Kohlrabi, sweet and hot peppers, broccoli, kale, spinach, cucumbers, summer squash (including tatume, eight ball, light and dark green zucchini, light and dark yellow zucchini), radishes (red, white and striped), skinny green beans, wax beans, beets, turnips and assorted onions.
Oops. I just typed in my farmers market shopping list for the week.
All to be supplemented by the lettuces, herbs and tomatoes plucked from our garden. Oh, and a CSA (community supported agriculture) box later in the week.
This is the time of year vegetable lovers embrace. Now, the challenge is to enjoy everything while the produce remains in top-notch condition with peak nutrients. For me, that means cooking most of what I buy a day or so after my splurge. Then, containers of vegetable sides and mains are at the ready all week long _ or until the next market trip.
The first thing I love to assemble: Veggie toasts. No recipe required. Simply top hearty slabs of toasted whole grain bread with a smear of soft cheese, thick slices of tomato and a shower of chives. Or, smear the toast with a nut butter and quickly sauteed sweet onions and spinach.
Speaking of quick sautes, most summer vegetables take well to this fast, high-heat cooking. A few tips I've learned: Prep the vegetables first; use a heavy pan and heat it thoroughly; add flavorful oil and heat it; add veggies in an uncrowded layer to promote browning; turn off the heat a few seconds before the vegetables are done _ residual heat will finish the cooking. If working in advance, spread the cooked vegetables out on a sheet tray to cool before spooning into storage containers.
Sauteed vegetables make great additions to weeknight pastas, cooked brown rice and scrambled eggs. Spoon them over a hearty green salad with fresh cheese and a sprinkling of nuts.
All summer long, I've been enjoying a wide variety of radishes. Thinly sliced, heavily salted, they add great crunch to a piece of buttered baguette. Lightly sauteed tiny striped radishes make a crunchy side for grilled fish. Quartered and tossed with ribbons of carrots and a lemon Parmesan vinaigrette they make a great summer salad. When it's too warm for radishes to thrive in the garden, I turn to tiny turnips or crunchy kohlrabi as in the recipe below.
I love garden-fresh broccoli and usually blanch it to keep it bright green and crisp for weekday enjoyment. I detest the smell of burnt broccoli _ it reminds me of my early days learning to cook. However, a bowl of charred broccoli salad with cashews at Superiority Burger in New York changed my thinking. This summer, I enlist the help of my cast-iron skillet to sear broccoli pieces without burning. I'm adding an equally flavorful balsamic dressing (seasoned with capers, anchovies and fresh basil) to complement the dark char flavor. With a sprinkle of nuts, you have a great vegetarian main.
Curry and vegetables make the perfect match. For fast cooking, I puree a can of unsweetened coconut milk with some bottled Thai curry paste (red or green works) and keep the blend on hand. Then add a few splashes of the sauce to a panful of sauteed vegetables. Chilled, the mix keeps for several days. Reheat and serve warm over steaming hot brown rice or cooked udon noodles.
Summer veggies all week long. Enjoy them, then repeat.
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