summer rules!

I just love summer- these are going to be the days I recall fondly in a few months as I shiver in my boots. Cookouts, hikes, picnics, cocktails with friends, long neighborhood walks, the hammock in the backyard, and of course... the produce! Now that it's August, the initial excitement has passed, and we are left with a steady supply of newly ripened tasties from the markets, the farms and farm stands, and even our garden.

In the above photo, you see some scenes from our garden- (clockwise from top right): a deer rummaging in the back yard, a leek plant turned huge mutant flower, our green zebra tomatoes on the vine, and a freshly picked green zebra.

A few weeks ago, we had a bit of a garden tragedy. SOMEthing (we're looking at you, deer) got into our yard and ate most of our tomatoes before they got ripe and we had a chance to pick them. Because it was already so late in the season, we were resigned to not having any tomatoes this summer. But fortunately, we've had a series of warm sunny days and it looks like most of our tomato plants are producing again- there's hope for a tomato harvest yet!

Old-fashioned summer comfort food, with a vegan spin: Tofurkey Italian sausage on an Ezekiel sprouted-grain bun, topped with the spiciest hot mustard we could find, served with a side of pickled okra. So satisfying.

Another symbol of summer: Daiku's French potato and green bean salad

Recipe (2 generous servings):

• 5-6 small potatoes, yellow or red, cut into halves or quarters depending on size
  
• 1/2 pound green beans, ends trimmed
• 1 small white onion, sliced thin
• fresh basil and dill
• vinaigrette made from extra virgin olive oil, sherry vinegar, salt and pepper
• handful of dried fried onion or shallot (optional) you can find this sold in cans in most Asian supermarkets (like this)
  

Boil potatoes until just tender. Meanwhile, steam green beans and onion together until just tender. Toss with vinaigrette and refrigerate at least one hour. Garnish with basil, dill, and fried onions before serving.

Yellow fruit platter consisting of fresh pineapple and golden kiwi. I always get really excited when golden kiwi show up at the supermarket- they are like a sweeter, less acidic kiwi, and they are a great change of pace.

I hope you are all enjoying this mellow and abundant time of summer!

summer rules!