Dinner for Four

Have you been outside today, September 15th and the temperature is 91 degrees - yes I did say 91 degrees - crazy! Normally, at this time of year I’m thinking about chili and cornbread, or portabella stew or a nice spicy curry not so much these days. I’m looking for something cool and fresh tasting.

We continue to harvest tomatoes and last week I thought they were coming to an end but my harvest on Thursday night said otherwise. We’re harvesting peppers, beets, cabbage, kale, collard greens and soon - squash (my favorite). So what to do with ALL THOSE TOMATOES? Good question. We’ve had sandwiches, marinated tomatoes with feta and basil, I’ve even been known to grab a handful and have them for a snack. 

Last night was movie night but before I get to that I want to show you a picture of my Thursday harvest so that you can see what I was up against and how I came to the dinner we served. See 2 heads of cabbage, peppers, tomatoes, beets, and the last of the green beans. 

Movie night -  we’ve been getting together with our friends Gerd and Maria once a month for a few years now. They bring the wine and movie and we make dinner - and we appreciate that they are willing to eat whatever we make. Most of the time, dinner is driven by what we’re harvested from the garden so some meals are more creative than others. 

With all those tomatoes, I decided we hadn’t had bruschetta in a while but I wanted to try something a little bit different than the traditional tomato, garlic and olive oil rendition. We had a nectarine and some ground cherries so I took a couple handfuls of cherry tomatoes, cut up a nectarine and threw in some ground cherries. I added a splash of balsamic vinegar and put it under the broiler for about 10 minutes; until some of the tomatoes burst. I toasted some french bread and we inhaled it. The reviews were excellent. 

Photo credit for the appetizer goes to Maria. 

For dinner I decided on a tofu, veggie, cabbage and cashew stir fry. And since it was Dan’s birthday on Wednesday, I made him an apple pie (thanks to our neighbors Teri and Dennis for the apples from their tree). 

As we were going through our pictures this morning it seems neither of us remembered to take a photo of the stir fry - sigh. We do have a picture of the pie.

Veggie and tofu stir fry

Ingredients:

3 stalks celery - diced

2 carrots cut into small matchsticks

8 ounces of mushrooms - quartered

2 small onions - medium dice

~ 2 lbs green cabbage - chopped

1 1/2 red peppers - julienne 

1 cup whole cashews

~ 1/2 cup white wine

1/3 cup soy sauce

3 dashes sesame oil

2 T cooking oil

garlic powder to taste

pepper to taste

Instructions:

In a wok or large deep skillet, heat cooking oil over medium-high heat. Stir-fry onion, celery, and carrot for about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, pepper, and cashews, and stir-fry another 3 minutes.

Add wine, soy sauce, and cabbage. Stir well, cover, and steam until cabbage wilts slightly, about 5 minutes. Stir in sesame oil and garlic powder.

Continue stirring until cabbage is done to your liking. May season with black pepper if desired. 

Dan cooked up a package of tofu (he is the best tofu cook on the planet) and added it to the stir fry for some added protein. We served it with brown rice and fresh strawberries and cantaloupe on the side. Now what to do with the beets, kale, collards, peppers and other heads of cabbage just waiting for me to come back to the garden and get them?