Tuesday, September 15, 2020

Late Summer Veggie Saute #recipe from @LeslieBudewitz

LESLIE B:  Impossible to say which are more delish, the first local veggies of the season or the last. Happily, we’re not at the end of the season yet, not even here in Northwest Montana. I wasn’t much of a gardener this year, but I succumbed to the beauty at the local farm stand and found myself with too many unplanned vegetables. (I’m sure you know exactly what I mean!) This turned out to be the perfect combo, using some of my surprise harvest. We served it as a side with leftover grilled chicken. It would also pair well with beef, fish, or pork, and go beautifully over pasta, with a little Parmesan or Romano.

I used a classic Italian seasoning – here's the recipe for my Italian herb blend, from Killing Thyme, the third Spice Shop mystery.

Vary the flavor any way you’d like. I didn’t add garlic, instead using a glug of garlic-infused olive oil along with the EVOO. Coriander, red pepper flakes, even sumac would be fun, too.

Enjoy!

Late Summer Veggie Saute


1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, more or less
2-3 small to medium yellow squash, sliced
1 ½ cups green beans, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 ½ cups grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in halves (or quarters if large)
1-1/2 tablespoons Italian herb blend
½ teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste 




Prepare all the vegetables. Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the squash and green beans and cook, stirring frequently with a slotted spatula until slightly softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, herb blend, and salt, and continue cooking and stirring until tomatoes have softened, about 5 minutes.






From the cover of THE SOLACE OF BAY LEAVES, Spice Shop Mystery #5, out now in e-book and audio, in paperback October 20, 2020 (Seventh St. Books and Tantor Audio) : 

Pepper Reece never expected to find solace in bay leaves. 

But when her life fell apart at forty and she bought the venerable-but-rundown Spice Shop in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, her days took a tasty turn. Now she’s savoring the prospect of a flavorful fall and a busy holiday cooking season, until danger bubbles to the surface ... 

Between managing her shop, worrying about her staff, and navigating a delicious new relationship, Pepper’s firing on all burners. But when her childhood friend Maddie is shot and gravely wounded, the incident is quickly tied to an unsolved murder that left another close friend a widow. 

Convinced that the secret to both crimes lies in the history of a once-beloved building, Pepper uses her local-girl contacts and her talent for asking questions to unearth startling links between the past and present—links that suggest her childhood friend may not have been the Golden Girl she appeared to be. Pepper is forced to face her own regrets and unsavory emotions, if she wants to save Maddie’s life—and her own. 

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries and the Spice Shop Mysteries, and the winner of Agatha Awards in three categories. Death al Dente, the first Food Lovers' Village Mystery, won Best First Novel in 2013, following her 2011 win in Best Nonfiction. Her first historical short story, "All God's Sparrows," won the 2018 Agatha Award for Best Short Story. Watch for her first standalone suspense novel, Bitterroot Lake, in April 2021 from Crooked Lane Books.

A past president of Sisters in Crime and a current board member of Mystery Writers of America, she lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat, an avid bird-watcher.

Swing by my website and join the mailing list for my seasonal newsletter. And join me on Facebook where I announce lots of giveaways from my cozy writer friends.

4 comments:

  1. Leslie, I made a version of this last night for dinner! Zucchini, chopped onion, garlic, green pepper, tomatoes, ground sumac (!), and basil. It's one of my late summer clean-out-the-fridge staples. If I have eggplant, that is also part of the dish.

    I've never tried adding green beans, though. My husband eats them alone faster than I can harvest them!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks like a breath of..spring/fall? Lovely and tasty.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I suppose it is a year-round dish, but so wonderful with veggies so fresh they're practically still growing!

      Delete