One Last Slice of Summer

There was a definite bite to the air when I walked to the subway this morning. The trees are starting to change colors, trading their green hued leaves for their pretty, multi-colored autumn outfits. While I am looking forward to welcoming fall, my favorite season, with wide open arms, I want to get one last summer recipe in under the wire, before these delicious vegetables go into hibernation for a few months. This easy dish was featured in the Washington Post earlier this year - delicious as a side-dish for some simple grilled chicken or fish and perfectly filling as a meatless meal on its own, it is chock-full of veggies you won't see for a while...the perfect recipe to say "until next year" to summer produce!

End of Summer Vegetable Pie
Adapted from The Washington Post

1 small eggplant, cut crosswise into 1/4 inch slices
1 small pattypan squash, cut crosswise into 1/4 inch slices
1 small sweet onion, cut crosswise into 1/4 inch slices
1 medium tomato, cut crosswise into 1/4 inch slices
8 large basil leaves, cut into chiffonade
4 T. Parmesan cheese
2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch pie plate with nonstick cooking spray oil.
Create a single layer of eggplant slices in the bottom of the dish- the slices should overlap only at the edges. (They will not cover the bottom completely). Sprinkle 1/3 of the cut basil leaves over the slices, then 1 tablespoon of the cheese; season with salt and pepper. Drizzle a teaspoon or two of oil over the layer. Repeat with the squash, then the onion and tomato slices.

Sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of cheese over the top, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste, and then scatter the breadcrumbs evenly over the cheese. Drizzle about 2 teaspoons of the oil over the top, then cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Discard the foil; increase the temperature to 375 degrees and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the excess moisture in the bottom of the dish has gone and the top of the gratin begins to brown, 15 to 20 minutes.

Let sit about 15 minutes before serving. Use a thin, sharp knife to cut the pie into 4 equal portions, then use a spatula to transfer to serving plates.

Farmer's Market Friday: Cherry Tomatoes

Still looking for inventive ways to use the season's bumper crop of tomatoes? After reading the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, which chronicles a Virginia family's quest to eat only seasonal, locally available foods for one calendar year, I have been inspired to preserve some of summer's vegetable bounty for the lean winter months. I'm not big on "traditional" canning because I have a small apartment kitchen that is ill-equipped for this type of undertaking and generally only need to feed one, but other methods of food preservation are appealing to me. One of the best ways I have found to capture some of the vegetable overflow is to slow roast tomatoes, an incredibly simple process. Once roasted, the tomatoes can be kept in a jar in the fridge, covered in a thin layer of olive oil, for several months. I plan on using them in place of store-bought sun dried tomatoes to pump up salads and as an addition to pizza or pasta. I can also vouch that they are pretty darn delicious right out of the oven. After smelling these tasty treats roasting for two hours, I bet you'll have a hard time saving them all for January too...

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

Preheat over to 300 degrees. Slice cherry tomatoes in half and place, cut side up, on a rimmed cookie sheet covered in aluminum foil. Drizzle with olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Toss to coat. Roast the tomatoes for until their skin becomes dark and wrinkly, about two hours. Serve immediately on their own, or save for future use in any recipe calling for sun dried tomatoes.

(Additional tomato goodness here and here.)

Farmer's Market Friday: Tomatoes

Farmer's Market tomatoes are kind of like the thunderstorms of late summer. Towards the end of July, you start seeing a few of them trickle onto the tables of your market purveyors. A week later, the tomatoes get a little bigger and redder, the piles of vegetables a little larger. Then, instantly, a thunderclap of tomatoes rains down on the market. Come late August and early September, everyone is practically drowning in tomatoes.

Which isn't such a bad thing, considering the tomatoes you can buy this time of year are infinatently better than their winter counterparts - juicy and lush and bursting with fresh flavor. But, like a refreshing summer thunderstorm, the tomato season comes on quickly - and is gone before you know it. So enjoy these beauties while you can!

The recipe below is an easy way to use up some of the larger tomatoes you may have sitting around the house.

Greek Stuffed Tomatoes

4 large tomatoes
2 T. scallions, finely chopped
2 T. fresh parsley, finely chopped
4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 c. breadcrumbs
2 T. olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut off the very top of the tomatoes. Using a spoon or ice cream scoop, carefully scoop out pulp and seeds. Discard seeds. Coarsely chop pulp and place in a small bowl. Add scallions, parsley, feta, bread crumbs, and olive oil; stirring to combine. Spoon mixture into the hollowed out tomatoes. Place tomatoes right side up in a 8x8 baking dish and bake for 15 minutes. Serve steaming hot.

Farmer's Market Friday: Strawberries

June is the season for strawberries. Farmer's Markets will be overflowing with baskets and baskets of the delicious red berries this weekend.

The options abound - you can make strawberry shortcake, strawberry jam, or just pop them in your mouth whole. Strawberries are also a fruit that lend themselves well to being used in savory combinations, like this salad recipe that is a staple at my summer table.

Strawberry and Spinach Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

12 oz. baby spinach

1 1/4 c. chopped strawberries

1/4 c. sliced toasted almonds

1/3 c. feta cheese

Place sliced almonds in a ungreased skillet over medium heat. Stir often until golden brown, watching closely so the almonds don't burn. (You can definitely skip this step - the salad tastes just fine with "untoasted" almonds, but the toasting adds an extra layer of flavor!)

Combine all ingredients in a medium sized bowl and top with Poppy Seed Dressing, tossing well to coat.

Poppy Seed Dressing

3 T. sugar

2 T. milk

1 T. white wine vinegar

3 T. lite mayonnaise

1 T. poppy seeds

Combine ingredients in a small bowl, stir with wire whisk until combined. (Tip: I usually make my dressings in a large measuring cup with a pour spout, so I can pour the dressing directly onto the salad with as little mess as possible!)

What are your favorite recipes featuring strawberries?