like a year without summer

Summertime meals beckon to be eaten outside and I find myself preferring portable dinners in weather that just can't be wasted at the dinner table. While pasta is nothing extraordinary and not quite fit for a beach picnic, it is portable insofar as my back porch is concerned. This was the perfect meal for a July evening. Linguine with tomato sauce (the simplest I've made in a long time and perhaps one of the best--canned tomatoes and paste with sauteed onion and garlic, salt and pepper, a dash of brown sugar, and garden fresh herbs--rosemary, thyme, oregano and basil) and mixed greens with balsamic vinaigrette. The key here to a perfect dinner, if one so desires and against what MFK Fisher advises, is a quiet back porch, two or three chairs (two at least for you and a loved one to settle into, an optional third as a table or cat perch) and a good glass of wine to sip after you've cleaned your plate. Preferably, wine will be taken with a green view of your garden, though a patch of grass or a blooming window box will do as well. No TV blaring, no lawnmowers growling, and no talk of work. Just food and wine and air.

salad, salud

Produce from our Full Circle Farm CSA box: baby bunch carrots, celery, broccoli, green beans, sunburst squash, roma tomatoes, purple onions, cauliflower, red beets, romaine lettuce, garnet yams, limes, and cherries.

It's my mum's birthday today (first as a vegan!) and, though there are no cupcakes to show for it, here's a brightly colored salad. That's festive, right? If you squint your eyes it sort of looks like confetti. Confetti with beans... Happy birthday, Mom.

Fresh Corn Pico de Gallo
(dressed up here as a salad
with pinto beans, lettuce, and avocado)

I could eat this every damn day. It's certainly a summer dish, one that should be thrown together when you can find corn on the cob in season (or in your garden!) You can mix black or pinto beans into it for a little added protein.

Fresh Corn Pico de Gallo
makes 6-8 cups

2 ears yellow corn on the cob, husked
4 tomatoes, diced
1 sweet onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 bell pepper (orange, red, or green: you pick!)
2 cups finely shredded green cabbage
4 oz. pickled jalepenos, diced (reserve juice)
juice of 2 limes
salt and freshly ground pepper
large bunch cilantro, chopped

Bring salted water to a rolling boil. Cook corn for 8 min; remove and let cool until easily handled. Using a sharp knife, shave kernels from cob. Add fresh corn to large bowl with remaining ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste (though I recommend heavy on the pepper.) Let chill 4 hours or overnight. Tastes best next day. Serve with tortilla chips.

you would find them smiling

Summer months are not so conducive to bloggery. More so, the hot months are best used out of doors, in parks or on porches, drinking iced beverages and eating picnics. And growing green things. None of which call for a computer, as evidenced by my lack of posts. Further evidence:

Exhibit A: Nasturtiums.

Edible petals that I have, thus far, preferred to look upon in their red and green backyard patch. Rather than eat them, that is.

Exhibit B: Strawberries.

Less sweet than their supermarket brethren, the flavor in these small berries is richer and redder off the vine than out of plastic.

Exhibit C: Picnic Food.

Tempeh Bacon Pocket Sandwiches
with Romaine Lettuce, Tomato, & Avocado
Spring Potato Salad

(pictured on the table, but taken
with some evening sun on the porch.)

Spring Potato Salad

8 medium red potatoes, cooked and cubed
1 bunch radishes, roughly chopped or quartered
2 stalks celery, trimmed and chopped
2 dill pickles, chopped
12 oz. firm tofu, crumbled
3/4 cup tofu mayo (Vegenaise!)
3 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon dried dill
1/2 teaspoon paprika
small handful fresh parsley, chopped
salt & pepper

Mix the Vegenaise, mustard, celery seed, dill, paprika, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix in the tofu and then toss with the remaining ingredients. Chill a few hours or overnight.