried - 1 clove of garlic, smashed & chopped - 2 shallots, diced - 1 small tomato, or a few cherry tomatoes, seeded & diced - 1/2 cup of extra toasty breadcrumbs (homemade) - 1/2 tsp dried thyme - 1/2 tsp dried rosemary - salt & pepper - 4 tbsp butter

Method: - Preheat the oven to 425 - Remove stems from mushrooms. Keep the cap whole, but dice up the stems. Also, prep the breadcrumbs (toast in the oven then pulverize in the food processor), garlic, shallots, tomatoes & spinach. - in a large sauté pan, melt 2 tbsp of butter and add the mushroom caps top down. Sauté for 5-7 mins on med/high, then flip, salt and sauté for 3-5 mins more. - Remove the mushrooms and add 1 tbsp more butter to the pan. Add the chopped mushroom stems, shallots, garlic, thyme & rosemary. Sauté for 4 mins over medium heat, then salt. Add the tomato juice and diced tomato along with the chopped spinach. Sauté until cooked through. - Turn off the heat and stir in the bread crumbs. When it's cool enough to touch, start stuffing the mushrooms. - Top each mushroom with butter and bake for 10-12 mins.

They came out crisp & delicious. I recommend eating them while they're hot, they don't have the same depth of flavor when room temp. We don't often get local mushrooms, but when we do I love to make them the focal point of the meal.

What's your fav way to eat mushrooms? I do fancy a mushroom & swiss burger...

Leftovers: Sopa de Carnitas y Papas

Over the weekend we made some fantastic carnitas. I'm still learning about carnitas, so I borrowed from a fantastic Serious Eats recipe. The pork was lucious and filled the house with the most amazing scents. Since we didn't eat it all, and I ran out of tortillas, I took the leftovers and crated a delicious and quick carnitas and potato stew.

Ingredients: - 2 pounds of cooked & shredded pork - 2 onions, sliced - 2 red peppers, sliced - 3 pounds of roasted rosemary potatoes - 4 cloves of garlic, pulverized - olive oil - salt & peppers - 8 cups of chicken stock

Method: - sauté peppers, onions & garlic over medium-high heat in olive oil, until cooked through. 8 mins should do it. - add chicken stock & pork, bring to a simmer and bubble over low heat for 30 minutes - warm roasted potatoes in a 200 degree oven - ladle soup into bowls & add potatoes - garnish with cilantro, pickled hot peppers & cheese

We love repurposing leftovers. How about you? What's your favorite leftover?

Eating Local: Pickled Banana Peppers

Peppers were hot & plentiful this season. From jalapeño to pequillo, and fish peppers too, there was no short supply. In addition to drying, pulverizing, and canning into salsa, I pickled a large bunch of banana peppers this year.

These gorgeous peppers came from Gorman Farm. They always grow a diverse variety of hot & sweet peppers. I purchased 6 pounds of banana peppers and made the equivalent of 8 pint jars. I used the pickled jalapeño recipe from Canning for a New Generation. It's a basic recipe that uses apple cider vinegar, garlic & salt. I love this recipe. I would have pickled some jalapeños if I wasn't so busy drying & making salsa out of them! I hope the banana peppers fill the bill. There's nothing like a bowl of chili on a frigid day, topped with homemade pickled hot peppers.

Check out what else I've been pickling & preserving this season:

Mustard Greens Tomatoes Salsa Verde Basil Pesto Roasted Peppers Mint Jelly

Did you preserve anything this year? I'm sure I have a few more things up my sleeve, red onion marmalade might be it! A few of my contemporaries have been preserving and pickling all summer long, check out what's in their canning cupboards!

Eating Local: Grilled Summer Veg & Flank Steak

It seems fitting that my 200th post is about eating locally, and from the grill! For the past 15 months I've chronicled my garden & kitchen adventures, and oh how I've grown! It started with some of my go to recipes that my friends and family wanted, and grew into a journal of how I grow my organic garden and feed my family. Cheers to 200 more posts & adventures!

So this week my CSA and garden were overflowing with sweet potatoes, squash & corn. Since I've been busy cleaning up my gardens to prepare for fall, this meal had to be delicious, but quick. It all (minus the sweet potatoes) went onto the grill.

I drizzled all of the components with olive oil and seasoned with salt & pepper. The sweet potatoes received a homemade herbs de provence (thyme, lavender, rosemary, oregano & fennel seed) and roasted in a 425 degree oven until caramalized (~25 mins).

The meal was finished with a little gorgonzola, that's not so local, but it was divine! There was no way we could eat all of the corn, so most of it was cut & put into freezer bags for later use.

Did you grill up anything delicious this weekend?

Canning Crushed Tomatoes

Labor Day was a busy day for me, I canned like a mad woman! Sunday I headed out to Gorman Farm and purchased 50 pounds of their organic "seconds" for $50. Not bad, $1/pound for organic tomatoes! Like the past few years, I opted to can crushed tomatoes opposed to whole or marinara sauce. Crushed tomatoes are quite versatile and come in handy during the winter months.

After washing the tomatoes, I cored and halved them. Though I don't seed the fruit, I do like to remove the skin, and the easiest way is by broiling them for 5-10 mins. It slips right off. others may prefer a dip in hot water, but I need all the burners and cooktop space I can get. So into the oven they go.

While the broiling commenced, I prepped my water bath and jars for canning. Since I used 40oz jars, I had to use my water bath canner. I have plans to do a bit of pressure canning in the coming weeks, as the last of the tomatoes ripen.

After the tomatoes are peeled, they're blitzed in the food processor and bubble away on the stovetop until it's time to process in the canning pot. I processed 5 jars at a time for 50 minutes. Only one didn't seal, so along with the leftover crushed tomatoes, it went into a plastic container into the freezer.

Not bad - 600 oz of crushed tomatoes in 6 hours. I have to admit, the more I do this, the faster I go. No shortcuts, just more confident and streamlined. This summer was a pretty good growing season, I canned salsa, roasted and froze peppers, and dried herbs and chili peppers. Though the cucumbers were a bust (too wet), the tomatillos were surprise hit.

Any canning or preserving in your future?

When Joshua Cooks: Turkey Burgers & Green Bean Fries

I married well. Not only is Joshua an amazing artist, father, friend & handyman but he cooks too! Last night he whipped up the most amazing turkey burgers & garlic green bean fries. I helped a bit with the gren beans, but the rest was him. It's nice to be able to let go a bit in the kitchen. Here's what happened when I took a backseat and let him go:

Ingredients: - 2 pounds of ground turkey - 1 pound of green beans, trimmed - 3 cloves of garlic, smashed - arugula (or your fav lettuce) - fresh tomato from your yard, or someone else's - your fav bun or bread - Gorgonzola & gruyere - thyme, dried or fresh - chives - ketchup - sriracha (for a little kick) - mayo - olive oil - a few pats of butter

Method: - In a saucepan bring water to a boil, add green beans and cook until just bright green. Then remove the beans & empty the water from the pan. Add a tsp of butter and a tbsp of olive oil to the pan, gently sauté the garlic & add in the thyme & beans. Cook on low & cover. Salt to taste. Serve with ketchup, or sriracha ketchup! - Warm up your largest cast iron or frypan with olive oil. - Gently form patties with the ground turkey. Season each side with salt & pepper. - Cook each patty though over medium heat. The outside will be golden brown & the inside juicy but not pink. - Toast the buns in the pan while the meat rests. Then slather on the mayo, a little sriracha, then top with arugula, tomato, chives & cheeses.

It was the perfect Labor Day feast, and I didn't have to do that much!

Here are a few of Joshua's hits in the kitchen: Korean Pork BBQ Sandwiches Grilled Pizza Grilled Tri tip w/ Squash Herbed Omelet

Eating Local: Fried Okra

A few years ago it was impossible to find okra in my neck of the woods. So now I grow it. I don't love okra the way I love tomatoes, but I can't make gumbo or dirty rice without it.

It's a cinch to fry it up, which is my favorite way to eat it. All you need is olive oil, okra, and salt. Slice the okra about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch thick and fry until golden brown on both sides. Skim out he pieces and drain on a paper towel. Salt the pieces when they are still hot. I dare you not to eat them (all) before your next batch.

The trick to growing okra is cutting the pods before they get too big & fibrous. I like them between 2-3 inches. It's amazing how quickly the pods grow. It wasn't until this year that I learned how quick and easy it is to fry up these crispy delights. Okra doesn't have to be a slimy mess, trust me!

Are you head over heels about okra? The flowers might be the prettiest in the garden!

Cheeseburger Mac

This gooey treat takes me back to my childhood, but the cheese is better & so is the meat! I used home ground beef, sharp cheddar, red dragon cheese & lots of shallots. Serve this dish with a gigantic leafy salad, this is definitely full fat - and I enjoyed every calorie. Then promptly took a walk!

The red dragon cheese brought the dish full circle. This cheese is a semi-soft cheddar made with mustard seeds. And it's divine. Alone, this cheese is punchy. But melted into a cheese sauce it takes on a new form, and takes this dish over the top. I picked up a wedge at Trader Joes, but I'm sure you can find it at any grocery store with a good cheese section.

Ingredients: - 2 pounds of organic ground beef (home ground is best!) - 1 pound of sharp cheddar, grated - 1/2 pound of red dragon cheese, grated - 4 shallots, diced - 1-2 cups of whole milk - 1/2 cup of flour - 1/2 stick of butter - 1 box of elbow noodles - dried rosemary - salt & pepper to taste - 1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs (optional)

Method: - preheat oven to 425, rack in middle position - get a pot of water boiling for the noodles, and cook according to package instructions. I pull them 1 minute early since they'll be in the oven for a few minutes later. - sauté the ground beef & season with rosemary, salt and pepper - when brown, remove beef to rest, and sauté the shallots in the same pan, add butter or olive oil if needed. Add shallots into reserve bowl with beef and move onto your roux. - in a 4-6 cup sauce pot, melt your butter and add your flour. Mix vigorously for a few minutes and lower your heat, slowly add in the milk and whisk until slightly thickened. - heat off, add your grated cheeses and stir until 99% melted. - in a large oven safe dish, combine the meat, noodles, shallots and cheese sauce. Top with bread crumbs and some crumbled butter. - bake for 15-25 mins until gooey and browned

Seriously, serve this with a large salad. You'll want to eat 3 helpings, but the salad should curb your appetite! Save the leftovers for lunch, or freeze it for a rainy day. This reheats quite nicely in the oven.

What's one of your favorite indulgences? Do you prefer savory over sweet?

Purple Ruffles Basil

My goal is to grow organic, non-GMO veg & herbs to feed my growing family. So I grow most of my garden from seed. But every once in a while I'll find an organic farm that grows plants to sell at farmers markets - enter purple ruffles basil. I was enamored by the color and scent of this little plant back in May. Now, this garden behemoth is ready for a trim, purple pesto anyone?

Like my Thai Basil Pesto & Traditional Pesto this will end up as frozen cubes of summer in my freezer. The difference is, this pesto will not be green. The dark purple leaves make the pesto almost black. I'm looking forward to stirring a few cubes into a homemade tomato soup in a few months.

This has been one of the most exciting plants in the garden this year. It was a huge plant that didn't go to seed for months - I must have done something right, or it just really liked its growing space. Purple Ruffles Basil will certainly be back in my garden next year!

Eating Local: Roasted Rosemary Potatoes

A few weeks ago I brought home a ton of buttery potatoes from Breezy Willow. I love potatoes. My son loves potatoes. My husband loves potatoes. My family is head over heels for the mashed version, but I'm up to my eyeballs in rosemary, so roasted potatoes with rosemary was up to bat.

I really do have a ton of rosemary, almost 10 containers this year. I cut 1-2 foot long branches and hang them to dry. The aroma fills the house. And these piney leaves go so nicely with potatoes. As does any type of meat you're into. We grilled a flank steak & whipped up a romesco sauce to go with the potatoes. Here's how we did it:

Ingredients: - 1-2 pounds of potatoes, red or golden, washed & cut into quarters or eighths depending on the size - 2 tbsp dry rosemary - 2 roasted pequillo or red bell peppers - 1/4 cup organic mayo (make it yourself by blitzing an egg yolk & grape seed oil until it comes together) - 2-3 lbs of flank steak, patted dry & seasoned with: salt, pepper olive oil - olive oil - salt

Method: - get your grill going - preheat the oven to 450 - toss your potatoes onto a rimmed baking sheet & season with rosemary, salt, and olive oil - get them into the oven around the 275 mark and roast for 30 mins, stir once and roast for another 10 mins. They should be golden & crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. - while the potatoes cook, get your meat going on the grill & start on the romesco sauce. - instead of doing the full blown version, I blitz my peppers in a food processor then slowly pulse in 1/4 cup of mayo and a few tbsp of olive oil. I finish with a pinch of salt. This combo, though minimalist, is amazing with the potatoes and steak alike.

And that's about it. By the time the potatoes are done, the steak should be resting. Plate it up and dive in. When I make potatoes I always make enough for seconds, they go quick. Any left overs end up in an omelet the next day, or tossed into a brothy soup.

What's your fav way to cook or eat potatoes?

Tomatillo Chicken Soup

This is one of my all time favs. Roast chicken + salsa verde = heaven in a bowl. It's even better when you roast all of the veg & top it with thick sour cream. A few days ago I made some delicious salsa verde, here's one of my favorite ways to use it!

Ingredients: - 2 cups of salsa verde, homemade is best (trader joes is second best) - 2 bell peppers (green or yellow), chopped - 1 onion, diced - 2 cups of corn, char under the broiler then cut from cob (or use frozen kernels) - 2 jalapeño, sliced - 1 cup of water - 4 cups of chicken stock, homemade is best - 1 chicken, roasted in olive oil, salt & pepper (or use a rotisserie chicken) - 16 oz of cooked cannelini beans (or canned) - garnish w/ sour cream, cheese, pickled hot peppers, cilantro & chips

Method: - if you're roasting your own chicken, do that first. I like 425 for 30-45 minutes. - while the chix roasts, prep your veg & get to sautéing. In a large soup pot, sauté the onion, bell peppers and corn, the deglaze the pan with your salsa verde and stir in your chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the chicken is done. - when chicken is done, and cool enough to handle, shred the breast meat and put into the soup. Add the jalapeños and beans. Simmer for 15-30 minutes then eat!

You may have noticed that I only used the breast meat. I'd like to say its only because it's my preference. But, my sister & I ate the chicken wings, my son ate the legs and my husband at the thighs. So, um, that was all I had to use! Roast chicken goes fast in this house.

This soup is as hands on, or hands off as you want it to be. Sometimes I crave it but just don't have the time, so I let trader joes help me out with a rotisserie chicken, stock, salsa verde & all the garnishes. But when it's cold and dreary, I go the extra mile. Nothing warms up the senses of my house quite like the scent of this soup!

Here's a few other soups that you might like to try:

Kale & Beef Stew Kale, Bacon & Potato Soup Salsa Soup Ravioli Soup Tomato Bread Soup Turkey Chili

Making Salsa Verde

My tomatillos are booming with fruit. The branches are laying on the deck, so I guess it's time to harvest. Actually, I've been harvesting for weeks, and tucking the little zesty orbs in the fridge. Now I have 4 pounds and I'm ready to make salsa verde.

Ingredients: - 4 pounds of tomatillos, husks removed - 1 large onion, quartered - 4 cloves of garlic (in skins) - 5 jalapeños, stems removed - 1 tbsp kosher salt - 2/3-3/4 cup fresh lime juice - 1 cup of cilantro - 4 tsp citric acid, if water bath canning

Method: - broil the tomatillos, garlic, onion & jalapeños until slightly charred & soft, 10-15 mins (don't walk away, keep an eye on them.) - in batches, blitz the veg, including the cilantro, in a food processor until smooth. Then transfer to a large soup pot or dutch oven. Add the salt & lime juice and simmer for 10-15 minutes. - if water bath canning, follow the USDA canning best practices to make sure your salsa verde will preserve properly. I'd also recommend checking out Canning for a New Generation. That was the foundation for my recipe.

Now dig in with some tortilla chips or, make a delicious chicken & salsa verde soup! Tomatillos are awesome, I'm so glad I gave these a shot in the garden. They did so well, that I might expand to purple tomatillos next year!

Did you have any good surprises in the garden this year?

Eating Local: Summer Chili

It was a surprisingly moist summer in my neck of the woods. We had rain at least once a week, and a few dreary days. Thankfully, we've had a few scorchers too, and they were around just long enough to ripen my tomatoes & bell peppers. Today is one of those dreary days, and that means chili!

Ingredients: - 2 pounds of home-ground beef - 4 small red bell peppers, or 2 large, diced - 1 large red onion, diced - 4 cloves of garlic, pulverized - 2-4 jalapeños, sliced - 4 pounds of tomatoes, juices into the pot & diced - 1 cup of chicken stock - 1 tbsp ground cumin (not local) - 16 oz of cooked pinto or cranberry beans (not local) - olive oil (not local) - garnish w/ sour cream, cheese, cilantro, pickled banana peppers & diced raw onion

Method: - brown the beef in a large dutch oven or soup pot, and then reserve in a heat-safe bowl - add extra olive oil if needed and sauté vegetables (minus the jalapeños & tomatoes) until soft, add some salt - when a fond (brown bits) forms, add the tomatoes and their juices. Deglaze the pan, then season with salt & add the beef back into the pot. - add the stock, cumin & jalapeños, and bring to a simmer - cook on low for an 30 mins or so, and either: 1. Cool, add beans and store in the fridge over night (my preferred method) or 2. Add in the beans and cook until they are warmed through, 10 mins. Then garnish & serve. - if you are popping it in the fridge, just reheat it slowly over low/medium heat the following day.

Utilizing summer's bounty of sweet peppers and ripe tomatoes as well as punchy garlic & red onions makes for a delicious and easy summer supper. My little guy loves this with chips or a quesadilla. What do you serve with your chili?

Check out some of my other chili recipes: Turkey Poblano Chili Winter Beef Chili

And check out what the other SOLE Challenge members are cooking & growing. It's been a great year to cook, grow & eat local!

Preserving Pesto

Tucked beneath my tomato plants you'll find an abundance of basil. This year, like with many herbs, I grew a diverse bunch of basil, just for the heck of it. I've got thai basil, Marseilles, spicy bush basil, genovese, lemon basil & purple ruffles (more on that one later.) Much of my basil ends up torn over tomatoes and sprinkled over pizza, but my favorite use - for all these tender leaves - is pesto.

Paired with walnuts, olive oil, parmigiana reggiano, and garlic - you can't go wrong. This heady scent transports me to my childhood. Growing up with Italian neighbors was life altering. Almost every day from age 5-12 i feasted on fresh pasta, sun dried tomatoes, fresh fruits, ripe vegetables, cookies & OH the pesto. We ran around the yard with a bowl of fresh spaghetti & just made pesto. Heaven on earth. So here's how I make mine:

Ingredients: - as much basil as you can find, I recommend at least 8-10 cups, washed & dried - 1 cup of shelled walnuts - 1 cup of parmigiana, grated - 1/2 to 1 cup of olive oil (always extra virgin) - 2-3 cloves of garlic (big & fat, stickier the better!)

Method: - blitz the garlic in the food processor, sometimes I teensy pinch of kosher salt helps it along. - add half of your basil leaves, pulse 5-10 times until it starts to look pasty. - add the rest of your basil and the walnuts, pulse until it starts to come together - add the cheese & pulse while you drizzle in the olive oil. At some point stop & smell your pesto. Then taste it for seasoning and consistency. If its too coarse, add more oil and keep blitzing

At first, I store mine in a large plastic or glass container in the fridge. Top it with olive oil to keep the pesto from browning. After a few days, it goes into the ice cube tray & freezer. Once set I toss the cubes of summer into freezer bags. There's nothing like tomato basil soup from your garden - in February!

So what else is pesto good with? How about slathered on top of toasted bread with some slices of tomato & chards of fontina cheese?

Or how about stirred through pasta? Makes a delicious & quick dinner!

What's your favorite way to use pesto?

Oven Roasted Peppers: Poblano & Pequillo

There's nothing like coming home from vacation to find a ton of ripe peppers in the garden! Since it will take me a we days to sort through the laundry, catch up on emails & so on, I decided to roast and freeze these beauties for a later date.

Since I'm oven roasting the peppers, I cored each pepper, this removes the stems, seeds & cores. Coring the peppers also allows you to stuff the peppers post-defrosting. I've tried coring the peppers post roast & post defrost, I'm horrible at both. So core now & save time later.

So why roast? Why not just slice & freeze? First - pequillos have a very thick skin. You can't just chop & sauté like bell peppers. These fire engine red peppers are prized in Spain for their meaty sweet flesh. Roasting & peeling off the charred skin is totally worth it. Second - roasting the peppers brings out a smokey flavor, not a grill flavor, but just a little char. Here's how I did it:

Oven-Roasted Peppers: 1. Wash & core the peppers 2. Place the peppers on a large rimmed baking sheet 3. Set the oven to broil & make sure the grate is on the top rack 4. Roast under the broiler until the pepper skin is blistered & blackened, roughly 5-10 mins per side 5. Flip the peppers and rotate your pan, the back of the oven is hottest 6. Gently place roasted peppers into a paper bag, fold it shut and let them steam for 5-10 mins 7. Carefully remove the blackened skin & allow to cool before storing

I like to seperate each row of peppers with parchment then I slide it into a freezer bag. The flatter the better. This method can be used with any type of pepper, though I prefer to dry my hot peppers and freeze or pickle my sweeter ones.

Now I just need to come up with a way to use these. Maybe a spicy soup in January, or some stuffed peppers for the holidays.

Eating Local: Eggplant Parm & Stuffed Peppers

So here I am, overwhelmed with delicious produce! Instead of making a meal that focused on one veg, I wanted something that incorporated all the ripe goodies. Stuffed peppers & eggplant parm certainly used up most of what you see above. Here's how I did it:

Ingredients: For the sauce - 6 pounds of ripe tomatoes - 4 cloves of garlic, smashed - 10 cippolini onions, or 2 small yellow onions - 1 tbsp dried oregano - olive oil - salt

For the peppers - 3 large green peppers, tops off & seeds out - 4-6 links of sweet italian sausage, remove casings - 1/2 pound of parmex carrots (can substitute baby carrots) - 1 pound of mushrooms, diced - 10 cippolini onions, or 2 small yellow onions - 2 cloves of garlic, smashed - 1 cup of orzo pasta, cooked to box instructions - olive oil - fresh thyme - salt & pepper

For the Eggplant Parm - 1 large eggplant, sliced into rounds - 2 balls of fresh Mozzerella, sliced into rounds - 10 leaves of fresh basil - 2 eggs - 2 cups of bread crumbs - 2 cups of all purpose flour

Method: - first slice the eggplant and lay them on a tray. Salt each piece and allow it to weep out the bitterness. After your done with preparing the sauce, flip the eggplant and salt the other side. - Now get the sauce going. In a large sauce pot, combine olive oil, onions & garlic. Sauté until soft & translucent. Then add salt & pour in tomatoes, seeds, skin & all - waste not want not - and don't forget the oregano. - simmer on low heat for as long as possible. Add a 1/2 cup of water here & there, no more than 2 though, as needed. - while that gently bubbles away, on to the peppers. - preheat the oven to 375 - cook the orzo according to package instructions. - in a large sauté pan, add olive oil and cook the sausage until just cooked through. When golden brown, remove with a slotted spoon to a clean bowl. - in the same pan, heat up olive oil (if needed), onions, garlic, carrots, and mushrooms. Cook until soft & translucent, then season with salt. - add the sausage back into the pan, along with it's juices and the thyme. - heat off & stir in the orzo. After it cools, spoon into the peppers and rest in an oven-safe pan. - spoon 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce under the peppers & bake for 20-25 minutes, until the peppers soften

- on to the eggplant - while the peppers bake, get a large cast iron skillit & fill it with 2-3 cups of olive oil. Heat it up on medium/high. - set up a dredging station for your eggplant, 3 bowls: one for whisked eggs, one for flour & one for bread crumbs. - slice your mozzerella - pat your eggplant dry and start dredging. Eggs, flour, eggs, bread crumbs. Once you have 4-5 done, test your oil for temp. If you put in a breadcrumb it should sizzle. If it doesn't, increase the heat and test again. - we cooked 4 slices at a time and flipped after 3-4 mins. You want the golden brown crust. Rest each cooked slice on a paper towel lined tray. - once the eggplant are done, layer sauce, eggplant & Mozzerella in an oven-safe dish and bake for 20-25 mins. We then broiled it for 5 mins to get the browned top. Garnish with fresh basil & dig in!

It was a day full of cooking. I started in the AM with the eggplant & sauce, then did the rest in the afternoon. We used up a ton of vegetables, and just in time for us to head out on vacation. How have you been using up your summer harvest?

Homemade Kale Chips

We're swimming in kale again. Instead of making soup, or a side, I decided to take the leap and make some kale chips! Two blogger gal pals have had great success with kale chips. Annie Rie sprinkled in some white pepper and paprika. Sincerely Emily stuck with the basics - olive oil and salt. Both sound great, guess I should try both!

Ingredients: - 1 pound of kale, cleaned & torn into 3-4 inch pieces - olive oil - salt - 1 tsp homemade super spicy chili powder - 2 tsp pimenton

Method: - preheat your oven to 350 - in a large bowl, toss half of the kale wih olive oil and kosher/sea salt - in a second bowl, toss the other half of the kale with olive oil, salt & the chili powder & pimenton - using a baking sheet with a rack (or several of them), lay the kale in a single layer - bake for 10-12 minutes - getting them into a bowl or serving dish is the hardest part, because you won't be able to stop munching on them!

Use whatever type of kale is taking over your fridge or garden. This recipe works well with all varieties. I'm thinking it would be great with some soy, sesame & ginger too!

Are you swimming in kale or any other veg? I have a feeling that a tomato tsunami is right around the corner...

Mint Jelly

My mint is starting to take over the garden! Before I head off on my west coast adventure, I thought I should give the mint a trim. I'd love to use this all up in mojitos, but that's a lot of rum to drink. Mint jelly it is!

Instead of using ready made pectin, I made my own with 4 pounds of apples. The recipe for the pectin & mint jelly came from a fabulous canning book called Canning For a New Generation. Lianna Krissoff has a zillion fabulous recipes, and they work fairly effortlessly. If you're a canner, you must read this book. I changed only 2 things in the recipe, 1. Mint quantity: She called for 1 cup of chopped mint. I did 4 cups. I just had that much mint and took a leap of faith. 2. I did not use the seed-filled cores. The arsenic in the apple seeds freaks me out. I'm no expert on the science, but I excluded the cores and seeds and it turned out great.

Ingredients: - 4 pounds of apples, washed & sliced into eighths, cores into the composter - 4 cups of chopped mint (mine was a combo of different varieties), washed & stems into your composter - 2 1/4 cups of cane sugar - 3 tbsp of bottled lemon juice (bottled has consistent acidity) - 6 cups of water

Method: - using an apple slicer, cut the apples and discard the cores & seeds - add the apples, chopped mint & water into a large dutch oven. Bring to a boil & simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. - if you're planning on canning the jelly, start prepping your water bath & sterilized jars - after the apples begin to break up and seperate from their skins, carefully strain the apple-mint mixture into a heat safe bowl. Allow the strainer to rest over the bowl for 20-30 minutes. You need to get 3 cups of liquid out of this.

Method continued: - Rinse & dry the dutch oven - Put the strained liquid into the dutch oven, along with the lemon juice and a candy thermometer, then bring to a boil. - while the mixture heads to 220 Fahrenheit, prep your canning lids & cooling station - this can take up to a half an hour, so stick around, maybe organize a drawer or two. Then using a sterilized ladle & funnel, get the sticky jelly into the warm/dry glass jars. - wipe the jar rims with a warm damp (clean) cloth and get the lids on just finger tight. - process the jelly in the water bath for 5 minutes if you're using half pint jars. - remember to allow the jars to rest for 12 hours after processing. I usually check mine after an hour just to make sure they sealed. Love to hear the pop of a canning lid! - if you're not canning these, store the jelly in the fridge. It should last a few weeks to a month.

One of the main reasons I made the jelly, is my Father loves it. Though most of the mint jelly he consumes is Martian green and probably full of corn syrup. So this is a small way for me to get some homegrown & homemade treats on his table.

I do think this jelly could go beyond the dinner table. I have hopes of stirring some into a mid-winter Mojito or maybe some green tea. I have a feeling this will remind me of spring when the wind is blowing and my mint is dormant.