I spent a weekend in Boston earlier this summer and my dear friend Rachel showed me this simple, delicious dish. Use a vegetable peeler to make ribbons out of your yellow squash and zucchini, rotating the squash after each ribbon or two so you get even pieces. Leave over the seeded middles. Blanch the squash ribbons (that’s dropping them into boiling water briefly and then dunking them in ice water to stop the cooking) and drain them well. Toss with your favorite pesto.
Please don’t pretend you’re eating pasta, because you won’t be impressed. However, as a vegetarian side dish or a way to highlight your CSA or farmer’s market finds, this simple dish is perfection. Slightly salty and rich from the pesto; fresh and light from the squash. With some sliced CSA tomatoes, it’s a perfect summer dinner.
The recipe for this Roasted Eggplant & Red Pepper Dip (or spread) comes from the beautiful blog The Cilantropist, and I am not surprised the author says it is one of her favorite foods to make in the summer.
I followed the recipe as written, except that I doubled the quantities of everything but the oil — I kept that at a third of a cup in the doubled recipe. I did have to puree the dip in two batches, as my Cuisinart couldn’t handle all of it at once. That gave me an opportunity to go a little heavier on the tomato paste in one batch, and lighter in the other — the one with less tomato paste was better, with more of the roasted eggplant flavor shining through.
I knew this spread would be a hit with my mother-in-law, who adores eggplant, but it went over well with all of the adults in my extended family. We ate outside on a hot night, smoothing this creamy, tangy spread over bagels. I served hard-boiled eggs and a salad made from romaine lettuce, marinated onions, feta, and sliced beets, too. It was indeed a perfect summer meal.
We received a big head of bok choi in our farm share a couple of weeks ago, and I usually just do a simple stir fry when I get this vegetable. It combines well with red pepper and onions; saute and add a splash of soy sauce and you’re done.
This time I went a bit further and made Stout Oak Farm’s Bok Choi & Sesame Noodles. I didn’t have any pea shoots, so I omitted them. I also used a smaller noodles-to-bok choi ratio than the recipe calls for, and subbed whole wheat spaghetti in place of the buckwheat noodles. I do like buckwheat soba and can get them at the Mrs. Green’s (a local Whole Foods-type store), but the spaghetti works just as well.
Whenever possible, I serve noodles separately from whatever is being mixed in to make the meal. So, a nice big bowl of the bok choi, and noodles on the side. This way my kids will at least eat the noodles, and might try the sauce, meatballs, or whatever else makes the pasta a complete dinner. They’re both much more willing to try green vegetables lately, but declined the bok choi at this dinner. Then, a couple of hours later when J. got home and was eating, A. decided the combined recipe did indeed look tasty. He got his own bowl and although he picked out most of the vegetables, he slurped up the sesame noodles and loved it. Since he eats my Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups greens and all, I’m pretty sure I could make this recipe again with spinach and have him eat the whole thing.
Allyson, a fellow Roxbury Farm member, left this kale recipe for me in a post’s comments a few weeks ago. It’s great, and very simple. It also had me making my own fresh breadcrumbs for the first time — I’d never done that before. (I just pulsed two end slices of whole wheat bread in my food processor until I had fluffy crumbs.)
To make this dish, cut the middle stems out of a large bunch of kale leaves, and wash them thoroughly. Boil a large pot of water and drop the kale in, blanching them for about a minute; remove them quickly and run them under cold water. Even better, dunk them in an ice bath (I didn’t go that far, and it still worked nicely). Let the kale drain and set it aside. Toast the breadcrumbs (a generous handful worth) in olive oil in a large saute pan. Let them get crispy, then set them aside. Wipe out the pan, add a little more olive oil, and add a several cloves of minced garlic. Saute for a minute or so over medium low heat, then add a couple of teaspoons of good paprika. (Allyson uses a Spanish smoked paprika, mine is Hungarian hot.) Add the well-drained kale (you can squeeze the water out, too) to the pan, raise the heat a bit, and cook until it’s all warmed through. Toss with the breadcrumbs and serve. You can season with salt and pepper if you like.
I found that the garlic really cut the bitterness of the kale, and the toasted breadcrumbs were a decadent topping to what could otherwise feel like an “eat your greens!” boring but healthy dish. I loved this preparation, though J. thought I’d put in too many breadcrumbs. I couldn’t convince the boys to try it, but I will make it again. That is, when I’m not busy roasting my kale. Thanks again, Allyson!
I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more about me and CITK, and keep in touch:
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Cheesy Kale Crisps: We rarely eat kale now that our farm share is over, and I want to fix that. I've wanted to try using nutritional yeast, and this recipe looks like a tasty way to do it.
I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more 
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