I’m coming at you late today because I spent most of today in the kitchen. On our last visit to Old Sturbridge Village, one of the Interpreters was explaining the hash they were making for breakfast that day. “We take the leftovers from last night’s dinner and turn it into a new meal for breakfast.” When I told her I often do the same thing, she told me I “would fit right in to the early 19th century.” I chuckled to myself as I thought, “She has no idea …”
While I appreciate my modern kitchen appliances and have no desire to live in the 1800s, I do admire much about how they thought about food. There is something beautiful about eating seasonally, not letting much go to waste, and preserving what you can for for later seasons. I often think of meal planning as an exercise in stewardship: How can I use all of this food in the most efficient manner, while wasting as little as possible?
There’s a huge set of wall shelves in my basement that existed before we bought our house. The fall we moved in, I immediately unpacked all my canned goods and arranged them on the shelves. They are as much a work of art as they are nourishment for our bodies. Every winter we go down the stairs to find a freezer and a shelf full of food, and I’m incredibly grateful for the time I put in during the summer.
If we embrace it, winter can offer us a time of rest and relaxation. A time for indoor chores like sewing & crocheting; reading & writing. Cooking from summer’s bounty has become a winter treat. A way to pamper ourselves through a season that often feels dreary and gray. So, how do I do it?
I mostly freeze things. It’s the easiest and quickest way to preserve summer produce for use later in the year. If preserving at peak harvest is something you are interested in, I highly recommend investing in a chest freezer. We have a huge chest freezer that allows me to freeze as much as possible. To freeze vegetables, blanch them and immediately put them in ice water to stop the cooking. Once cool, lay on a towel to drip dry before putting in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Freeze it for a few hours, then transfer to baggies before putting back in your freezer for winter. To freeze fruit, wash, dry, chop, and freeze. Easy peasy! This is a great guide to freezing produce.
If you want to venture into canning, a waterbath canner is a great place to start. While you can’t can everything with a water bath, jams, pickles, and salsa are a great place to start. I have a variety of books (here are my faves) to help guide me through canning each summer, but I often send a text to my mom or one of my aunts. They have been canning far longer than me, and have pretty much taught me everything I need to know.
This week we turn to the start of late summer produce—eggplant, peppers, squash, and tomatoes. It is my favorite time of the year to eat. There are so many things you can do with this late summer bounty. Here are a few of my favorite ideas for the week up ahead.
Summer Week 5: What’s in Season
carrots (with greens), zucchini, yellow squash, lettuce, salad cucumbers, cauliflower, corn, cabbage, blueberries, beets, green beans, green bell peppers, eggplant, cherry tomatoes, rainbow chard
Meal Ideas for the Week
Breakfasts
Weekends are great for pancakes, so why not try these Sweet Corn Pancakes tomorrow morning? We made her charred corn crepes last weekend and they were delish!
This morning I turned this Zucchini Bread recipe into muffins. We ate some this morning and I froze some for later. I still have zucchini in my fridge that needs to be used soon, so I think I’ll make another double batch of these for when I need a grab-n-go breakfast.
Lunches
This Zucchini Grilled Cheese is one of my favorite summer lunches. With sliced cucumber on the side, it makes a luxurious treat.
Today we grilled a steak and put it on top of a bed of lettuce, with tomatoes, cucumbers, roasted beets, and blue cheese. It was amazing and I think I could eat it every day for the next week.
Speaking of roasted beets, this easy recipe has become my new favorite way to eat beets. Beets freeze beautifully too; simply roast them, peel them, let them cool, and then freeze. You can pull them out to eat all winter long.
Use leftover grilled veggies from Grilled Dinner Night and leftover pasta from Meatball night to create the most amazing lunch you’ve ever had. I did this last week with grilled zucchini, onions, and garlic scapes and it was simply fantastic.
Dinners
Just as I was packing a picnic for the beach last night, thunderstorms rolled in and our plans were canceled. I used it as an excuse to make this Easy Corn Chowder. It was delicious, my kids begged for seconds, and ate it for lunch today.
Tonight we’re grilling all our vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, green beans, squash, corn) slightly seasoned with olive oil and salt and pepper. We’re also making this Grilled Flatbread. The smell of the grill and the taste of the veggies and the grilled bread just scream summer.
Growing up, I never ate eggplant, but now it’s one of my favorite summer veggies. When I brought home the first eggplant of the season yesterday, my children cheered. This week we’re making Sauteed Eggplant with Honey. I’ll serve it with buttered green beans and a side salad.
We’ll also make these Eggplant Burgers with Zucchini Fries. I make about 100 of these over the course of the summer and stock my freezer with them. In the winter, my kids eat these the way most kids eat frozen chicken nuggets. Sometimes we serve them with buns and fries, but often we eat them as patties with lots of raw veggies on the side.
I love hiding greens in meatballs and this week I’m going to make these Beef & Chard Meatballs. I typically leave out the sausage and use two pounds of ground beef. I’ll serve them with homemade pasta - last week I hid 4 ounces of roasted beets in my pasta dough. My oldest daughter found this Pretty Pasta book at a thrift store months ago and I laughed at it, but it has quickly become my favorite book for creative pasta recipes.
If you need a creative way to use cauliflower, I highly recommend making Cauliflower Gnocchi. I slightly adapted the recipe and am working on getting it posted to the website. We liked it pre-cooked and then roasted in the oven, and I served it with this Vodka Sauce that everyone thought was sublime.
I’m so excited for green peppers this week. They are perfect for stuffing. This is my go-to recipe. I like to use the leftovers to make frittata for breakfast the next morning. Cook once, eat twice!
Snacks & Treats
This Smoky Eggplant Dip takes baba ganoush to the next level. I love eating it with toasted bread or with cut up raw vegetables.
When you bring home 20+ beets, you make beet chips and make your family eat them. Then you smile when they say “These are beets? But they are so good!”
This seems like a good week for a Hummus and Vegetable Snack Plate.
And for those extra green beans you aren’t going to eat, might I suggest these Dilly Beans?
And here’s your friendly reminder that my July newsletter will hit inboxes this week. If you haven’t signed up for it, you can do that right here.
Hope you have a wonderful week, my friends!