Sun Gold Tomato Panzanella with Mozzarella and Capers

Cherry tomatoes tossed with cubes of bread to soak up the luscious juices, seasoned with capers and marinated mozzarella. This salad is an excellent, fast, and easy addition to summer entertaining.

This tomato bread salad with mozzarella and capers makes a terrific meatless main dish in the summertime, as well as an excellent addition to a summer cookout or potluck.

It is easy to throw together at the last minute. Why? Here's a kitchen hack for you:

If you have unsliced bread--from your oven, your bread machine, or your local bakery--you know how hard it is to slice the last couple of inches? STOP DOING THAT. Cut it into cubes instead, and store those bread cubes in the freezer. 

Having bread cubes on hand comes in pretty handy. In the winter I make Panade, in the summer I make panzanella, and one of these days my son is going to make croutons on the grill. Or so he claims. Teenagers.

Besides the bread cubes in the freezer, this salad also uses cheese, capers, and vinaigrette that can all hang out for weeks in the fridge. This means it's an excellent last minute recipe--when I've got onion, basil, and of course the star of the show--cherry tomatoes.

When I get a pint of cherry tomatoes in the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share I usually snack on a few bunch on the way home, then my spouse snacks on them if he's around--and otherwise they need a job. The kids aren't snacking on them. Throwing together a salad like this takes care of a pint quickly, though you can always use chopped regular tomatoes if that's what you've got. 

Now the photo above is this week's pint from the farm share. The tomatoes in the salad were from last week's share, and were all Sun Gold tomatoes (like the lil' orange one in the photo above). I just didn't get an ingredients shot since I was throwing the salad together minutes while a cake was baking and we were fixing to go to a cookout. A very last-minute dish, but since the cake took longer than I expected I snapped some photos of the completed dish.

Tomato Sandwich with Bacon and Avocado Mayo on Naan: Eat a Summer Tomato Sandwich

Fresh summer tomato with crisp bacon in a warm piece of naan spread with avocado mayo. What are you waiting for? Eat a summer tomato sandwich!

This one is tomato, avocado slices, fresh mozzarella, basil and bacon on toasted sourdough.

I feel slightly silly sharing a recipe for a summer tomato sandwich here, but I have to remind myself that an article in the Washington Post got me to try my first one a couple of decades ago. If I can move on person to slap a few tomato slices between 2 pieces of mayonnaise-spread bread, sprinkle on some salt and pepper and take a bite, I'll have passed along the summer tomato sandwich karma and be happy.

Now, I grow tomatoes in the back yard as well as get them in the farm share. I'm a little nuts about tomatoes because I think homegrown just tastes better.

Yesterday I spent the day putting up tomatoes, and I'm about halfway through the volume that my girl harvested from our back yard. Those photos appear on my FB page, but here's a shot of what I aspire to each August--a pantry shelf stocked with various tomato preparations.

No, the shelf doesn't look like this now. Picture all the jars hanging out in the basement waiting to return to service.

With all the tomatoes lying around waiting to be processed, you'd think the last thing on my mind would be a humble tomato sandwich, but you'd be wrong.

On sliced ciabatta bread with who knows what type of green stuff and fresh mozzarella.

I do not have fresh tomatoes in my house after the tomato season ends [usually the first frost sometime in October, though I'll have some green tomatoes ripening into November]. That means for 7 months out of the year I'm serving my family tomato pesto, tomato soup from home-canned tomatoes, and spaghetti sauce. I will miss fresh tomatoes, I know, so I set a goal to enjoy a fresh tomato sandwich each week while the season lasts.

With my summer favorite beverage--DIY Iced Chai.

I usually toast my Multigrain Sourdough Bread for sandwiches, but at Costco last week I picked up some of these mini naan breads which I opened like a pita. They fit in the toaster to warm up without heating my kitchen. Spread with some avocado mayo and topped with tomato and bacon, this is a delightful summer sandwich.

If you haven't tried a tomato sandwich recently--try one. Not liking tomatoes through your teens doesn't count. If you've tried fresh tomatoes into your 40s and still don't care for them--fine. Go on about your business. If you like tomato sandwiches--set a goal to enjoy one each week during the season.

No one ever says on New Year's Eve 'I ate too many summer tomato sandwiches this year'.

How We Eat in the Summer

 How do food bloggers really eat in the summer? I polled a bunch yesterday and created a round up of favorite summer dishes to help you through the dog days of summer!

Originally I was going to write a post about how I eat in the summer. The plate above is a prime example--a bit of beet and goat cheese spread, some garlic scape pistachio pesto hummus, and a yellow squash version of zucchini pancakes. All are made ahead of time, and combined with some quick pickled vegetables, olives, cheese, meat and crackers.

Then I got to thinking--this will be a pretty boring post if it's just my favorite sampler plates [above is potluck tabbouleh, grilled green beans, hummus and mini naan bread with salami, feta, olives and the first sun gold cherry tomatoes from our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share]. Since my goal is to be a resource for folks eating from the farm share, the farmer's market and generous gardens, I figured I should offer a wider array of options. So I asked a few food blogger friends to share their favorite summer dish, and I've got them for you below. Such a colorful array of food! [links appear below the collage, left to right, top to bottom]

Spiralized Zucchini with Pesto Tomatoes and Corn by Laura of Mother Would Know

Tomato Salad with Thyme and Honey by Donna of Cookistry

Lemon Asparagus Pasta Salad with Cucumber and Feta by Jenn of Peas and Crayons

Kale Pesto by Gwinn of Swirls of Flavor

Grilled Zucchini Tacos with Mexican Street Corn Salsa by Taylor of Greens n Chocolate

Paleo Shrimp Scampi by Lindsay of The Lean Green Bean

White Acre Pea and Corn Salad by Robin of Simply Southern Baking

Korean BBQ Zoodle Stir Fry Bowl by Margaret of The Plant Strong Vegan

Grilled Green Vegetable Salad by Kelly of Tasting Page

Vegan Summer Pizza with Sweet Corn, Tomatoes and Basil by Karen of Kitchen Treaty

Low Carb Smoked Turkey 'Sandwiches' by Tracey of The Kitchen Is My Playground

Healthy No Bake Cheesecake Cups by Arman of The Big Man's World

Peach Caprese Salad by Joy of The Joyful Foodie

Fruit Salad with Tomato by Dorothy of Shockingly Delicious

Salmon and Heirloom Tomato Farro Bowl by Meredith of In Sock Monkey Slippers

Rainbow Sherbet by Rachel of Baked by Rachel

Vermont Meets New Jersey Ultimate Cobb Salad by Brianne of Cupcakes and Kale Chips

Egg Potato Green Bean Salad by Tara of Noshing with the Nolands

Time of the Tomato by Meghan of Clean Eats Fast Feets

Savory Sweet Summer Rolls by Kristina of SpaBettie

Creamy Corn Penne with Basil and Cherry Tomatoes by Izzy of She Likes Food

Creamy Sweet and Spicy Corn Salad by Christine of Cook the Story

Coconut Cream Fruit Dip by Amber of Dessert Now Dinner Later

Cherry, Grilled Corn and Quinoa Salad by Liz of Floating Kitchen

Grilled Stuffed Zucchini with Shrimp by Taylor of Food Faith Fitness

Thai Green Curry with Summer Vegetables by Laura of The Spiced Life

Broccoli Salad by Michele of Flavor Mosaic



I was delighted to notice that the majority of dishes are vegetable-centric. Eating food when it's picked at the point of ripeness and especially if it's been grown close by means that you're eating food  with as much flavor as possible. And that's always a Good Thing.

I have to admit, though, that your first corn on the cob after you get your braces off is one of THE BEST summer dishes. Ever! Just ask my girlie.

There ya have it--a round up of summer dishes that us food bloggers crave. What do you crave?

For even more recipe ideas, please check out my Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient. It's arranged from Acorn Squash Recipes to Zucchini Recipes and many types of fruits and vegetables in between.

Wondering where my Friday Night Pizza Night recipe is? Check out the Visual Pizza Recipe Index for inspiration since I'll be grilling up something good for my honey tonight.

Wanna know how to Use This Blog? Click here.

Spicy Korean-sauced Corn & Green Bean Skillet

Nearly a Korean Succotash, this skillet side dish of fresh corn and green beans is spiced up with a teriyaki and gochujang sauce.

Moving to Ohio I understood that I'd be living in a more rural area. Shoot, I drive past 3 farms just taking my daughter to sewing school [she made a medieval dress last week at camp--how cool is that?].

This fact reminds me of when I joined the Air Force to see the world. This suburbanite drove past 13 barns (!) en route to work each day. Quite a shift from the beltway and subway commutes I'd been used to, so I'd say I did see more of the world even before moving overseas and deploying.

What I hadn't expected in Ohio, and what was a happy surprise, was all the farm produce that appears every summer in addition to our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share. There's a wagon with a red striped awning that parks next to a Tim Horton's with produce each week. A flat trailer that appears with corn in a shady area of a strip mall lot. A 'peach truck' I just heard about from a fellow band parent (but haven't seen yet--saving that for next year). And of course our local farmer's market, a few blocks down the street on Saturday mornings. Thanks to these folks I am able to squirrel away plenty of corn for winter while still enjoying some ears fresh.

note to self--get a pedicure before next farm share box photo

For more recipes using corn, please see my Recipes Using Corn Collection. For more using green beans, please see my Green Bean Recipes Collection. These are part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the abundance of fresh produce in my community, and from generous neighbors. I'm on a Corn Sweet Corn Pinterest board with loads of ideas from around the web, follow that for more ideas or follow me in general for all of my pins. Want to know how to use this blog? Click here.

Blueberry Breakfast Cobbler with Grits

Blueberries, fresh or frozen, in a sweetened filling layered under a topping of grits?! Here's a breakfast or brunch treat that is sweet enough for a dessert and hearty enough to start your day. 

Make the most of what you've got is my near-daily kitchen mantra.  I was inspired to buy a canister of quick-cooking grits for a side dish, but my family didn't go for the finished product at all, and I was left with an open canister of perfectly good grits.

Aside to grits lovers:  I know grits are good--I like them! My folks now live in a place where breakfast is provided, and when grits are on the menu mom pops back up to their apartment and fetches a package of pepper jack cheese to make her grits cheesy. Apple . . . tree . . . I know!

My family members didn't spend years working across the street from the Museum of the White House of the Confederacy, however, and in addition to not loving grits these family members don't share in my love for collard greens either, so all the more for me.  Except I didn't want to eat most of a canister of grits all by myself, so I started searching for other ways to use them.  This recipe was inspired by combining this blueberry cobbler filling (that my daughter found on the internets) with this coffee cake topping (that I found on the internets). Since dessert teamwork works well in our household, my daughter prepared the filling while I prepared the topping.

The topping ended up kind of heavy for a dessert--if you're looking for a light pillowy dumpling to absorb your blueberry goodness, try the Brown Eyed Baker where we found the filling inspiration.  This was a sturdier, chewier, heartier topping, which is why I let my daughter eat a bowl for breakfast the next morning.  I know there's a ton of sugar in it, and it will never become a staple breakfast or even dessert in my home, but the combination of grits and blueberries really is tasty, so it's worth having as an option for a brunch.

For other recipes using blueberries, please see my Blueberry Recipes Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient. For other dessert ideas, there's a drop down menu on the right sidebar with ideas. For more ideas using fruit, I've got a Fruit Board on Pinterest, and I share some creations on my FB page. Want to know how to Use this Blog? Click here!

What is Tomato Pesto? Why Put it on a Pizza?

A vegetarian's delight: pizza with marinated artichoke hearts, kalamata olives and pickled banana peppers on fresh tomato pesto, topped with salty feta crumbles and creamy burrata cheese, finished with fresh summer savory.

Have you made Fresh Tomato Pesto yet? It's one of my most popular posts every summer, and with good reason. This flexible dairy free recipe uses ANY type of tomato (I've tried cherry to Roma), assorted nuts--or sunflower seeds--and whatever herbs you've got handy. I prefer a combo of flat Italian parsley and basil, but I'll be experimenting with cilantro this year.

This is after thawing!

Eat it fresh, and if you've got a bunch of ripe tomatoes--put some up for later by freezing! I like these reusable storage caps for freezing (Amazon affiliate link) and freeze my pesto in half pint size jars. I use a piece of clear tape to write down the contents so I don't get mixed up--for example between arugula pesto and  garlic scape pesto. The lids wash up fine and only break when you swing the freezer door open too quickly and everything falls out and rolls on the floor to the delight of Robert Barker. [I'm sure that only happens to me, though].

I like to dip a variety of veggies and crackers into my fresh tomato pesto, but I really like to use it on pizza. I thaw a jar a day or so in advance, in the fridge, and drain off any water that rises to the top [For use as a pasta sauce I just stir it in.] Then I've got a flavorful sauce that adds a homemade touch to pizza.

Go make Fresh Tomato Pesto. My tutorial is here. For other recipes using tomatoes, please see my Red & Yellow Tomato Recipes Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient. For other Awesome Veggie Apps and Snacks, please see my Pinterest board. For more vegetarian pizzas, please check out my Visual Pizza Recipe Index and my Friday Night Pizza Night Pinterest board. Wanna know how to Use This Blog? Click here!

How to Make My Family's Favorite CSA Vegetable Spaghetti Sauce

Practical advice for how to save ripe summer farm share vegetables--by roasting--for use in a kid-friendly spaghetti sauce all year long.

The purpose and timing of this post reflects my mission for this blog: to provide practical support for local eating. We chose to get a large Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share not because I'm a masochist and like to torture myself with overwhelming quantities of vegetables for the kids and I to eat while my spouse is deployed because it's a good value and I know if I put up the produce properly, I'll be feeding my family from the farm share all year long. With a couple of tried-and-true techniques, including #4 from this post, and a substantial Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient filled with ideas for what's in the box, my goal is to help you feed your people from your farm share as well.

Let's talk fantasy versus reality, especially as it pertains to spaghetti sauce. In a fantasy world, I'd start with ingredients like this and spend a leisurely day chopping and simmering in my spotless kitchen [this is my fantasy, after all]. Tomatoes would always be ripening in m weed-free back yard [no need to watch where you step either], basil would be fresh for the plucking, and I'd have an interesting assortment of eggplant, peppers, fennel and squash to make flavorful sauce. [Oh, and plenty of freezer space while we're talking fantasies].

In reality, this is what the start of my spaghetti sauce often looks like. It's a bit beetier, no? I grab a bag of vegetables and a piece of Parm rind out of the freezer, a jar of tomatoes out of the pantry, and 30 minutes later I've got sauce. Homemade sauce in a half an hour is possible only because I did some prep work in the late summer, as in right about this time of year. Typically I roast my vegetable surplus and freeze it in bags as shown, but this year I'll be throwing the farm share on the grill.
When I have more propane.

Funny, how propane is a necessary ingredient when you have a gas grill. Sunday night I came back from sled hockey camp [my son plays, I'm a hockey mom] planning to Grill All The Things in the crispers. I'd forgotten I was almost out of propane when I made pizza last. I turned on the oven instead. Using my previous little grill, a tank lasted almost 2 years. Now it lasts about 4 months. Just like you need lids and jars when you're ready to get canning, or a fresh roll of bags when you're freezing produce (Amazon affiliate link), you need propane to grill. If you have a gas grill, that is. Lesson learned.

Deep Dish Sausage, Eggplant and Artichoke Pizza (Alternative Recipe Ideas for Eggplant)

Deep dish pizza with eggplant, artichoke and pepperoni tucked under a blanket of sausage.

Eggplant is a wonderful way to illustrate how life is different when you're eating from the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share.

The other week I was chatting with my hair gal about farm shares and explaining what sort of produce we were getting during midsummer. I mentioned eggplant. She replied that she loved eggplant parmesan and it got me thinking. [Get ready for the rant]

If the only way you know to eat eggplant is Eggplant Parmesan, what do you do when you have a farm share and get 3 eggplants per week for 4 out of 5 weeks in a row? I suppose you could make a weekly pan of eggplant parmigiana. I hear it freezes fine. Or you could share it with friends who need a bit of love through food. Or me!

If you're looking for alternatives, though, think about grilling slices of eggplant, baking eggplant chips, or roasting cubes. Amazing flavors and endless possibilities. Please check out my Eggplant Recipes Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient. I will be updating it like I've done with beets and kohlrabi, including recipes from other food bloggers to generate a useful resource for folks like me eating from the farm share. Folks who may not feel like eating a pan of eggplant parm once a week in July and August. /rant, on to the pizza!

Fruity Green Gazpacho

Sweet peppers, mild vegetables, grapes and mint make a refreshing chilled soup with a bit of an edge.

Do you ask for recipes when you taste something yummy--and homemade? I sure do. Even a vague "well, I used a bit of this, a smidgen of that, and a handful of the other thing" is enough of a jumping off point for me. When I've got the right blend of vegetables from our community supported agriculture (CSA) farm share, it's time to grab the appropriate fruits and give it a whirl. Literally.

Last September at a Cool Soups for a Hot Cause fundraiser I had a refreshing green gazpacho. It was sweet, but had a bit of edginess to let me know it wasn't entirely a fruit soup. [I've got my family's Scandinavian Fruit Soup on the blog if you want an entirely fruit soup.] After my second helping--which came after tasting ALL THE SOUPS on offer--I asked how it was made. The generous cook behind the tureen told me it had white grape juice and mint, and that she'd used the recipe from The Silver Palate Cookbook(Amazon Affiliate link). I made a mental note to find it, but after googling a bunch I never found that recipe.

Instead, I found this recipe for a green gazpacho without white grape juice. That looks good, but not the sweet-with-a-bite soup I'd enjoyed. I kept on searching. This recipe has the grape juice, but also jalapeño and the soup I liked was not spicy. Alanna shares her recipe--a more precise version with honeydew and grapes--here.

In the end I cobbled together a few ingredients in the blender and hoped for the best. The result was cool and creamy, sweet and just a little bit edgy, and we enjoyed drinking it. I cannot find my paper with precise measurements yet I'm going to war with the troops I have so I'm deliberately vague in the recipe below. This is clearly one of those 'taste as you go' situations.

Cherry Peach Salsa

Fresh cherries and peaches with fresh lime juice. Banana peppers make this a mild, kid friendly salsa that is great with chips.

My neighbor called me the other day to let me know she was 30 minutes out with half a cow [and did I want any?]. The kids and I sprang into action, defrosting the meat freezer and making room. Since I was on a roll with defrosting freezers, I continued the following day by defrosting my fruit and vegetable freezer aka microwave stand. I'm happy to report that all freezers are humming along happily.

One way to enjoy local food year round, when you don't live in a place like California or Hawaii where things grow year round, is by freezing plenty when it is ripe. Each summer I put up berries, stone fruits, corn, beans, tomatoes and peppers to enjoy in the winter. In my rush to get enough fruit squirreled away I rarely stop to enjoy fresh fruit. This salsa is one exception.

Fresh cherries and peaches, combined with the bite of banana peppers, makes a mild and fruity salsa. We enjoyed this with blue corn chips for the full Eat The Rainbow extravaganza. It dressed up the leftovers of our anniversary Mexican take out. I added kernels from an ear of cold cooked corn to the remainder for a fruit-veg salsa combo--also good.

For other recipes using cherries, please see my Cherry Recipes Collection. For other recipes using peaches, please see my Peach Recipes Collection. For other recipes using banana peppers, please see my Pepper Recipes Collection. These collections are part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a useful way for folks like me eating seasonal abundance from the farm share, the farmer's market, or the generous gardener next door. I've got a Fruit board on Pinterest, but I'm also going to pin this to my Awesome Veggie Apps and Snacks board because I think it fits.

Pink Pickled Banana Peppers for Sandwiches

This is a fun little sandwich topping to whip up if you've got a beet and a handful of banana peppers.

If you are a gardener, hope is your best ally. And soil amendments. Hope and good dirt.

Between the vagaries of weather and varmints, you really need to be made of strong stuff--and have a lot of hope--to want to plant year after year. The first year? Optimism is available in spades. After that? It takes some doing.

After asking for 'all the vegetables' on my order at sub shops, I realized I love the zing of pickled banana peppers on my sandwiches. Since I got over my fear of making pickles I realized how damn easy it is to put up a jar or two. Produce + vinegar + water + garlic + time = pickles. I figured I could grow a few banana pepper plants and put up my own pickles.

The first year I planted one plant and harvested maybe 6-8 peppers over the course of 6 weeks. You can see how I used one here in my Layered Summer Vegetable Appetizer.

The second year I planted two plants. One fell into the swamp a varmint knocked one tiny plant over soon after planting [part of the reason I don't start my own seeds--I have less emotional investment in a plant if it fails soon after planting]. The survivor managed to produce probably a dozen or so peppers over the course of the summer. Once I even had enough ripe simultaneously, when combined with a pint of peppers from the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share, to put up a pint of pickled peppers. Woot.

This year, I planted 3 plants.  My hope has paid off. In spades. 

On a whim right before vacation, or rather born from the desperation of needing to empty the garden and fridge before a long trip where we ate locally while on the road, I whipped up a batch of quick refrigerator pickles using a leftover kohlrabi and a bunch of banana peppers that wouldn't last in the garden for 2 weeks. I had one beet left from the farm share and decided to peel and slice it and add to the jars. The result is so fun! Pink pickled peppers. I can see these diced on top of a deviled egg or egg salad, in grilled cheese, on pizza, or in sandwiches. Plenty of sandwiches--how pretty is that?