What's Not to Love About Summer Veggies

I made this Summer Veggie Casserole a couple nights ago. It was awesome. In fact we have eaten it two days in a row now. It's just that good. Of course I made a few changes to the recipe but only because of what I had on hand. First I replaced the ricotta cheese with blue cheese. Excellent choice if I do say so myself. I also eliminated the bread crumbs and just gave the casserole a Parmesan cheese crust on top. the veggies that I used were all from the CSA that I am a member of and the basil came from my own herb garden. I will most certainly be making this one again.

I See These in My Future

3 Ingredient Coconut Oil Buscuits

I saw all of these recipes on Pinterest and am going to link to the original post. These biscuits are calling my name in the morning. I've been eating English muffins every morning and I'm ready for a change. Plus I would much rather make my own bread than eat store bought English muffins for my breakfast sandwiches. I can't wait to see how they work out!

Tuna Stuffed Avocado

This tuna stuffed avocado will be one of my lunch choices next week.

Homemade Falafel

I've been wanting to make my own falafel for a long time but kept finding recipes that were made with chickpea flour instead of actual chickpeas. I know traditionally they are made with chickpea flour but I just kept thinking that I wanted to make them with the actual beans. Anyway, this recipe was exactly what I have been looking for.

Flowers

Recipes I'm Loving this Week

Tuscan Chicken Skillet

The Wanderlust Kitchen

I adapted this recipe from The Wanderlust Kitchen. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to make it. Here is the recipe with my changes.

2 Tbsp olive oil, divided

1 lb chicken breast tenderloins

1 tsp Himalayan salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1/2 large yellow onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

12oz mushrooms, sliced

2/3 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped

2 cans diced tomatoes

basil for garnish

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium high heat in a cast iron skillet. Add the chicken and brown on both sides. Remove the chicken from pan.

2. Add the remaining olive oil to the pan. Add onion and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, Italian seasoning, and sundried tomatoes. Cook those puppies for about 1 minute and then add the mushrooms. 

3. When mushrooms start to cook down add the diced tomatoes and place the chicken back in the pan. Cook for another 5-6 minutes until the chicken is done and the sauce has thickened just a bit.

Enjoy because this stuff is good. The sundried tomatoes are what really make my mouth happy. I eliminated the cannelini beans that were in the original recipe because one of us doesn't like beans and substituted some of the spices for Italian seasoning since that is what I had on hand. Also a couple changes to the cooking method so check out the original recipe.

Homemade Garlic Knots

Not really the best picture ever but check these puppies out. They were so good and super easy. I found the recipe at The Recipe Critic. I was in charge of bring bread to dinner last night for my class and these were my choice.

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups warm water
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. yeast
• 3½ cups flour
• 1 tsp Salt

Garlic spread:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon parsley
• 1 Tablespoon Parmesan cheese, shredded
• drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive oil

1.  Mix warm water, sugar and yeast together.  Let that sit for 5 minutes.  
2. Add flour and salt to the water, sugar, and yeast.  Mix this until smooth and let it raise for 10 minutes.  I used my kitchenaid mixer with the dough hook and it was so easy and worked great!

3.  On a floured surface, roll your dough out about 1/2 inch thick.  I used a pizza cutter to cut the dough in half and then in strips (about 8-10 inches) for the garlic knots.  

4.  Roll the strips in your hands to look like ropes and then tie in knots.  

5.  Place the knots on a greased baking sheet and allow them to rise for another 10 minutes.

6.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.  

7.  While they are baking melt the butter and mix with garlic powder, parsley, Parmesan cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.  As soon as the garlic knots come out of the oven, brush the tops with the butter garlic mixture.  

The only thing I added to this recipe was the Parmesan cheese. Get the good stuff it makes them super delish. 

Oh How The Garden Has Grown

Check out this garden! It has grown so much in the last few weeks. All thanks to the rain that we have gotten. I can't take any credit here. We have gotten over 5 inches of much needed rain this month. It has made the gardening much easier. The rain chances are going down though and the heat is starting to go up. Today we have a high in the low 90's and will not be getting any rain. :( I think the garden will be okay with daily watering. That's how it goes in Oklahoma...daily watering.

Now for the tomatoes!...tiny as they are...

These are the tomatoes that Flint picked out. They were the first ones on the scene and the only ones that I have pictures of right now. They are still very small. I actually have no idea how big they are supposed to be. I made a major garden snafu. See I bought garden labels. They I wrote on them with a sharpie. Then it rained all month and now I have labels with no writing on them and no idea what the plants are.I know which ones are tomatoes and which ones are peppers, and okra, and squash, and so on and so fourth but no idea on the variety of most of the plants. I'm just going to have to play this year by ear and hope for the best.

This I know is a little heat-less jalapeno. It's supposed to taste like a jalapeno but have no heat. I have yet to try it but I did pick this one last night and plan on trying it tomorrow. We got all of these plants at Sunrise Acres, a certified organic farm not too far from the house. The owners were wonderful and personally helped us pick all the best varieties for our personal taste. They were so helpful and even shared recipes and growing tips as we walked through the greenhouses! It was awesome and I will most definitely be going back.

One more pepper and I know this one is going to be a yellow bell pepper. I don't know the variety but I do remember from planting it. That bell pepper is about 1/3 as tall as the whole plant. I'm not sure if I should have picked it so that the plant would thrive more or not but I left it on for now. Hopefully the plant can handle it.

Lastly but not leastly...the humble pan patty squash. When they are fully grown I think that they look like spaceships. This one has several growing and one that didn't do well so was already picked although inedible. Poor little guy. 

There are more tomatoes growing on almost every plant. There are a few plants that are holding out but they have grown tremendously and are doing well. There are also a couple zucchini hanging out that I haven't gotten a picture of yet. The hold outs so far include miniature popcorn ( I had high hopes), the beans, okra, and cucumbers. These are all also growing well so I think patience will be the key. More photos later this week.