Last night's dinner was full of farm veggies. We had four ears of corn -- creamy white and very tasty. (Even the organic farm stand that I go to has the mixed yellow and white corn, which is good, but it's kind of fun to go back to an older variety.) I made a tiny salad with a little lettuce, a cucumber, a spicy red pepper, and goat cheese. And I made carrots and potatoes steamed with olive oil and butter, and I added a small chopped summer squash and some chopped fennel at the end. For dessert, I had a peach (not from the farm) and a banana (ditto) and some chocolate and crystallized ginger. Very tasty and even after a long swim, I'm still a little full.

peppery eggplant and more vegetable fun

Last night, I sauteed a big sweet onion, then added a diced hot pepper and cut up eggplant (the cute thin kind) and cubed potatoes, all organic. When things were fairly well acquainted, I glorped in part of a bottle of Trader Joe's black pepper sauce and a little water, covered, and simmered for perhaps 25 minutes. We served it over rice with a small side salad that used up nearly all the remaining vegetables from last week's farm trip.

It was very tasty and kind of spicy. I'm already thinking about a do-over for this dish. It could use some greens, perhaps frozen edamame thrown in toward the end. Alternatively, it would be really good, especially in the fall or winter, with chickpeas added in.

Today, we got more goodies from the farm. I'm thinking we'll use the four ears of fresh corn we got. Maybe I'll cook up some carrots in olive oil and a little butter. We have loads of cucumbers, so either a small salad or a tiny stir-fry (summer squash, anyone?). Hmmm. Maybe cucumbers, goat cheese, peppers, and a little lettuce?

We'll soon be away for a few nights, so we'll have to get creative when we return.

kitchen has reopened

The kitchen was closed for a few nights. Wednesday, I met a friend for dinner while Mr. P foraged for leftovers. Thursday, at the end of a long stressful work week for both of us, we threw in the tea towel and went out. Friday was our usual going out night.

But last night, we'd invited a friend over for dinner, so we cooked. This was the menu:
. Brown rice with wheat berries.
. Green bean thoren (with coconut and curry, fast becoming a staple chez Dinner Report, made with fresh-picked farm green beans)
. Summer squash curry. Mr. P found an intriguing recipe that involves slitting the squash without cutting through, stuffing it with a spice mixture -- we cheated and used fresh garlic and ginger instead of powdered -- then making a tarka (frying spices then cooling down with onions), adding a little water, and steaming the squash. The vegetables were mostly from the farm. We're already thinking about what else we could stuff and how to vary the recipe. We once made a variation on this recipe in an Indian cooking class, where the teacher had grown up in Kenya. It involved tiny blue potatoes stuffed with a spicy crumbled peanut mixture.
. A side salad of farm vegetables -- cucumber and tomatoes -- with some chopped feta and a sprinkling of herbs and salad dressing.
. Sides of Indian chutneys (not home made).
. For dessert, we had a chocolate pie whose other two main ingredients are tofu and graham cracker crust, along with a little flavoring. Mr. P used enough vanilla to make the kitchen quite fragrant.

Our guest had offered to bring something, perhaps summer squash, but settled for raspberry sorbet and vanilla yogurt with raspberry swirls, both of which accompanied the pie ably.

The rest of the pie has made its way to a board meeting today, along with a second companion pie. It was requested twice by the same person, so -- oh well -- we just had to make it.

Dinner was really good. We both worked on prep and Mr. P handled the final cooking. It all seemed to go over well with our guest, and we certainly enjoyed it (and our company)!


Today, I've shredded the remaining summer squash and am flash freezing it before saving it for a winter stir-fry or soup.

Tonight, I think we'll have a variation on last night's salad -- cucumber, tomato, feta, beets, capers, fresh herbs. And I'll get some corn on the cob to go along with it.

Not sure about tomorrow night or what the farm will produce for Tuesday. The kitchen will be closed for a few days this week, with the Dinner Report to resume at an unspecified date.

More farm stuff

Been eating lots of salads and a tremendous number of fresh cucumbers. This is not a burden.

Tonight we had summer squash pancakes -- pretty much like potato pancakes. We used four small yellow squashes and still have a fair number left to go. Mr. P liked it, despite his aversion to summer squash. Dinner was accompanied by a salad of cucumber, tomatos, chopped basil, parsley, and tomatillos.

Last night, we had a surprise dinner guest who brought fresh corn and dessert. He also brought a half-dozen or so yellow squashes (hence the inspiration for tonight's dinner). So we had corn, alio & olio (with an entire head of garlic, chopped and lightly browned) and a really good salad with goat cheese, some steamed potatoes, salad, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, avocado, lettuce, chopped squash, and probably a little more. For dessert, we had fairly good store-bought carrot cake.

Sunday, we came home late from a weekend away and had spanekopita, brown rice, and a light stir-fry-and-steam (onions, squash, chard, and I'm not sure what else) tossed in soy sauce, vinegar, and toasted sesame oil.

Thursday night, before we went away, Mr. P made salad and our usual pesto delight with garlic and chard. I came home latish and we had a play to catch. Mr. P did well and it's nice to have a familiar dish with someone else's touch on it.

I can't even remember what we had last Wednesday night but I do remember it was tasty. Tomorrow, the kitchen is closed while I dine out with a friend.

And today at the farm, we got MORE SQUASH!! (Is there an Indian curry dish we could make with it? Perhaps I could puree or shred it, then freeze it for inclusion in winter dishes? Yikes! Zucchini bread anyone?), MORE CUCUMBERS!! (mmm, more cucumber salads. ooh. Cucumber soup, perhaps?), a quart of cherry tomatoes and a few plum tomatoes, a handful of charming little beets, just a little lettuce, a quart of string beans. The basil is starting to come in and pretty soon we'll be making pesto again.