Enjoying garden fresh veggies into the fall!
This year I grew tomatoes, green peppers, and strawberries. I am still waiting for most of my tomatoes to ripen and unfortunately the prognosis isn’t good because it is the end of September. According to my horticulture coworkers it was a tough year here for tomatoes. Because in the summer it was too hot at night for them to “set” and now it is too cold for them to ripen. On the other hand, my peppers are the best I’ve ever grown. Then there was my first attempt at growing strawberries. The plant looked great but it only produced one edible strawberry, and it was the size of a blueberry. None the less my daughter enjoyed eating it.
My garden’s harvest wasn’t as bountiful as I’d like but luckily my in-laws neighbors had better luck. From them, we received bags of cucumbers, yellow squash, and watermelon. I had fun trying new recipes (see below) using their produce, along with my peppers and my one and only beautiful ripe tomato.
These recipes were found on my favorite recipe website: Allrecipes.com.
Cucumber Salsa 
Ingredients
2 medium cucumbers, peeled, and chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
½ cup green pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
½ small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 teaspoons fresh cilantro
½ teaspoon dried dill weed
½ teaspoon salt
Directions: In a medium bowl, stir all ingredients together. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Serve with tortilla chips.
Cucumber Lemonade
Ingredients
1 cucumber, thinly sliced
1 (12 ounce) can frozen lemonade concentrate
1 (2 liter) bottle lemon-lime flavored carbonated beverage
Directions: Place the cucumber slices into a large pitcher. Pour the lemonade concentrate over the cucumber and let stand for 10 minutes. Pour in the lemon-lime soda and pour into glasses to serve.
Grilled Yellow Squash
Ingredients
- 4 medium yellow squash
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Preheat the grill for medium heat.
- Cut the squash horizontally into 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick slices so that you have nice long strips that won’t fall through the grill.
- Heat olive oil in a small pan, and add garlic cloves. Cook over medium heat until the garlic starts to sizzle and become fragrant. Brush the slices of squash with the garlic oil, and season with salt and pepper.
- Grill squash slices for 5 to 10 minutes per side, until they reach the desired tenderness. Brush with additional garlic oil, and turn occasionally to prevent sticking or burning.
