Around the Kitchen Table: Favorite Summer Garden or Farm Stand Recipes + 7-book #Giveaway!

TINA KASHIAN: I love summer! We plant a garden every summer and I look forward to our fresh vegetables and herbs. We always plant zucchini, peppers, mint, parsley, and basil, but my favorite are the Jersey tomatoes. They are famous for their tangy, sweet-tart flavor. We also visit our local farm stands often for fresh blueberries and watermelon. My teenagers can’t get enough of these fruits.

My favorite garden recipe uses the parsley, mint and Jersey tomatoes to make tabbouleh. This healthy salad includes bulgur which is high in fiber and low in calories. I shared this recipe on MLK here:

What is your favorite garden
or farm stand recipe?

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MADDIE DAY: Summer is my favorite time of the year for eating locally! I grow my own greens, tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes, blueberries, and herbs, and get the sweet corn and other fabulous veggies and fruits from one of my two local farms.

One easy cool salad to make the day after we have corn on the cob for dinner is corn salad. I always buy double the ears of corn we'll eat for one dinner.

This one also featured my own gold cherry tomatoes, cukes, and fresh basil. I toss the ingredients with olive oil and lime juice and dig in.

But for dessert? An easy berry tart with a cream cheese base is the way to go, and the recipe was here at the end of July! 

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LUCY BURDETTE: We, too, have a garden, though lately John has been doing all the grunt labor while I write like mad. He gets quite annoyed if I buy something at the farmer's market that is in his garden! One of my favorite recipes for this time of year takes advantage of tomatoes, cukes, and peppers; that is panzanella, aka Tuscan bread salad. It makes my mouth water just to read the ingredients!

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LIBBY KLEIN: If you know anything at all about me, you know I have a black thumb. There is nothing growing in my garden but weeds. One of the few things I can keep alive is herbs. Don't get me wrong, I've killed them by forgetting to water them on 90 degree days. But usually they do okay because I know they need full sun. I love to cut my herbs and eat them which sounds barbaric. One of my favorite recipes is summer pasta. Gluten free spaghetti tossed with chopped lemon balm and lemon thyme. A little garlic, some lemon zest, chopped chicken and steamed asparagus tips. Toss the whole pan in olive oil and top it off with shavings of parmesan cheese and toasted walnuts. My whole family loves it and there are never any leftovers.

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LESLIE KARST: Right now, my garden is bursting with zucchini and green beans. (Given all the fog we had in May and June, however, the tomatoes are still, alas, quite green.) I posted a recipe a few weeks back for grilled zucchini, and here's one of my very favorite recipes for green beans: the simple-yet-delicious fagiolini al burro (green beans with butter--what's not to love!), to which I like to add a healthy amount of garlic, as well.

 Serve the beans along with pasta for a luscious summer meal! 

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VICKI DELANY: Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes. Can't get enough of them. Over the years, I've posted many tomato recipes to MLK. This is one of my absolute favourites. And it looks as great as it tastes. You can serve it as an appetizer, a light lunch, or as a side dish at a barbeque.

Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: Tomato Tart

from Vicki Delany (mysteryloverskitchen.com)

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PEG COCHRAN/MARGARET LOUDON: My husband and I downsized to a condo so we no longer have a garden. Besides, I have a black thumb. When we lived in our house, one year we managed to grow some luscious tomatoes and the next year they were a bust! Fortunately, there is a lot of local produce to choose from--corn on the cob, blueberries, strawberries, zucchini and Michigan cherries. When I was working, the breakroom table was always covered with the excess from people's gardens so I didn't even have to go to the farmer's market. One of my favorite things to make is this old-fashioned strawberry cobbler. It really allows the fruit to shine.

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LESLIE BUDEWITZ: After a series of disasters -- flood, drought, deep early frost, deep late frost, and invasions of grass and voles -- our garden is best described in baseball terms: A rebuilding year. I've been spending an hour or so several mornings a week cleaning the flower beds that surround the house, replacing plants, and laying down cardboard and wood chips. (One of those disasters included a 60+ foot spruce hitting our back deck, so we have plenty of wood chips.) And the vegetable garden? That might be next year's project!

But you know me, I always have herbs, some in pots and some in the garden: parsley, basil, oregano, tarragon, chives, and thyme, at the very least. So here are a couple of our favorite herb-forward summer dishes, Roasted Mushroom, Tomato, and Herb Salad for days when you're brave enough to turn on the oven and Green Beans with Tarragon Vinaigrette for days when you don't dare!

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MAYA CORRIGAN: Eating freshly picked tomatoes is my favorite part of summer. Even the tomatoes sold at our local farm market can't compare to the ones from our plot in a community garden. They are on our dinner table every night during the growing season, garnished with the basil that also comes from our garden.

Does slicing tomatoes and serving them with basil count as a recipe? Maybe not, but I shared a delicious summer side dish recipe: Southwest Ratatouille that uses eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes from the garden and corn from the farmers' market.

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CLEO COYLE: My dad grew up during The Great Depression when his father impressed upon him the importance of having a food source for his family during tough economic times. With that end in mind, he was a serious backyard gardener, who provided our family with baskets of gorgeous produce and homemade wine from his grape vines...

My father Tony
in his Army Air Corps uniform
with his mother Grazia (Gace)

I miss those days and my dear parents, grandparents, and Aunt Mary, all of whom have since gone to heaven, where they now wait for me to join them in the most beautiful garden of all. Thanks, Tina, for reminding me of those delicious memories. And I’m happy to share how our family made our FRESH GARDEN TOMATO SAUCE in a step-by-post post that also shares a little more about the background of my Italian family. ~ Cleo

Click here to see Cleo's recipe post:
How to Make Fresh Garden Tomato Sauce
and Survive Depression.

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Happy August!

GIVEAWAY!

To be entered in this week's drawing

for the 7 terrific mysteries below,

join us in the comments.

Do you have a favorite
garden or farm stand recipe?

Join the

conversation!

Include your email address,

so we can contact the winner! 

> STABBED IN THE BAKLAVA by Tina Kashian

> A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS by Lucy Burdette

> MURDER IS A PIECE OF CAKE by Valerie Burns

> BREWED AWAKENING by Cleo Coyle

> MULCH ADO ABOUT MURDER by Edith Maxwell

> FINAL FONDUE by Maya Corrigan

> ASSAULT AND PEPPER by Leslie Budewitz

Comments Open through

Wednesday, August 9

Don't forget to include

your email address.

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