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!

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.

Little Vegetable Dishes

This time last year: Honey Curry Dip  and Hodge Podge

We just got back from a weekend camping trip at Kejimkujik.  Six adults, three kids and a dog.  Glorious weather.  Lots of food.  We returned to sites we've been camping on for twenty five years, in a warm forest that smells just like I remember every year and feels like home.  I strung a hammock between two trees, set up a giant tent and a makeshift kitchen. The kids and I hiked, swam, threw rocks and pigged out.  As I've told you before here, we like to eat well, and it can get a little out of hand.  On our way home yesterday I was looking forward to a little balance!  We decided to have a supper of vegetables.

One of the most memorable meals of my life was when I was living with some girls in a one room cabin on Saltspring Island.  It was summer and we had gone to the market and come back with a huge assortment of vegetables.  We cooked each in different ways, made some cheesy garlic bread, and sat down to feast.  A meal of small vegetable dishes can be enormously satisfying (even without cheese bread).  It doesn't need to be a huge production, and everything can be served at room temperature if that's how the timing works out.  This time of year, markets and home gardens are vegetable bonanzas and you don't want to be limited to just a few at suppertime!

Some of my favourite simple vegetable dishes of the season are Swiss Chard with Caramelized Onions, Sugar Snap Peas in Brown Butter, Parsley Potatoes, and Roasted Asparagus.  If you click around the All Things Vegetable section of this site, you'll find lots more ideas as well.  And here's one more.

Warm Spinach and Tomato Salad

2 t. Olive Oil
1 Clove Garlic
8 oz Spinach, washed and chopped
1 medium Tomato, cut in chunks

Heat the oil over medium heat in a frying pan for a minute, then add the garlic.  When the garlic sizzles, stir in the spinach and a pinch of salt.  Stir for about thirty seconds, until the spinach begins to wilt, then add the tomato.  Cook for another minute at the most, just until the tomatoes have heated through.  Remove from the heat and serve hot or at room temperature.