Saturday, July 28, 2012

Weekend Cooking; Market fresh produce with an easy recipe

Weekend Cooking:

It's a busy day here in the Holt household.  My husband is off doing a shoot for 3M and I'm diligently working on homework to finish my Fantasy Literature course for Fresno Pacific.We also have a casual wedding this evening.


I did sneak out early this morning to go to our beautiful Farmer's Market which I missed while in Colorado. 


I picked up two baby eggplants, a basket of okra, and a nice-looking cucumber. I've been making a lot of easy dishes using garden produce especially using the large box of tomatoes I carted home from my mom's house.

I plan to make this eggplant recipe from The Chew; a cooking show my mom introduced me to. For dinner last night  I whipped this recipe up created by me using lots of fresh produce.


Garden-Fresh Vegetables and Rice

1-2 T. of olive oil
1 yellow squash, diced without the inner seed section
1 small zucchini, diced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
4-5 soft tomatoes, diced
1 can of garbanzo beans
Several large pinches of sea salt and curry powder
Fresh ground pepper
Cooked brown rice as much as will feed your family

Saute the zucchini and yellow squash in olive oil for a few minutes and then added the garlic.  Continue to saute to soften the dreaded squashes that my children despise but will eat if cut small enough. Add the chopped tomatoes which will create a nice juice. Add the can of garbanzo beans and stir to mix.  Sprinkle in sea salt, ground pepper and curry.  Serve in low bowls over brown rice.  Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese, cilantro, or torn basil leaves.  This is a perfect summer recipe because you can tailor it to what ever extra veggies you have on hand or what you find at the market.  Spice it up with cumin or change the garbanzos to black beans for variety.


My husband just finished Ragbrai (the famous ride across Iowa) yesterday and he had three helpings.  My kids each ate one bowl and the only complaint Groovy Girl had was that I hadn't added enough tomatoes to her bowl. Enjoy! 


Oh and Adam Duritz:  What? Yes.  He was part of my week!




 The last night of Ragbrai I met up with my husband and we saw The Counting Crows together.  I still love Duritz's hair (real or not).  He was fun to watch and the music was fantastic!


 Happy eating.

8 comments:

caite said...

I have made something like that..a great way to use up all sort of bits of veggies left over. I like it with pasta too!

Carrie at In the Hammock Blog said...

sounds yummy, I love fresh veggies!

Heather said...

wow you've used a whole bunch of my favourites. i would have enjoyed this meal. I love throwing all sorts of bits of veggies together and coming up with a tasty dinner.

Nan said...

This sounds great! How many oz. in a can of garbanzos? (since I use dry beans when I cook them) Thanks so much for this.

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

I think I should focus more on veggie based main dishes in summer. Lots of good fresh vegetables out there right now.

Thank you for this post!

Beth F said...

That's a great complaint from a kid: not enough of a veggie!

Sounds like you are busy, busy but having fun.

(Diane) bookchickdi said...

What a great way to use Farmers' Market vegetables. I've gotten some good recipes from The Chew too.

Chinoiseries said...

Are the Counting Crows still together? I had no idea. His hair looks springy as ever though :)
Is the produce at your farmer's market affordable? The vegetables look really fresh, so much better than the average supermarket offers!
Mmm, lovely recipe and easy too!