Summer Dinner In a Snap

I have always considered myself more of a baker than a cook but my summer CSA adventure has forced me to be a little more of a cook than a baker.  Zucchini has been one of the most abundant staples of the weekly baskets I pick up from the CSA and its something that I don't normally eat.  Every now and again I will toss some in some jarred spaghetti sauce but other than that I never really know what to do with it.  My  mom and I were trying to come up with an easy, mess free recipe to use some up and last week in the basket we received small red onions, bulbs of garlic, tomatoes, zucchini and some yellow squash.  We decided to just throw it all in a pan and see what happened.

What we ended up with was super light and really tasty.  We have made it twice since our first experiment and I have a feeling that this one will hang around for a while.  

We call it the Back Garden Pasta.

Here's what we used...
1 Large Zucchini
1 Large Summer (yellow) Squash
1 Small Red Onion
3 Cloves of Garlic
5 Tomatoes (we prefer Roma or any of the Heirloom varieties)
Whole Wheat Angel Hair Pasta
Olive Oil

It couldn't be easier.  Cut the tomatoes, zucchini and summer squash into bite sized pieces, leaving the juice of the tomato intact. Mince the garlic and onion.  Heat the olive oil in a medium sized skillet, once hot toss in the onions.  Let them sweat out until softened and somewhat translucent.  Add in the garlic, cook just until fragrant.  Dump in the zucchini and summer squash and toss to combine.  Let that mix go for about 5 minutes, letting the zucchini and squash start to soften.  Once that is well on its way add the tomatoes.  The goal is to let the zucchini and squash to soften but not completely go to mush while allowing enough time for the tomatoes to break down and make a little sauce.  While all that is happening cook the angel hair according to the box.

Here is your pan once everything is in.

To serve simply top your pasta with lots of sauce and veggies and you have a super easy, quick dinner. Its also good with a handful of shrimp thrown in but I prefer the vegetarian option topped with a little fresh shaved Parmesan cheese.

Finished product :)

Sorry for the rough photos but my camera is down for the count and my iphone is on its last legs!

I hope you enjoy your summer feast!
~Leah

C.S.A.A.D. and I've got it bad!

Community Supported Agriculture Anxiety Disorder

 C-SAAD for short, its the term I have coined for what I suffer from every Wednesday night/Thursday morning.  It happens the minute I open my fridge and see heaps of fresh greens and vegetables peering back at me.  It happens because I know that after work on Thursday evenings I will add to those heaps!!

I only signed up for the half share thinking that I could handle it myself but what I really need is a half of a half share!  So far this year I have received Romaine lettuce, red lettuce, butter lettuce, cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, beets, turnip greens, collard greens, Swiss shard, kale, corn, English peas, green beans, wax beans, radishes, leeks, daicon, spring onions, garlic, eggplant, tomatoes, eggs, fresh cream, strawberries, blueberries, herbs a plenty, 3 vegetables I have yet to be able to identify and things I am sure I have forgotten.  Needless to say I am overwhelmed and my fridge is constantly full. 

This weekend I tried to use as much as possible.  I made a salad with the various lettuces, tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, peas and green beans mixed with my own garden heirloom tomatoes and snap peas and it was delish! I then used some of the zucchini and tomatoes with the onion and garlic to sauté up a great little sauce to put over angel hair pasta – oh my gosh the tomatoes were amazing! I moved on to blueberry muffins – whole wheat, yogurt blueberry muffins to be exact - and strawberry rhubarb pie (rhubarb grows wild in my backyard).  Finally I used the pickling cucumbers to try my hand at homemade pickles; I have to wait a week to see how they turned out!   

Once I hear back from my guinea pigs I may or may not be sharing my recipes! Hopefully later this week I will be posting all 4 recipes but I am always looking for more yummy ideas for my CSA treasures so if any of you out there have any ideas I’ll take them!

I'm off to cookbook stalk!

~Leah