Summer Harvest Begins

First Basket of Pears 2021

         As I sat down to write this morning, I was thinking that it’s only a few weeks into summer and it’s really turning into a record breaker. LOL, summer officially began yesterday!  For me it isn’t so much the heat but the dense humidity in Houston.  Walking outside midday is like walking into a sauna.  The thermometer may read 88F, but the weather channel says the real feel is 99F. and we haven’t reached todays high yet.  Keeping the heat in mind I planned another week of easy meals.  Repurposing leftovers and minimal cooking until I start cooking for this coming Shabbat.  I am also starting to plan my cooking around the produce from my garden.  My collard greens survived the winter freeze and have gone crazy in the heat.  I love this versatile leafy green and use it in salads, soups, and sauteed with lots of garlic as an awesome side dish.  Our pear trees have benefited from this past winters freeze as well, and we began to pick pears from them yesterday.   Pears aren’t my favorite fresh fruit, but they are delicious poached in wine, pickled and made into sauce (similar to apple sauce but smoother).  The other things in our garden aren’t quite ready to harvest yet as I got a late start, but everything is growing nicely, and I am looking forward to using our homegrown produce in many recipes soon.

         The menu for this week’s dinners is simple and if there are recipes you are interested in, please drop me a line.  I am also posting some pictures from the garden for you to enjoy.

Week of June 20 - 24

Sunday:

Shabbat Leftovers (actually we had grilled cheese sandwiches and salad)

Meatless Monday :

Meatless Meatballs w/ Whole Wheat Linguine, Tomato Sauce & a Leafy Green Salad

Tuesday:

Leftover Chicken, Gumbo, Dirty Rice & Greens

Wednesday:

Broiled Salmon Bowls - Leafy Greens topped w/ broiled Salmon, Carrots, Sliced Cucumber, Radish, Mushrooms & Sprouts

Thursday:

Shwarma Salad Bowls (pulling schwarma from the freezer will make this meal super easy to toss together)

Squash climbing the trellis. Cucuzza to the right

Butternut Squash