As summer winds down, we see there are just two weekends left before it’s officially fall!
Summer isn’t over yet. Now is the perfect time to experiment with veggie recipes, as vegetables are in abundance.
Farmer’s Market. Image source: Pixabay
Try something new, like ground cherries! Ground cherries are little teeny tomatoes in a papery shell and have a sweet taste, sweeter than tomatoes, almost like a fruit. They are excellent baked like a cherry pie, but use them in a salsa and get two meals out of it!
Ground Cherry Salsa
- 1 lime
- 1 green pepper
- 2 slim red frying peppers
- 1 avocado
- 1 pint ground cherries, with paper shells removed
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 ear of corn with kernels removed
- 2 cups black beans (soaked, rinsed and ready)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Chop all ingredients coarsely and add to a glass mixing bowl. Juice the lime and stir in sea salt.
Add to a baked potato or eat on your own!
Toasted quesadilla. Image source: flickr
Save half the salsa for another meal: CSA Quesadillas!
Add cooked chicken or shrimp to the salsa. Lightly fry a tortilla in a skillet and add enough salsa to cover.
Sprinkle a Mexican-blend cheese on top, and after the cheese is partially melted, add another tortilla on top.
Carefully flip over so the other side can get done. Remove after 2 or 3 minutes when all is golden brown and toasty! Enjoy with a cold iced tea or a frosty beer.
Don’t let that eggplant go to waste! Make some wonderful Eggplant Parm and your family will thank you!
- Mozzarella shreds
- 1 fresh eggplant
- 2 cups Italian bread crumbs
- Tomato sauce (fresh or jarred — fresh recipe here.)
- Basil and oregano
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Rinse and slice an eggplant into rounds.
- Soak the eggplant in skim milk for 1 minute, then dip into bread crumbs.
- Line up coated rounds on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 35 minutes.
- Bring out and top with mozzarella cheese.
- Plate two slices of eggplant rounds onto a puddle of tomato sauce and sprinkle herbs on top.
You can serve with a side of spaghetti as well.
Eggplant parm. Image source: flickr
The next day, make a delicious eggplant parm sandwich with more cheese, between some multigrain bread. Even better — because eggplants are about $1 at the farmer’s market, you can get at least two meals of one eggplant!
Veggies Galore
- Slice peppers, tomatoes, arugula, carrots and avocado, and pile onto a roll with whole-grain mustard!
- Sauté eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, kale and chard in a hot skillet with garlic and onions!
- Dip veggies into hummus with pink Himalayan salt!
The possibilities of cooking with veggies are endless! Try any of these or create your own. What’s your favorite end-of-summer vegetable?