What's cookin'? - Zucchini Noodles with Roasted Grape Tomato Sauce!

These days I'm constantly scouring the Internet or the knowledge of friends for things to do with the over-abundant vegetables in the garden.

My husband loves having a garden and tending to it. We are fortunate that we have the space for a big garden.

 (Note the log cabin shed that my husband is now building in his spare time... The nut!)

We're always trying new things - foods we have never planted before, along with the tried-and-true crops: zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers. 

This year, new foods for us include red cabbage, beets and peas... I thought they were green peas. When I picked some and started shelling them, I did not find a green pea, but rather a black-eyed pea! I guess when we bought the starter plant, the the tag listed them as "cowpeas". Being the naïve planters that we are, we planted them, expecting green peas. Oh well! I cooked them anyway. That recipe I will share on another day!

Some things are still growing and not ready to harvest (like the cabbage). Others are way more prolific than I ever imagined (like the cucumbers!)

That's just the ONE day's picking from ONE cucumber plant in that picture - I'm not kidding! And to boot, my husband always plants about six grape tomato plants and four other tomato plants!

Yikes!

I've given lots away... Thank you Terri, Pat and Patty for taking some off of my hands!

So anyway, I'm sure my next series of food blogs will be about using the vegetables from my garden. Hopefully you will find some new uses for your garden vegetables as well!

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Grape tomatoes.... What to do with six plants that keep producing more ripe ones each and every day? My husband can only eat so many off the vine as he works outside (too much acid gives you heartburn!)

I came across this recipe and thought I would give it a whirl...

Grape tomato sauce (makes approx. 2 cups)

• Line a 9" x 13" pan with clean, stem-free grape tomatoes (about 5 cups)

• Before adding 5 fresh, whole garlic cloves to the pan, crush them slightly with the side of a knife.

• Drizzle with approximately 1T olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss gently to coat.

• Roast for 45 minutes in a 400° oven. Tomatoes will begin to "pop" and release their juices. Don't overcook you don't want a burnt taste to the sauce!

• Once removed from oven, allow to cool (about 20 minutes).

• Put contents of pan, plus about 8 fresh basil leaves in a food processor. Add salt and pepper to season.

• Process to desired consistency. (This solves your problem of having to peel tiny tomatoes - you don't!)

** I heated this on low heat about 45 minutes before we ate it, in order to thicken it up it. (Without heating, the original recipe states that you have 2-3 days to use the refrigerated sauce before it spoils.)

** The sauce was awesome, but I think it could use a sprinkling of sugar to reduce some of the acidic taste - I'll leave that up to you!

** I'm planning to make another batch, heat it through, allow it to cool, and then freeze it for future use.

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Of course you could just serve this marinara over any pasta.... But when you have "oodles" of zucchini you make noodles!

Zucchini noodles (or, "zoodles", as I have seen them called) are all the rage right now. I see them in TONS of low-carb recipes. 

Apparently, there is some kind of kitchen gadget that will help you to make zucchini noodles. I don't own one, so this is what I did instead - not as perfect as the gadget would produce but, overall same effect!

When I was ready to drain my boiling spaghetti, I simply poured the hot water over the zucchini noodles which were resting in the colander. That hot water bath was enough to cook the thin strips of zucchini.

Mix it in with your spaghetti or just have the zucchini noodles, topped your favorite way....

What's Cookin'? - Fresh Corn, Tomato, and Cheddar Pie

To those of you who read my blog posts faithfully: I apologize!

End of summer activities... mini vacation, school shopping, etc... has been keeping me busy. So busy that I didn't have the energy to even do a blog.

But I did take pictures along the way in future hopes of sharing with you!

I just can't keep this recipe to myself any longer, SO I'M BACK!

Fresh corn, tomato, and cheddar pie

I have now made this twice in the last week or so.  One time I made it for dinner and the other, because it was so good, I made it to bring to a Labor Day picnic.

My husband told me this ranks up in the top 10 of things I've cooked!

Guess he liked it!

This was a great way to use the fresh tomatoes that we had grown in our garden!

I think I had previously shared a recipe I dubbed "taste of summer pasta"...  Well, this trumps that on the "taste of summer"!

Seriously, if you are not growing corn in your garden, (we're not) just buy three ears of fresh corn on the cob at the grocery store, cook it and remove the kernels for this recipe. Don't use canned or frozen. You won't be sorry! (if you must use frozen and let it drain/thaw in a colander for an hour before assembling)

And those of you who have so many tomatoes you don't know what to do with - this is an answer!

The original recipe calls for a homemade crust. I'd given up on that years ago when I discovered that you can buy the store brand roll-out kind, and they taste just as good!

Here's the link to the original recipe:

http://www.clockworklemon.com/2011/09/corn-tomato-and-cheddar-pie.html

Just be sure to seed almost all of your tomatoes so as not to make the pie too watery! (My Beefsteak tomatoes are different from Roma tomatoes, as I couldn't just halve them and squeeze out the seeds - I had to slice them and push out the seeds with my finger!)

But this is an important step, so don't skip it! Don't want to end up with a watery pie or a mushy crust!

Before adding the top crust you add a "sauce", which is a mixture of mayonnaise and lemon juice. I know that sounds strange but it actually makes it quite tasty, just a little bit of tartness, balancing out the chives perfectly!

The best thing about this pie? (besides the flavor, that is) It is good right out of the oven, but even better at room temp! Perfect to bring to a picnic or make ahead!

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Fresh corn, tomato, and cheddar pie

• 4-5 tomatoes, sliced (3/4 of all seeded)

• 3 ears of corn cooked, kernels removed

• 1 1/2-2c shredded mild or sharp cheddar cheese

• one package of store-bought roll out pie crusts (you will use both crusts - one for top, one for bottom)

• Salt and pepper

• 2T fresh lemon juice (juice from one lemon)

• 1/3c mayonnaise 

• 3T fresh chives

• 2T butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350°.

Place bottom crust in pie plate. (I use a deep dish one for this)

Layer half of the tomato slices, half of the corn, half of the cheddar, salt and pepper, half of the chives.

(no cheese yet here on this picture- I just had to take a picture because it looked so pretty!)

Repeat with the remaining ingredients.

Whisk together lemon juice and mayonnaise. Pour evenly over top layer.

(notice in my picture that I put on the sauce before I added the cheese- I don't think that really matters!)

Top with second pie crust. Cut holes to vent.

Brush with melted butter.

Bake 25 to 35 minutes until crust is golden brown.

Try not to eat it all in one sitting!

You're welcome!