Fresh Veggies…

Last Sunday I did up oodles of corn with my friends Denise and Jean.  This was after Ron and I did a boatload of corn the Wednesday before.  I now have enough bags of corn in the freezer that we can have corn at least once a week, and some weeks twice, for an entire year!  YUM, that will be good in January and February!

This was just Wednesday’s haul.  On Sunday we worked up 2-3 times this much! 

THIS weekend it was a tomato weekend.  A neighbor gave us 50-60 pounds of tomatoes, and a church member gave us 10-20 pounds, and…I had ordered 40 pounds through our CSA …of course, before I knew these kind people were going to share their bounty with us.

Sunday, I (with MUCH help from Ron, a great deal of help from Ethan, and some help from Cameron) canned 7- 1 1/2 pint jars of salsa, 15 pint jars of salsa, and I froze 10 bags of spaghetti sauce and 8-10 bags of salsa.  We also ate on fresh pico de gallo (and homemade guacamole) all day long…oh man it was yummy!  (Although Rachel’s friend Bridget got a REALLY hot and spicy bite!  Sorry Bridget!)

I still have a lot of tomatoes to go, and our neighbor said he still has more…I can have as much as I want.  I think I’ll make some more spaghetti sauce for sure…if I can bear to peel all those tomatoes again!

Here are some recipes for those fresh veggies.

Pico de Gallo (aka salsa)

(this is VERY much a “go by how it looks” “ recipe”   It is loosely based on the Pioneer Woman’s recipe…she has step by step pictures if you want to see it all come together)

• fresh tomatoes
• fresh green peppers
• onions
• jalapenos (to taste)
• lime juice
• fresh cilantro
• salt

chop the tomatoes, peppers and onions and jalapenos as finely as you’d like in your salsa.  Use however much of each as you want to make it to your liking.  I usually go with 4-6 tomatoes, 2 peppers, 1-2 onions, 2-3 jalapenos (chopped up WITH seeds and membranes ‘cause we like it HOT around here).  Sprinkle with a little salt (I like kosher best).  Squeeze some lime juice in…maybe 4-6 T. or so.  Pinch off a nice bunch of fresh cilantro leaves and roll them up and chop with a knife.  I would say …5 T. or so (it has a strong flavor, so use less if you want) 

Then mix it all up and chow down with nacho chips.  This is my family’s favorite snack.

As a treat for my hubby, I often take a few spoonfuls of this and mix it with a couple of mashed avocados for guacamole.  He LOVES it.

Recipe # 2 is a fairly new way my family has been enjoying some of those tomatoes we’ve been gifted with. 

• 3 large, fresh tomatoes, sliced 1/2-3/4 inch thick
• olive oil
• kosher salt
• pepper ( we like fresh ground!)
• fresh basil (I used some I froze)
• shredded mozzarella

Arrange the tomato slices on a large platter. Drizzle lightly with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt, and fresh pepper.  Sprinkle a few pinches of basil on top of the tomatoes, and then sprinkle with shredded mozzarella.  These look VERY pretty, and taste good, too!

And finally…a new idea for some of that zucchini!

slice zucchini fairly thickly.  Toss with olive oil, and sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh pepper.  Grill (a grill pan is a GREAT tool for this) til nicely browned.  When they are done, sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese. 

Enjoy!