Summer Vegetable Recipes

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Summer Trio Recipes: Tomatoes, Corn and Eggplant

Original Recipes Courtesy: Rachel Rappaport, Coconut & Lime.com

Sunshine Salad

Ingredients:
2 cups boiled or grilled corn kernels (cooled)
1 1/2 cups chopped red cabbage
1 cup halved cherry or grape tomatoes*
1 cup chopped red onion
1 bunch scallions, diced (green and white parts)

Dressing:
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon Scotch Bonnet hot sauce**
juice of 2 limes

*I used a combination of heirloom Yellow Pear and (red) Juliet tomatoes from my own garden.
**I used Miss Hatties Yellow Hot Sauce.

Directions: In a small bowl, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients. Set aside. In a large bowl, toss together all of the salad ingredients. Drizzle with dressing then toss to coat. Refrigerate for 15 minutes before serving.

My thoughts: Forgive the slightly cheesy name but this is sunshine in salad form: crisp, light and hot. While I periodically enjoy a traditional leafy salad, I find salads like these to be a bit more fun to make and eat. The trick is to balance all of the flavors and textures: sweet tomatoes, crisp red onion and cabbage, spicy dressing. Picking vegetables of different colors results in a salad that is as visually arresting as it is tasty.

Heirloom Tomato and Spaghetti Strata

Ingredients:
8 eggs, beaten
4 strips of cooked, crisp bacon, crumbled
3 1/2 (loose, not packed) cups cooked spaghetti
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup basil, chopped
1/4 grated Parmesan cheese
pepper

Directions: Preheat oven to 425. Grease an 8x8 pan. In a small bowl, stir together eggs, pepper, basil, cheese, bacon, and tomatoes. Place the spaghetti in the pan, pour the egg mixture over the pasta. Bake for 30 minutes. Cut into slices and serve hot.
Yield: about 6 servings

My thoughts: This is a great way to use up any leftover spaghetti that you might have from when you were making, say grilled spaghetti and meatballs and you accidentally made the whole box of spaghetti. Who wants to make a fresh sauce for just a few ounces of already cooked spaghetti? Not me. Instead, I turned them into a tasty and filling breakfast that only takes 30 minutes minutes to make and is a pleasant change from a scramble or omelet. And it solved my "what to do with all those cherry (or in this case, Juliet and Yellow Pear) tomatoes my garden is overflowing with" problem. Another plus is that since this strata is made with pasta and not bread, it doesn't need to be made the day before.

Eggplant Marinara

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant, peeled and diced small
1 onion minced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot minced
36 oz canned peeled tomatoes (crushed by hand)
1/2 cup tomatoe puree
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp crushed hot red pepper
salt
pepper

Directions: In large sauce pan, heat the oil and then saute onion, garlic, crushed hot red pepper, and carrot for about 10-15 minutes or until soft and fragrant. Add eggplant and saute another 15-20 minutes until tender and darkly colored. Add salt and pepper to taste and stir. Add tomatoes and cook for about 30-40 minutes. Serve over hot pasta.

My thoughts: This was the best eggplant/tomato sauce I ever tasted! The eggplant was really tender and absorbed the yummy garlic and onion flavors. We served this with some chicken and a sprinkle of Parmesan, but it would be good all on its own.

Edamame Succotash (based on a recipe from A Cook’s Café)

1/4 lb. local smoked sliced bacon
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic covers, minced
Four ears of fresh corn, husked and de-silked
1 large fresh jalapeno chile, seeded and finely chopped
1 cup shelled edamame beans
1/2 lb. okra, but into 1/3”-thick slices
3/4 lb. cherry tomatoes (1 pt) halved
2 Tbs. cider vinegar, or to taste
1/4 cup chiffonade of fresh basil

Cook bacon in a large skillet over moderate heat until almost crisp.

Add onion to skillet and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened. Add garlic and cook, stirring, one minute. Stir in corn, jalapeno, edamame, okra and tomatoes and cook, stirring, until vegetables are tender, about 4 minutes. Stir in vinegar, basil and salt and peper to taste. Use vinegar sparingly. You can always add, you can never take away.

Crumble bacon over succotash before serving.