Last weekend we celebrated the Fourth of July inside as a family because we had buckets and buckets of rain. To make things a little fun and celebratory, I made this cute little flag cake. This week we got some white raspberries and I was tempted to make it again just to use them for it, but then somehow they disappeared ten minutes after I brought them home. Fresh berries don’t last long around here. Ha!
This has been the rainiest July on record for as long as we’ve lived in Massachusetts (and probably longer than that). On the one hand, I’m missing sunny beach days and picnics; but on the other, I’m enjoying the excuse to stay home, read books, and eat comfort food. There isn’t much sun in the forecast for this week either, and my meal planning shows it.
Summer Week 4: What’s in Season
carrots (with greens), spring onions, zucchini, yellow squash, zucchini bombs, swiss chard, lettuce, pickling cucumbers, collard greens, cauliflower, radishes, savoy cabbage, blueberries, raspberries (of all colors), cherries
Meal Ideas for the Week
Breakfasts
Zucchini Butter with Thyme is a great way to use up whatever zucchini or squash you don’t know what to do with. It makes an excellent spread for toast in the morning.
I love a piece of sourdough toast topped with ricotta cheese, sliced radishes, and some sliced basil. Last year I learned how to make homemade ricotta cheese. It’s surprisingly easy, and it tastes so much better than what you can buy at the store. Our farmstand has excellent local ricotta too, so sometimes I use that instead.
Lunches
I’m going to use my collard greens for sandwich wraps. Once you have blanched your greens, you can use them like any tortilla. I especially love a Mediterranean Wrap (I’ll sub some lettuce for the spinach).
And of course, we’ll have lots of salad for lunch, especially early in the week when our lettuce is freshest. I’m learning that good salad dressings are really the trick to not getting bored with salad. My favorite salads are the ones where I don’t follow a recipe, I just pull out stuff from my fridge and throw it all together. When we get such a variety of food each week, it’s easy to have a different salad every day. I use all my sourdough scraps to make homemade croutons.
Dinners
Since it’s going to be another week full of dreary weather, I’m going to make comfort food all week. This Chard & White Bean Stew is one of my ultimate feel-good meals. I use the chard stems instead of celery, my spring onions instead of the shallots, and I still have some garlic scapes so I’ll throw those in instead of garlic. I have been known to eat leftovers for breakfast.
This Herb-Roasted Whole Cauliflower looks like a delightful alternative for Roast Chicken. If you live in a place where tomatoes are in season, you could make this recipe for Greens & Tomatoes to go along with it. Or zucchini and yellow squash sauteed in a little olive oil, with salt and pepper. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top and call it a meal.
When cleaning out my fridge this week I found some Frank’s Wing Sauce, so it seems like a good week to try this recipe for Buffalo Cauliflower. To continue the theme of comfort food with a healthy twist, I think I’ll pair it with Carrot fries and Zucchini fries.
This Herb Squash Pasta Bake is probably my favorite summer meal of all time. I also like to make a couple and freeze them. They are great meals in the winter, and they also serve as fantastic meals to share with a friend when someone has a new baby or an emergency in the family.
We made Italian Stuffed Cabbage last weekend and it was a huge hit even with the kiddos. This week I want to try the Mujadara-stuffed Cabbage Rolls from Smitten Kitchen Everyday.
I love to make Pot Pie with fresh veggies, so I think I’ll do that this week too. The best part about pot pie is you can use any veggies you have on hand and you can use meat or not. I’ll use carrots, peas (from last week’s share), and potatoes I picked up from the misfit shelf and maybe throw in some kale or broccoli, depending on what’s left in my produce drawer at the end of the week.
Snacks & Treats
Last summer I learned that you can use yellow squash in baking just like you do with zucchini. This Summer Squash Bread is so good and freezes well. I like to turn it into muffins and add a little cream cheese frosting for an extra treat.
My favorite afternoon snack in the summer is a plate full of raw veggies with some hummus or ranch dip on the side. I pull out cucumber, carrot, and broccoli (or cauliflower), chop them into pieces, and put them on a large wooden cutting board. Then I surround it with some cashews and some fruit (this week it will be blueberries and cherries) and it looks like a fancy snack that no kid will turn down.
These Refrigerator Pickles are a great way to use cucumbers and they don’t require any special canning equipment. We love to snack on them.
Preserving Notes
I’m thankful that there’s not a lot of preserving to do this week, after the last two weeks full of berries and peas. I have some writing to catch up on and need a break from the kitchen. Corn and tomatoes will come in soon, which means lots of fun times in the kitchen!
I am going to make a batch of carrot greens pesto for the freezer. And I’ll dry the other bunch of carrot greens to use instead of dried parsley later in the year.
What fun are you having in the kitchen this week? I’d love to hear from you!