A Sweet and Savory Delicata Squash

My counter is filled with tomatoes; German Pinks, Brandywine, Early Girl, Juliet, Sweet 100’s, Mortgage Lifter, and Better Boy. I’ve made 2 batches of sauce and there is definitely another one later this week.

We have consumed countless toasted tomato and mayo sandwiches, had them in salads, with eggs, in ratatouille, tarts, and galettes. Let’s just say the tomatoes are ripening at a rapid pace. But there is truly nothing like a fresh tomato that you’ve just picked from your garden there is no comparison to the grocery store variety even in peak season. 

I’ve also been harvesting at least 2 zucchini and summer squash a day - it’s time to chop and freeze these for winter soups, stews, and chili. The winter squash are continuing to grow and ripen and as luck would have it one of our delicata squash was ready. 

This is my first attempt at growing delicata. I’ve talked to other gardeners and my expectation was that I would get about 5 squash per plant, which isn’t great but I was still willing to give it a try because I love the flavor. To my surprise, we have 9 squash so almost double - my expectations have been exceeded!

The delicate flavor of delicata called for something a little sweet and savory so I combined 2 recipes, substituted vegan butter for regular unsalted, and served it on top of salad greens - it was delicious. 

Ingredients:

2 Delicata squashes halved lengthwise, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch inch thick pieces

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon miso paste

1 tablespoon maple syrup honey and agave are fine substitutes

1 tablespoon vegan butter at room temperature

1 scallion finely sliced, for garnish (optional)

Toasted sesame seeds for garnish (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 425ºF. In a bowl, add the sliced squash and toss with sesame oil to coat. Spread the squash in a single layer on a parchment-lined or well-greased baking sheet and roast for 30-35 minutes, turning once halfway through, until lightly golden on both sides.

While the squash is roasting, mix the miso, maple syrup, and vegan butter in a small bowl and stir to combine. Brush one side of the roasted squash with the miso-butter mixture and roast for another 10 minutes until the squash is glazed and brown. 

Remove to a platter and sprinkle with scallions and sesame seeds if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature. 

A Simple and Delicious Tomato Sauce

We're harvesting tomatoes! The warm/cool temps have launched the tomatoes into ripening mode. In the past week, I’ve picked about a pound of tomatoes each day and I don’t see that stopping anytime soon. 

We’ve also harvested our first delicata squash and the green beans are finally coming in. I was beginning to feel like that space had been wasted and there were a couple times I was tempted to pull the entire pole bean mess down and start over but I’m glad I stuck it out. I have planted another round of bush beans (fingers crossed that the package is labeled correctly) with luck we’ll get an excellent second crop. 

I have to say the winter squash is our signature crop - the Honeynut butternut squash has exploded. Every time I go out to the garden I find a few more; some are going to be large and others small but all have that sweet promise of soups, stews, baked with maple syrup and walnuts, stuffed with wild rice …. the possibilities are endless. 

Meanwhile back in tomato land, I’ve got 3 areas on the counter; one for tomatoes that are for sandwiches (normally the heirlooms and meaty tomatoes), one for gazpacho, and one for the need to use now, which means make the sauce. The gazpacho pile is short-lived because you can only have so much gazpacho but I do love a batch or 2 every summer. And for those of you who know I find no redeeming qualities in tomato juice - don’t ask, I can’t explain it. 

I try to keep my go-to tomato sauce simple so that when I pull it out of the freezer I can transform it into whatever I want. Sometimes it's chili, others a red pasta sauce and sometimes I need it for a nice curry. Many people will tell you that paste (Roma) tomatoes are the best for sauce but I disagree, if you have a high-speed blender like a Vitamix, you can use any tomatoes, which in my humble opinion, deepens the flavor. 

Ingredients:

Tomatoes - enough to fill the bottom of a large roasting pan

1 head of garlic - roughly chopped

2 onions - roughly chopped

olive oil 

1 handful of fresh basil (more or less it’s up to you)

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400. Wash and chop tomatoes (I cut large tomatoes into 6 pieces, cherries in half and quarter smaller ones) and put in a single layer in a large roasting pan. Add garlic and onions and a generous pour of olive oil. Stir to make sure all tomatoes are oil-covered and place in the oven to roast for @ 1.5 hours or until the juices are almost gone. Check on the sauce and stir at the 45-minute mark and then every 15 minutes after. 

Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Scrape all tomato bits into a high-speed blender and blend on high until seeds and skins are obliterated @ 1 minute. Pour into freezer bags and freeze for later use. 

Thanks for stopping by!

A Berry Vegan Tart

It’s almost the end of August - where does the time go? Parts of the garden are flourishing and other parts - meh. I harvested about 2 pounds of black turtle beans, zucchini is still producing, summer squash is picking up steam, tomatoes are now ripening, chard, kale, and collards holding their own and we ate our first midget melon - it was sweet and delicious. 

What’s not so great - green beans, cucumbers, and peppers. I think I mentioned that I planted what the package said were bush beans but turned out they were pole beans. I have lots of flowers and bees but no beans - ugh. The cucumbers never really got started, I got maybe 5 and then pulled the plant - something was having a field day. And the green peppers, well they never even flowered. Go figure. 

We were heading to a friend's house for a pool party and dinner - what a great combination. I’m normally the salad, appetizer, side dish person but this time I brought a dessert. We had a great evening; good food, good conversation, and great company. 

Ingredients - Crust

1.5 cups oats

3/4 c pecans

1/4 c coconut oil, melted

3T maple syrup

1/4 t salt

Ingredients - custard

1 - 13.5 ounce can of full-fat coconut milk

3/4 c unsweetened vegan milk

2/3 c sugar

1.5 t vanilla

1/4 cup plus 2T corn starch

1/4t salt

1/4t turmeric

Ingredients - topping

strawberries

raspberries

blueberries

Instructions - crust

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a tart pan and set aside. 

In a food processor, place oats and process for about 1 minute or until ground into flour. Add pecans, and pulse a few times until finely ground but not oily. Add coconut oil, maple syrup, and salt and pulse again until the mixture holds together. 

Put the pecan mixture into the tart pan and use your fingers to spread evenly across the bottom and sides, pressing firmly. Poke crust evenly with a fork, then place in the oven and bake for 10 - 15 minutes until lightly browned. Set aside to cool

For the custard

Combine coconut milk, vegan milk, sugar, vanilla, cornstarch, salt, and vanilla in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, whisking to combine. Use a rubber spatula to stir the mixture slowly and evenly as it cooks to prevent scorching. Cook until custard is thick and bubbling - @ 7 minutes. Remove from heat, pour the custard into a bowl, and cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a film from forming. Chill until cold - at least 2 hours. 

To assemble the tart:

Whisk chilled custard to smooth, adding 1T milk at a time if the custard is too thick to spread. Spoon into cooled crust and spread evenly with a spatula. Arrange fruit across the top of the custard. For best results, serve within a few hours. 

Thanks for stopping by!