Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Foraging for Lunch

I have really been getting a kick out of going out into the garden to check the zucchini patch. Seriously. I'm pretty earthy for the most part, but prissy when it comes to picking my own vegetables. Those zucchini plants are prickly! But it turns out that Ken--who is not prissy at all--gets a real allergic response to the zucchini plants (in the form of a burning rash), so a couple weeks ago I braved the garden myself to go in search of lunch. And it turned out to be so much fun! Our garden is wild and overgrown and close together; no neat little rows here, so going in search of vegetables--honestly?--it feels like a little adventure. I know--I'm easily amused (but I like it that way). Going out to the garden reminds me of my childhood days when I loved to be outside and explore around the yard and read books in hammocks. And when I came back with all this food, I felt like some kind of superwoman.
So here is what I've been making for lunch frequently this summer. Chop up your zucchini and start it in a hot skillet with some olive oil. It's best to use onion too, but I didn't have any on this day. Cook it for awhile,
then add the tomatoes. These are fresh picked, but you can use canned tomatoes too, with their juice--I often do. Cover the skillet and let it cook down for awhile. Sort of like a ratatoullie in texture. That's it. (Oh, don't forget to salt to taste). It kind of forms a broth--which the baby ate quite a bit of the other day when Ken was feeding it to him. Oh, and the baby surprises me by going to the tomato patch and eating these small tomatoes fresh off the vine. Little cutie.
Lunch.
Another recipe we had recently was this Squash Rice Casserole. It's yummy--I love this sort of thing--very old fashioned and casserole-y.

8 comments:

Mozi Esme said...

Yummy again! I LOVE summer squash! Now if only I could get our garden to grow something besides prickly Chinese cabbage and overgrown baby carrots.

Meg said...

I may have to try growing squash next year--our peppers aren't doing so well, so we'll probably plant something new.

I love going to pick strawberries--I love getting down on the ground and pushing aside all those leaves on top to find the bright red treasures hiding underneath. I get such a kick out of it!

Everything looks yummy!

ames said...

What a beautiful bounty! So tasty looking. I'll definitely have to try that casserole too, I do love me some casserole!

melissa s. said...

sounds and looks delicious!

Julie said...

Picking zucchini out of our garden is an adventure too... the casserole recipe looks so good!

Carrie said...

I'm so starving for homegrown, California veggies. What an amazing treat. I love that the garden is a little wild!

Mary Elizabeth said...

Yum! I think I can smell those fresh veggies all the way on the East Coast

Rachael said...

Looks delicious. Speaking of 'delicious' - its an australian food magazine and I think you would love it. http://www.deliciousmagazine.com.au/
To search for recipes from the magazine and lots of other Australian publications, go to http://www.taste.com.au/

May be fun to have a look at!