Tomato Time

21 Thursday Aug 2014

Posted by ninagarden in eggplant, gardening, grilled vegetables, summer, tomatoes, vegetables

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Remember too much squash? Well, too much tomato is happening now in my house. My friend up in Huntington Beach grew these amazing tomato trees. She had way too many tomatoes. Her recommendation is to dehydrate them and turn them into sundried tomatoes that you can freeze. You can do this in your oven.

The solution I seletect: Gazpacho. Homemade gazpacho from fresh tomatoes is especially delicious. I was facing a situation where all my tomatoes ripened at once and were starting to go bad. I made yummy gazpacho and took it to a concert in the park.

We drank it out of big red cups and added toppings of croutons and avocados. Delicious!

Here is the link to the recipe I used. It is very simple to make but you do need a blender.

Another favorite dish to make is ratatouille. The Silver Palate cookbook has my favorite recipe.

Enjoy those tomatos!

My friend Marina gave me these photos. Look at these crazy tomato trees!

Thanks to my friend Marina who gave me these photos. Look at these crazy tomato trees! you can’t tell from this photo, but they were about six feet high.

Too Much Squash: an Overabundance of Vegetables

09 Tuesday Aug 2011

Posted by ninagarden in eggplant, garden, gardening, grilled vegetables, grilling, recipe, squash, Uncategorized, vegetables

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Thanks to a few days at BlogHer, I have some new ideas. First of all, after being inside for three days, I really need to get out and garden!

At the beach on Sunday, I realized most of my friends — most of whom are gardeners too — have too much squash right now. We can’t give squash away to each other anymore!

My friend Rebecca brought zucchini muffins, which we all ate, expect my husband because he thinks vegetables disguised as desserts or breads is trickery. (I could write a lot about his food habits, but will spare you.) I planted only yellow squash, and I don’t think that is good for fried squash blossoms or muffins but heck, I may try it soon if I get tired of eating it with my dinner (or lunch as I did today). Plus no one else in my family will eat it — back to the weird food habits story that I haven’t written about yet. I am the primary squash eater of our household. Yay for me!

Anyway, one recipe that my friend Julie suggested was very delicious and simple. You can use the grill or roast the veggies in the oven. It feels very summery and even my husband tried it! Here goes:

Squash (any kind, sliced thin, vertically)
Eggplant (Japanese, slice vertically)
Red peppers
or any other sturdy vegetable
Pesto (can purchase from the grocery)
Olive Oil

Slice vegetables 1/4 inch thick and dilute the pesto with a little olive oil. Toss vegetables and add salt and pepper to taste. Grill or roast in oven.

There you have it. Thanks, Julie! Something else to do with all that squash (and Japanese eggplants, too!)

Eat well tonight and garden until the sun goes down.