summer produce Archives - 2 Sisters 2 Cities

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on August 21, 2012

One of my favorite summer memories from growing up is sitting on our back deck shucking bags of corn. We have finally started to get corn in our CSA and I have been looking for different ways to serve it up. The standard in our house is of course good old corn on the cob, but there are many other types of corn recipes out there.

CORN RECIPES FROM AROUND THE WEB:

Cheesy Corn and Black Bean Dip from Hot Eats and Cool Reads
Corn Cakes from We Are Not Martha
Corn Casserole from Paula Deen
Corn Chowder with Chilies from The Pioneer Woman
Corn Salad from Ina Garten
Grill Roasted Corn Salad from The Healthy Foodie
Roasted Hot Corn Succotash from Cooking Shorts
Spicy Grilled Corn on the Cob from Bobbi’s Kozy Kitchen
Summer Corn Pudding from Pink Parsley
Zucchini Cheddar Corn Muffins from two peas & their pod

CORN RECIPES FROM OTHER BLOGGERS:

Bloggers, please link up as many corn recipes as you would like:

Too much summer produce and not enough ideas on how to prepare them? Be sure to check out the Fresh Produce Tuesday tag! We have a large assortment of recipes for the following types of produce: Peas, Radishes, Lettuce, Kale, Carrots, Chard, Raspberries, Zucchini, Eggplants, Heirloom Tomatoes, and Beets.

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on August 20, 2012

For the past couple of weeks, I have had a huge overflowing vase of fresh basil and a large basket of heirloom tomatoes on my kitchen counter. This point of summer is culinary heaven! One of my favorite ways to use up all those tomatoes and basil is to make a caprese salad. It’s very simple to pull together and in my opinion, it is the perfect taste of summer. My favorite way to prepare it is to get as many different color heirloom tomatoes as possible on the plate.

One of the things besides beautiful tomatoes that really makes caprese salad work is good-quality balsamic vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil. Two brands that I have really liked is the Kirkland Signature Balsamic Vinegar of Modena (available at Costco) and the Paesano Extra-Virgin Olive Oil (available at Whole Foods.) While there are certainly higher quality balsamic vinegars and olive oils out there, I think both types I listed are a very good value for their quality.

One day, I would love to make homemade fresh mozzarella as well, but I may have to move that one to next summer’s bucket list. Here’s to the last few weeks of summer!

Caprese Salad

Author: m

Recipe type: Appetizer or Side Dish

Prep time: 5 mins

Total time: 5 mins

Serves: 4

The quintessential dish of summer!

Ingredients

4-8 heirloom tomatoes (depending on size)
1 fresh mozzarella ball, brought to room temperature
Balsamic vinegar (good-quality)
Extra-virgin olive oil (good-quality)
4-6 basil leaves, cut chiffonade-style
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Wash and cut the tomatoes into thin slices. Arrange the tomatoes on a decorative serving platter. Slice the mozzarella ball into 6-8 large slices or into many small pieces depending on your preference. Drizzle on the balsamic vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil (I generally prefer a 1:2 ratio of vinegar to olive oil.) Sprinkle cut basil leaves on top and season with salt and pepper.

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on August 14, 2012

I can’t really say that I love beets, but we get them in our CSA about every other week so I am learning to embrace them. I was able to find lots of beet recipes this week that I would like to try with our next batch of beets. One recipe I did make a few weeks ago that I loved was beet chips (recipe below.) I received a food processor as a wedding gift and never took out all the attachments to see what they did. Turns out, it has an awesome mandoline attachment that thinly slices things up in less than a second. Did I mention it is our five year wedding anniversary this week? I could have used this so many times over the last five years! Lesson learned- always read your small appliance manuals so you learn about all the extra functionality they might have.

BEET RECIPES FROM AROUND THE WEB:

Baked Golden and Red Beets with Anise Vinaigrette from food & style
Beet and Apple Salad from Katie Brown
Beet Chips from Martha Stewart Everyday Food, January 2010
Beet Napoleons from Real Simple
Beet Risotto with Goat Cheese from Tasty Kitchen Blog
Chocolate Beet Cake with Beet Cream Cheese Frosting from Joy the Baker
Farro, Beet, and Herb Salad from What’s Gaby Cooking
Golden Beet Slaw from Martha Stewart Living, April 2011
Mixed Greens Salad with Roasted Beets from The New York Times
Pickled Beets from Alton Brown

BEET RECIPES FROM OTHER BLOGGERS:

Bloggers, please link up as many corn recipes as you would like:

Too much summer produce and not enough ideas on how to prepare them? Be sure to check out the Fresh Produce Tuesday tag! We have a large assortment of recipes for the following types of produce:Peas,Radishes,Lettuce,Kale,Carrots,Chard,Raspberries,Zucchini,Eggplants, and Heirloom Tomatoes.

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on August 7, 2012

It’s finally time for my favorite type of summer produce: heirloom tomatoes! There are so many heirloom tomato recipes, but sometimes I just love to eat them plain with a little dash of kosher salt. These heirloom tomatoes in the above picture were from our last CSA box. Since I was out of town for BlogHer ’12, we had our CSA delivered a few days early. Here’s my weekly instagram of the CSA crops:

And because I love to show my photo bloopers, here are some of Baby T assisting with the shoot:

HEIRLOOM TOMATO RECIPES FROM AROUND THE WEB:

BBT (Bacon Basil Tomato) Sandwich from Sunset, September 2005
Caprese Israeli Couscous with Heirloom Tomatoes from Tasty Kitchen
Caprese Salad with Fresh Mozzarella and Tomatoes from Whole Foods Market
Corn Bread Salad from smitten kitchen
Eggs Kevin from Martha Stewart Living, June 2011
Gorgonzola and Mortgage Lifter Pizza from Cooking Light, August 2008
Heirloom Tomato and Avocado Stack from Cooking Light, June 2008
Heirloom Tomato and Basil Tart from Giada De Laurentiis
Heirloom Tomato Salad with Garlic Oil from Martha Stewart Living, June 2009
Tomato Basil Bruschetta from Annie’s Eats

HEIRLOOM TOMATO RECIPES FROM OTHER BLOGGERS:

Bloggers, please link up as many tomatoes as you have (they do not necessarily have to be heirloom tomato recipes.)

If you are looking for more summer recipe ideas for fresh produce, please be sure to check out the Fresh Produce Tuesday tag. We have a large assortment of recipes for the following:

Check back in next Tuesday for beet recipes!

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on July 31, 2012

I can’t believe is the last day of July! This summer has certainly been flying by. I have really been trying to take advantage of all the fresh produce that summer has to offer, which includes trying out these various eggplant recipes.

EGGPLANT RECIPES FROM AROUND THE WEB:

Eggplant and Ricotta Pizza from Pink Parsley
Eggplant Focaccia from Martha Stewart Everyday Food, September 2009
Eggplant Panini with Pesto from Skinnytaste
Eggplant Parmigiana from Mario Batali
Eggplant Rollatini from Mad Hungry, May 2011
Eggplant Salad Toasts from smitten kitchen
Grilled Eggplant and Goat Cheese Salad from Giada Delaurentiis
Grilled Eggplant Stack from Cooking Light, July 2007
Pasta with Eggplant from The Pioneer Woman
Roasted Eggplant Soup from Blogging Over Thyme

EGGPLANT RECIPES FROM OTHER BLOGGERS:

Please link up as many eggplant recipes as you like!

If you are looking for more recipe ideas for fresh produce, please be sure to check out the Fresh Produce Tuesday tag. We have a large assortment of recipes for the following:

Asparagus, Artichokes, Spring Onions, Peas, Garlic Scapes & Spring Garlic, Rhubarb, Fava Beans, Radishes, Lettuce, Morels, Strawberries, Kale, Carrots, Chard, Raspberries, and Zucchini.

And keeping with tradition, here’s my Instagram of my CSA pick-up from this past weekend. We’ve already used up the beets, tomatoes, and the melon- so good:

Next week for Fresh Produce Tuesday, we will be featuring my personal favorite, heirloom tomatoes! What’s your all-time favorite type of summer produce?

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on July 24, 2012

Zucchini is one summer vegetable that I love in the beginning of the season and start to dread by the end. I usually end up brushing the zucchini with a little olive oil, sprinkling it with a little S&P, and throwing it on the side of the grill to enjoy with whatever else we’re having. However, after pulling together this zucchini recipe compilation, I’m definitely looking forward to trying a few new ways of cooking up zucchini. So whether you are trying to use up a bumper crop of zucchini from your own garden or some you picked up at an urban farmers market, here are some new zucchini recipes to try.

ZUCCHINI RECIPES FROM AROUND THE WEB:

Cheesy Zucchini Rice from Pink Parsley
Fried Zucchini from Giada DeLaurentiis
Grilled Zucchini Tacos from Spoon Fork Bacon
Lemon-Zucchini Cornmeal Cookies from Martha Stewart Everyday Food, September 2009
Sauteed Shredded Zucchini from Annie’s Eats
Zucchini and Ricotta Galette from smitten kitchen
Zucchini Bake with Feta and Thyme from Kalyn’s Kitchen
Zucchini Bread from Paula Deen
Zucchini Cakes from The Pioneer Woman
Zucchini Carpaccio from Framed Cooks

ZUCCHINI RECIPES FROM OTHER BLOGGERS:

Please link up as many zucchini recipes as you like! Feel free to also submit any recipes for similar varieties of summer squashes such as yellow squash and patty pan squash.

If you are looking for more recipe ideas for fresh produce, please be sure to check out the Fresh Produce Tuesday tag. We have a large assortment of recipes for the following:

Asparagus, Artichokes, Spring Onions, Peas, Garlic Scapes & Spring Garlic, Rhubarb, Fava Beans, Radishes, Lettuce, Morels, Strawberries, Kale, Carrots, Chard, and Raspberries.

Next week for Fresh Produce Tuesday, we will be featuring eggplant.

P.S. Here’s my weekly Instagram photo from my CSA pick-up…yay for heirloom tomatoes!

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on July 17, 2012

With all of the fresh raspberries available at local farmers markets, I wanted to feature a number of raspberry recipes this week. Raspberries are one of baby T’s favorite foods as evidenced in this photo below. I can’t believe how quickly they disappear from his high chair tray sometimes! Our new house has some wild raspberry bushes around the perimeter, but I have only been able to pick a few at a time…our critter friends get the rest.

No raspberries in our CSA this weekend, but lot’s of other goodies! Here’s my weekly Instagram photo of our pick-up:

Raspberry Recipes from Around the Web:

One of my favorite desserts to make is this Chocolate-Rasberry Tart from Martha Stewart Everyday Food, May 2010. It’s really easy to pull together and the raspberry chocolate combination is perfect!

Here are 9 additional raspberry recipes:

Arugula, Berries, and Goat Cheese Salad from Perfect Pantry
Best Basic Cheesecake with Raspberries from Foodie with Family
Double Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes from Annie’s Eats
Fast Raspberry Scones from Martha Stewart Everyday Food, May 2010
Raspberry Cream Pie from The Pioneer Woman
Raspberry Cream Cheese Muffins from Cooking Light, June 2003
Raspberry Daiquiri from Cookie and Kate
Raspberry Sorbet from Completely Delicious
Rhubarb-Raspberry Crunch from All Recipes

Raspberry Recipes from Other Bloggers:

What are your favorite recipes for raspberries? Do you just pop them in your mouth as they are? Please link up as many raspberry recipes as you want!

If you are looking for more recipe ideas for fresh produce, please be sure to check out the Fresh Produce Tuesday tag. We have a large assortment of recipes for the following:

Next week for Fresh Produce Tuesday, we will be featuring zucchini. Stay cool!