Our garden has finally started really producing ripe, beautiful produce, ready for picking. Back in June we starting picking a tomato or 2 each week along with a squash and a few peppers. Around the middle of July, the garden exploded. The picture above shows some of what we picked over a 3 day period.
The red tomatoes are Genuwines (an “heirloom marriage” between heirloom Brandywines and Genovese). They grow quite well here in the southwest and are VERY prolific. The squash are straight-neck yellows and the mix of chile peppers which include jalapeños, poblanos, sweet banana peppers, and bells. We also have lunchbox sweet peppers, but they never make it into the house. I eat those right off the plant.
So what to do with all of this beautiful bounty? We could sit and admire it for a while, or eat it. Well, we decided to eat it. 🙂 Below are some of the meals I have been making using this produce.
Caprese Salad
It’s a no brainer as to what to do with tomatoes and basil – Caprese Salad of course! I serve this salad as a side salad as well as a stand alone meal. My recipe for Caprese Salad is very simple.
- Slice the tomatoes and arrange of a plate.
- Lightly salt with sea salt.
- Top each slice with a slice of fresh mozzarella and some coarsely chopped fresh basil.
- Lightly drizzle some Sicilian Lemon White Balsamic over the salad and serve.
Another dish that uses an abundance of fresh tomatoes and basil is this pasta with a no cook “sauce”. It’s probably my favorite pasta dish. I look forward to it every summer during tomato season, because it’s just not a dish you can make with store bought tomatoes. The tomatoes have to be homegrown.
Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes and Basil
Squash Ideas
The smaller tomatoes are Black Cherry tomatoes. Biting into one of these is like biting into a piece of candy, so we eat these as a snack throughout the week. Another produce that sometimes never makes it into the house.
Squash Side Dishes – Squash always makes a great side dish for almost any entrée. Here are three squash sides that have different flavors and really highlights the flavor of yellow squash. You can also make these recipes with zucchini or a mix, but I prefer just yellow.
Yellow Squash with Basil and Piñon served as a side to Smoked Chicken
Yellow Squash with Roasted Red Chile served with the leftover Smoked Chicken from another night.
Calabacitas – A traditional New Mexico dish.
Squash Entrées – Squash also makes a tasty ingredient for a main entrée. Here are two entrées that turned out wonderful and didn’t even need a side, although a few lightly, salted slices of tomato were a nice complement.
Calabacitas Quiche (Recipe coming soon!)
This quiche yielded two meals for the two of us. Each meal was served with a couple of slices of tomatoes and a bit of sea salt.
Stuffed Poblanos – Stuffed with a vegetarian stuffing of the three sisters (squash, corn and black beans), onion, chopped black olives and cheddar cheese.
General recipe: Cook the squash, corn and onion in a little olive oil with some oregano until semi-soft, then toss together with the beans, olives and about 1/2 cup of cheddar. Stuff the peppers with the filling and top with more cheddar cheese. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes.
I found that it was much easier to actually cut the peppers open on one side and wrap them around the filling, rather than to stuff them. (Sorry about this picture and the one below. Both are just snapshots that I took before we ate it.)
Other Recipes for Squash, Tomatoes and Peppers
Sausage Dogs – Any one that knows me well, knows that I don’t like hot dogs! Never have, never will. However, I do like a sausage dog as long as a really good sausage is used. When Bobby came home with some Green Chile Brats from Talus Wind Ranch, a ranch in northern New Mexico, I thought it was time to give a homemade sausage dog a try. We had a couple of really pretty bell peppers from the garden and some banana peppers that I pickled. No excuse not to give these dogs a try, and I’m SO GLAD I did. They were EXCELLENT! I did go open faced with mine which turned out best since the buns were bagatinis, larger and much better than a normal hot dog bun. Below is a basic recipe:
- Grill sausages, then split lengthwise down the middle.
- Small baguettes (bagatinis) for the buns.
- Char the slices of bell pepper (a mix of at least 2 colors) and onion in a cast iron skillet.
- Pickled Peppers
- Mustard (yellow or creole) and/or ketchup or a honey mustard (mix of Dijon, yellow mustard and honey)
- Picked relish or dill pickles
- Spread the bun with some of the mustard.
- Place the two pieces of split sausage side by side on the bun.
- Top with vegetables, pickled peppers and relish.
- Pour more mustard over the dog and enjoy!
Here are a few other meals I’ve made recently with our garden produce.
- Charred squash and onion omelet with a little fresh basil and Pecorino Romano.
- Thick slices of tomatoes topped with tuna salad and served with garlic bread.
- Three Sisters
- Calabacitas enchiladas
- Chunky Gazpacho
- Gazpacho Salad
- Pickled Jalapeños
In the comment section, please let us know how you are using your garden produce.
What a fabulous garden-grown bounty you have. Great pictures and yes admiring is something I would do but it’s short-lived! Those Tomatoes look so luscious and thanks for actually posting the recipes for each produce. We were lucky to have some rhubarbs in our garden. Some berries did pop as well allowing us to produce some compote.
Thanks Hasin! So glad you enjoyed the post. I hope you get a chance to make some of the recipes. We have a small rhubarb which yielded just enough for one rhubarb cobbler this year. Hopefully we’ll get more next year. I would love to grow berries, but right now, I’m out of garden space, so I’m quite envious. 🙂
That’s so great to be able to grow so much in your garden, everything looks perfect! I have 3 small tomatoes right now in my garden and about 10 more that will probably not manage to get red, it is getting too cold already.
Thanks Adina! You must have a really short growing season. It took me a while to get use to the shorter growing season here in New Mexico since I grew up in Louisiana where you could plant in March and didn’t get a freeze until November/December. But even though the season is short, the garden is still productive. YAY!
Wow, do I ever need this list of recipes for a prolific garden, MJ! Great ideas! Love your photos too. I’m anxious to read the quiche recipe when you post it too. I’m so glad that you’re back with another blog post; I’ve MISSED you! Don’t leave us for so long the next time my friend!
Stay safe and well,
Roz
Thanks Roz! So glad you like the list of recipes. Hope your garden is doing well and could use some more ideas :). You are a sweetheart – I miss posting as well as visiting yours and others sites as often as I used to. Hopefully I’ll be able to get my quiche recipe up sooner rather than later. Thank you for your encouragement!
I admire your bounty, and love the dishes you’ve prepared with it!
Thanks Jeff. It’s becoming a challenging, but we all need a good challenge right? 🙂
Such gorgeous produce, MJ! You have quite the green thumb! It’s a wonderful time of year with all the fresh fruits and veggies. The caprese salad looks fantastic!
Thanks Kelly! Fresh fruits and veggies is what I absolutely love about the summer and being able to go into the back yard and pick it then cook it, is hard to beat.
Your garden are so beautiful especially red tomatoes and all veggies so fresh as well…Thanks for sharing your garden story..!
Thanks Richard! Those are gorgeous tomatoes aren’t they. They are delicious as well. 🙂
Those produce are so vibrant, nothing can beat fresh veggies
Thanks Raymund! “nothing can beat fresh veggies” – that is so true!!
Your garden vegetables are beautiful! You can never have too many ways to enjoy tomatoes and squash this time of year and everything looks delicious.
Thanks Amy! I am starting to have to hide squash in dishes. 🙂 Tomatoes aren’t a problem. We eat them everyday.
I have to say that I’m very envious of your beautiful veggies, especially those wonderful looking tomatoes.
Thanks Karen! There is nothing like a home grown tomato.
Wow, I am in awe of your gardening skills. There is nothing better than home grown veggies, especially tomatoes. So glad that you shared your bounty, I am inspired!
Thanks Jan! I with you on the tomatoes. I refused to eat store bought tomatoes. I’ll cook with them, but that’s it. Home grown is the only tomato that is worth eating raw IMO. 🙂 I’m glad I was able to offer some inspiration.
Loving all that fresh garden surplus! Great round up of deliciousness. We used to have a huge garden growing up and I can remember never having to ever buy a vegetable. Can’t wait to try some of your delicious fresh vegetable recipes and especially your Calabacitas Quiche. Stay well and take care
Thanks Bobbi! I grew up with big gardens as well as a granddad who was a farmer, so gardening is in my blood. There have only been a couple of years when we didn’t have a garden. The payback is worth it. 🙂
We are so lucky to live in the areas to have gardens of our own ! Looking forward to see your quiche !
Thanks Davorka! I hope to have the quiche recipe up within the next 2 weeks. Things have slowed down for me physically, so I do a post when I can.
how absolutely wonderful to have your own produce. it all looks so delicious. i envy you! too many possums and bugs and wild turkeys here for herbs and veg. to survive!
Thanks Sherry! Sounds like you do have a challenge with a garden. We battle raccoons at times, but they seem to be leaving the plants alone this year and just digging around them.
MJ, your post is sure making me miss the kitchen garden we had when we lived in the US, as I sure remember those summer days of massive garden harvest. The neighbors always enjoyed them too.
Those poblanos look wonderful and as you know it’s a pepper we don’t get here fresh. But your tomatoes look amazing. A great recipe roundup for an abundant garden.
Thanks Ron! I’m very pleased with how well the poblanos are doing this year. My plants are loaded, but then New Mexico does grow chiles quite well. 🙂
Wow! Those tomatoes are gorgeous but so is everything else. I just have a few things this year because the garden centers were not open and I didn’t want to wait in lines. Loving your menus!
Thanks Abbe! We are certainly enjoying it all, but I’m starting having to hide the squash in dishes. 🙂
The fresh produce looks so GOOD, esp. those tomatoes…absolutely gorgeous.
Thanks Angie! And those tomatoes – absolutely delicious!
i am so jealous of all the beautiful produce, particularly the tomatoes! Tomatoes are at a premium here. if you get to the market on the right day early in the morning you might find a few hot house ones, but even those are scarce. Canned tomatoes are not to be had. If you really search you might find a stray can of crushed or pureed. Yellow squash seen to be abundant. The other day I sliced some length-wise, tossed them in olive oil, salt and sage, and grilled them on my cooktop grill. The family, who are usually indifferent to squash, loved them. Brynn’s herb garden has come back pretty well this year. We have tons of rosemary. The oregano is doing well enough that I harvest the large leaves daily, dry, and grind them for keeping. She has two kinds of mint that are struggling but holding their own. I’ve added mint to lots of salads and mint juleps of course. What’s a pandemic without mint juleps?
Thanks Nads! I can’t believe you are having a hard time finding canned tomatoes, but then you do live in a much bigger city. We did the grilled squash the other night and it was wonderful! Thanks for the suggestion.
I am looking forward to the calabicitas quiche! I have a lot of Mexican squash and yellow zucchini right now – and can’t even give them away, due to Covid.
Thanks Crista! We finally broke down and gave some squash to the backyard neighbors who in return gave us some wonderful cheese. They are older than we are so since neither of us go anywhere, we both felt save with the exchange. 🙂 Hope to have my quiche up within the next 2 weeks.
I don’t believe I’ve heard of Black Cherry tomatoes. They sound wonderful! Your garden is really producing — how nice to have all that fresh produce. And you’ve provided an excellent array of recipes for us to choose from to use fresh garden goodies. Thanks!
Thanks John! This is the first time I’ve grown the Black Cherry tomatoes and I will be growing them again. 🙂