Garlicky Green Beans

 This time last year: Blackberry Apple Pie

Well here's a deliciously simple way to consume mass amounts of fresh beans. My mom and I have each been cooking a version of this throughout bean season and are addicted.  You should try it!  It's adapted from Mollie Katzen's The Vegetable Dishes I Can't Live Without.  You just trim about a pound of beans and snap them in half.  Have ready about a tablespoon of minced fresh garlic.  Heat your largest pan over high heat for a few minutes, then swirl in a couple teaspoons of vegetable or sesame oil.  Keep the heat high as you pour in the beans.  Stir the beans constantly for about five minutes, adding a sprinkle or two of salt as they cook.  Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two longer, then remove from the heat.  Serve as an appetizer with a little sweet chili sauce for dipping, as a side dish, or make a meal of it!

Creamy Peach and Tomato Soup with Fresh Basil

This time last year:  Zucchini Muffins and Zucchini with Olive Oil, Garlic and Parmesan

This soup doesn't have a story.  It's just what results when you're driving to work with a bushel box of peaches from the Peach Pit Farm Market in the front seat and an enormous basket of fresh basil from your Dad's garden in the back.  Before you know it, you're standing in the kitchen making a soup that's even better than you hoped it might be....

 

Creamy Peach and Tomato Soup with Fresh Basil

2 T. Butter
1 Onion, diced
4 Ripe Peaches, diced
8 C. diced fresh Tomatoes or 2 Cans  Tomatoes (540 ml each), pureed
1 t. Salt
3 C. Chicken or Vegetable Stock or Water
1 C. Cream (optional)
1/4 C. Fresh Chopped Basil

Heat the butter in a large pot over medium heat and add the onion.  Cook and stir until the onion is tender, about ten minutes. Don't let it brown too much!  Stir in the peaches, tomatoes, salt and stock.  Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for twenty minutes or so.  Stir in the cream if using, and the basil.  If you like, use an immersion blender to smooth the soup out a bit, though a few discernible chunks of peach are lovely.  Taste for salt, and serve.  This soup is great hot, at room temperature, or cold.  Chill to store.

Cherry Raspberry Crisp

Sixteen years ago, I sat overlooking the Dartmouth harbour and asked myself "What should I do?  Which way to go?"  I had just spent the year before attending college and working on the weekends, and now seven friends of mine were gearing up to head out West.  I really wanted to go.  I totally could not afford it.  I headed back to Pleasant Street, pushing Daniel, my charge, in his wheelchair.  When I arrived at his house, Daniel's mother was waiting.  She wanted to discuss leaving me in charge of both her children for an entire week while she went on vacation.  Since I would be responsible for them 24 hours a day, I would be paid for 24 hours a day.  In a week, I would have more than enough to join my friends.

We left in May, eight kids in two unlikely cars: a 1962 Plymouth Valiant named Hal, and a 1980s Oldsmobile Toronado.  We made our way across the country, stopping whenever we wanted, sleeping in our cars or pitching a tent.  When Jody picked up his guitar somewhere around Port Parry and Rachael sang the opening line of "Pocahontas", the Northern lights spread up through the sky as if by magic.  We  experienced all the seasons as we drove: late spring in Ontario, deep summer heat in Manitoba, winter in Kananaskis.

We made it to Vancouver sometime in early June.  We arrived late at night, with the loose plan of staying with Mari's brother.  He wasn't home.  You don't really want to sleep in your car in Vancouver!  We thought of heading out of the city, but we were so tired.  It was too late to call home to get the phone number of the one person I knew there, so we began walking aimlessly, hoping Mari's brother would get home sooner than later.  As we walked, I saw two people sitting at a bus stop that looked familiar.  It was my friend Amy.  In a city of two million people, I found her.  We offered her and her friend a drive home and she let us stay at her house.

Amy lives in Sweden now, with her lovely husband and a darling baby girl.  Luckily for us, her parents still make their home in Nova Scotia, so we get to see her once a year.  When Amy came over for supper last week, it was a great excuse to do some baking.  I made this Cherry Raspberry Crisp.  You might be aware of my passion for raspberry, but I admit they're a little seedy.  So it's really nice to combine them with other fruits.  I used sour cherries here, which I adore, but you could also use sweet cherries, or blueberries.

Cherry Raspberry Crisp

1 pint Raspberries
1 pint Sour Cherries
2-4 T. White Sugar, depending on how sweet you already are
1 T. Cornstarch
1 C. Rolled Oats
1/2 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 C. Brown Sugar
1/2 t. Baking Powder
1/8 t. Salt
1/4 C. Butter, softened
1/4 C. Milk
1/2 t. Vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°.  Combine the berries, white
 sugar and cornstarch in a deep pie dish.  In a large bowl, combine the oats, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Rub the butter in with your fingers until the mixture is crumbly.  Mix the milk and vanilla together and drizzle over the mixture.  Sir until well combined, then drop clumps over the fruit in the pie dish.  Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until juices are bubbling thickly and crisp topping is browned and beautiful. ♥

"only pick the ones that pull easily from the stem!" Grandfather Osburn

Niçoise-Inspired Potato Salad

This time last year: Raspberry-Blueberry Shortcakes and Blueberry Gumbo

 

 August is my favourite month for eating!  Mostly right now I'm gorging on the huge raspberries at Gatehill Farm, finding new uses for Swiss Chard daily and eyeing my garden for the first ripe tomatoes. At Nova Scotian farm markets it is high season for cucumbers, broccoli, green and yellow and Roma beans, kale, basil and the first carrots and potatoes.  With all this abundance, it is our duty to get into the kitchen and whip up some delicious, indulgent, once-a-year high-summer meals!  With that in mind, I give you this lovely potato salad.  Nicoise Salad is a classic French salad, usually "composed", meaning that all the ingredients are beautifully arranged.  It contains potatoes, beans, tuna, eggs, capers, olives, sometimes anchovies, and fresh herbs dressed with vinaigrette.  This is a simplified version, though you could certainly add any of what I've left out.  I love how the yolk of the egg enriches the simple dressing.

Niçoise-Inspired Potato Salad

3 lb. small New Potatoes
4 Eggs
1 lb. Green or Yellow Beans, trimmed and snapped in half
4 T. Olive Oil
Juice of 1 Lemon
1 clove Garlic
2 T. Dijon Mustard
1/4 t. Salt
Freshly ground Pepper
1 pint Cherry Tomatoes
1/2 C. slivered Red Onion
1/4 C. Chopped Parsley
2 Cans Tuna, left in chunks (optional)
Handful of fresh Basil, shredded (optional)

Cut the potatoes in half if they are larger than 1" and place in a pot with the eggs and 2 t. salt.  Add cold water to cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 12-15 minutes.  Remove from the heat and fill the pot with cold water to cool the eggs and potatoes quickly, then drain.  Steam or boil the beans until just tender.  Peel the eggs and cut into eighths.  Meanwhile, whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, salt, and plenty of pepper in a large bowl. Add the potatoes, beans, eggs, tomatoes, red onion and parsley and toss well in the dressing.  Taste for seasoning, then add the optional tuna and toss again gently.  Top with the basil if using, and another good grind of pepper.  This is lovely served right away, while still slightly warm, or
chilled in the refrigerator for up to three days.