Harvest

So this is what happens when you don't transplant the zucchini into a much bigger container: all your zucchini turn out the size of your little finger. So sad, but so delicious nonetheless. I ate this one raw.

The cherry tomatoes, on the other hand, are doing splendidly. There's a good handful sitting on the edge of my kitchen counter right now, waiting for me to make an executive decision about when, where, and how to eat them. I was considering making these oven-dried sungolds in olive oil, which look like perhaps the most exciting tomatoes in the land...but I keep eating mine, picking them off one by one, such that we certainly don't have enough to fill up a fill baking pan or (by the transitive property!) a quart jar. I may go ahead and dry what I have anyway. Come on, self! It only requires self-control and olive oil!

Invalid food: soba in broth

So John was sick, and now I am not feeling so great either. Clearly it is time for an abundance of invalid food.

Soba in broth

veg broth (water; vegetables)
soy sauce
rice wine vinegar
mirin (if you have any)
sriracha or other hot chili sauce
soba noodles
green onion
maybe some cilantro, mint, or lemon/lime peel

First, make the broth. I was fortunate enough to have frozen some broth previously, so I just used that. However, making vegetable broth is easy enough even when you don't want to stand up. Just fill a pot with vegetable scraps, cover with water, and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Good vegetables to use: onion, carrot, celery, mushroom, potato, garlic, non-cabbage greens. Use the peels and roots along with everything else--just make sure you wash them first. After the time is up, strain your broth, pressing the veg with the back of a spoon to make sure you get all the flavor out. That is it. You now have a hot pan of exciting, effortless homemade veg broth.

Now is the time to cook your soba noodles. Boil a pot of water, add soba, and cook until done to your taste.

While the noodles are cooking, season your broth sparingly with soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, mirin, and sriracha sauce. Be especially careful with the soy sauce and vinegar, as one is super salty and the other is super pungent. Taste and tweak seasonings until you're happy. Keep warm on a low burner until your noodles are cooked.

Drain the noodles, throw them into your hot spicy broth, add a handful of sliced green onion, and eat it.

John had his massive bowl of soup and soba with some steamed broccoli. I just threw a bunch of florets into the leftover simmering soba water, put on the lid, and let cook for maybe three or four minutes. Voila: lovely broccoli.

We also had sliced nectarine, which you know how to make. 1. Get nectarine. 2. Slice. 3. Eat.

When you're all done with your invalid food, lie pitifully in bed reading books and watching videos on your laptop until you feel better.

So what all was in these tacos?

- Eggs, scrambled with
- red onion
- baby zucchini
- grape tomatoes
- chard leaves
- and I slapped them all on some flame-cooked corn tortillas.

Summer still = fruit

Hey, it's a blackberry banana smoothie.

a handful of blackberries
a handful of frozen banana pieces
a couple of ice cubes
a splash of water so it will actually blend

Put in blender. Blend. Eat/drink.

I find the blackberry business a bit harder to take than other fruity blended concoctions. I don't own any straws, so I end up sort of half-chewing my way through...seeds. Lots of seeds. I think that for further blackberry smoothies I will have to employ a strainer.

Also, have I mentioned that I hate the word "smoothie"? Ugh.

I have to figure out what to eat for lunch now. No ideas so far. This probably indicates a default Middle Eastern platter of some kind.

I made some pasta

Wow, what happened? I was doing so well at posting, and then I ran out of preedited pictures, hit a wall, and just sort of stayed there for a while.

Yeah, so. Pasta! It is great. I have definitely been eating some pasta. The basil rioting out on the balcony helps. So does the bargain bin at the farmer's market.

Pasta with zucchini, peppers, basil, etc.

linguine/other
olive oil
a shallot/other
a big handful of those sweet-hot yellow peppers
another big handful of baby zucchini
a stack of basil leaves
other fresh herbs such as parsley
salt, pepper
grating cheese if you want it

You know how to cook pasta. Put it on first so it'll be ready at approximately the same time as the vegetables.

Chop up a shallot and wilt it in olive oil. You can of course use garlic, red onion, etc etc. Everything will be delicious.

Chop up your other vegetables; I chose mine based completely on the bargain bin. I had peppers (which were wilty and needed to be used up) and baby zucchini (which were in excellent shape; were they just not selling or what?). So I diced the peppers and cut the zucchini into half-moons. If you have other delicious summer veg lying around, feel free to use them as well.

Throw the peppers into the pan, salt, and let wilt for a few minutes. Add the zucchini and cook until softened and delicious. Take the pan off the heat, correct the salt, add some pepper and chopped herbs, and toss with the drained pasta.

Put it on a plate and eat it. Or, you know, eat it out of the pan; whatev. If you want to be be ultra-fancy you can chiffonade some more basil and strew it artfully over your serving. If you want to be filled with the goodness of dairy you can grate some appropriate cheese over the entire business. If you want to be very full you can eat the whole pan yourself and retire gracefully to your bed.