Swiss Chard

Last spring and this fall, Cleg has grown swiss chard in his garden.  If you have never tried it, it is delicious.  Chop it and saute in olive oil with shallots.  Or try this yummy swiss chard tart.  I got this recipe from cookingchanneltv.com..... the show is French Food at Home hosted by Laura Calder.

Savoury Swiss Chard Tart

1 T. oil
2 shallots, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
4 ounces bacon, chopped
1 1/2 pounds Swiss chard, ribs removed
3 eggs
1 cup creme fraiche or heavy cream and sour cream combined
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated
Handful raisins
Handful toasted pine nuts (way too expensive right now!!)
1 deep tart shell, pre-baked in a 9-inch springform pan or a frozen deep dish pie dough, thawed

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Heat the oil in a saute pan & fry shallots until soft & translucent.  Add the garlic & saute for 1 minute.  Remove to a plate.  In the same pan, fry the bacon until crispy.  Remove to plate with shallots.  Divide the chard leaves from the ribs; chop the ribs quite small and shred the leaves. First, fry the ribs in the bacon fat until tender.  (Cook's Note:  You may want to cover the pan for a few minutes to speed up the process).  Add the chard leaves to the pan;  season with salt & pepper.
Beat eggs together with the creme fraiche and season with salt & pepper.

In a large bowl, toss the shallots, bacon, chard stems & leaves, cheese, raisins, and pine nuts, to combine evenly.  Taste, and season.  Fill the tart shell with the vegetable mixture, and pour in the creme mixture. Bake until tart is set, about 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool.  Serve at room temperature

Homeade Salsa

I never thought about how easy salsa is to make.  But with an abundance of tomatoes from the garden, I made some.  Of course, I had to look up "Pioneer Woman's" recipe.  She used canned tomatoes.   Other than that, I followed most of her recipe. Give it a try!

Combine all of the following in your food processor:

4-5 tomatoes, skins removed and chopped in large chunks
1/4 cup chopped onion (sweet or red)
1 clove garlic, minced (or more)
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno, quartered and sliced (leave seeds in if you want heat)
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup cilantro (more if you like)
1/2 lime, juiced

Pulse until you get the consistency you like.  Taste and adjust seasonings.
Refrigerate for at least an hour for flavors to blend.  Serve with tortilla chips.

Caprese Salad

Another simple tomato dish..... slices of tomatoes with mozzarella and basil and drizzled with balsamic vinegar

Tomato Season

I will be posting lots of yummy tomato recipes in the next few weeks.  Cleg has been growing Roma and "Better Boy" tomatoes in his garden.  But our favorite tomato dish is still  a "BLT" sandwich!  Are you drooling yet and wishing you had some of these beautiful tomatoes??

More Zucchini

Another good zucchini recipe from "Vegetarian Times."  I have been using a combination of yellow squash & zucchini.  A mandoline makes slicing the squash & onion a lot easier.  OXO makes a good one.

Greek Zucchini Salad with Crumbled Feta

3 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 tsp. grated lemon zest
1 clove garlic, minced (about 1 tsp.)
1/3 cup olive oil
2 medium zucchini, peeled into thin ribbons (about 4 cups)
1 medium sweet onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 green onions, chopped
1 T. chopped fresh mint
1 T. chopped fresh parsley

Whisk together lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic in a large serving bowl.  Gradually whisk in oil.  Season with salt & pepper.  Add zucchini and onion, and toss to coat.  Cover and marinate a few hours or overnight (and up to 2 days).  Sprinkle with feta, green onions, mint & parsley just before serving.
Serves 6

Zucchini salad before adding feta & herbs

Marinated Roasted Peppers

Abigail is always on the lookout for new vegetable recipes.  So, I got this from her... it is delicious!!

Marinated Roasted Peppers with Capers & Mozzarella
6 bell peppers (if you can get a mix of colors, go for it...I used red & yellow)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
2 T. capers, drained
2 T. flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 pound ball of mozzarella, sliced (use the really fresh stuff if you can)

Roast the peppers:  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line peppers on a large baking sheet & roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour, using tongs to rotate them 1/4 of the way, every 15 minutes.  It's safer to extend the cooking time than shorten it, as the skins will only come off easily if they are full cooked.
Or you can roast them on the grill; it takes a lot shorter time.  Rotate them constantly when grilling or they can explode!
Once they are fully roasted, cover the pepper tray with another piece of foil & let peppers cool.  When cool enough to handle, remove the skins.  Remove seeds and slice sections of pepper into 1/4 inch wide strips
Toss peppers with red wine vinegar, garlic, and a few pinches of salt.  Cover & let marinate for an hour or overnight (and up to 4 days) in the fridge.
To serve, arrange peppers on a plate.  Adjust seasonings, adding salt, pepper, or additional vinegar, to taste.  Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with capers & parsley & arrange mozzarella over salad.
Eat with some crusty bread and a glass of wine.

Too HOT !!

The weather has really been warm this summer.  Hope it cools down sometime.  Anyway, thought you would like to see a picture of last winter to cool down.

We took a boat ride yesterday around noon, and it was cool while riding.  Kerry took these great pictures of Gracie and George enjoying the ride.

Like Gracie's life jacket??