Eating Raw

Not sure why I choose to live in upstate NY.    I dislike winter weather even though I love the beauty of its presence.    I love spring, summer and fall seasons and all of their bounty.   I love to eat and cook with fresh from the garden ingredients.    I much prefer the taste of home grown ingredients to those mass marketed.  

My parents always had a huge garden.  As I child I remember bushels of fresh from the garden vegetables and my mom telling me not to eat so many of whatever it was we just harvested as it would make my belly hurt.   We all ate our share of the days harvest, if it was pea picking time, then we ate fresh peas as we hulled them and processed them for the freezer.   If it was cucumber time, we ate slices of cucumber while we processed them to be canned as pickles.   If it was time to pick tomatoes we ate our share of tomato sandwiches or cucumber and tomato salad while processing the rest to be canned.   Mmmmmm…..nothing better than picked fresh off the vine.

As an adult I still like to eat as fresh as possible.  However, I did not inherit the whole “grow your own” genes.  I tried.   I really did, when I first got married we rototilled a spot and I went to town planting and weeding.   The peas were okay.   They grew above ground.  The carrots, not so much.  We couldn’t pull them out of the ground.   Literally.    The soil where I live is so rocky that the carrots grew in and around the rocks.   The rocks held the carrots in the ground just like an anchor holds a ship in the ocean.    We had to get a shovel to dig them up.  The carrots were zig zag in form. That was the end of my garden.   I later turned the kids sand box into a small container garden where I can grow a few tomato plants and herbs. And I shop at the local food markets and take whatever freebies from the neighbors and friends that I can get.    I am thankful to have such wonderful friends. 

This recipe using fresh off the Cobb corn makes for a yummy lunch time meal or a side for dinner or barb-b-que.

Fresh Corn Salad

Dressing

½ cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
1 cup olive oil

Salad
4 ears of corn, corn cut from the cobb
½ cup finely diced red onion (soaked in water 20 minutes and patted dry)
¼ cup cucumber, diced small
½ cup red or orange sweet pepper, diced small
½ cup cherry or pear tomatoes, halved or quartered
3 tbsp. Italian parsley, torn
1 tbsp. basil leaves, torn
1 tbsp. jalapeño, diced small (remove the seeds and veins if you like)
½ tsp. sea salt
1-2 cups small arugula leaves

To make the dressing: In a small glass bowl whisk together vinegar, sugar, salt, and black pepper.  Once sugar is dissolved whisk in olive oil.   Set aside while making the salad.

For the salad:  Cut corn kernels from the cob.  Chop all vegetables into same size pieces as the corn kernels.  Toss all ingredients in a large bowl. Pour dressing over top and toss again just before serving.  Serve immediately. 

 

Notes and swaps

·         Swap out the red onion for shallot
·         Omit the jalapeño if you don’t like it spicy
·         Can’t find arugula, use your favorite green
·         You can add dried spices like onion powder or garlic powder to the dressing






For more recipes, click the button below:



 

Follow me on Facebook
 

Or find me on Pinterest

 

 Click this image to subscribe

 

 

Join me on Google+

 

 

 

 

From the bottom of my heart.............. 

 

No Cooking Required

No Cooking Required (with a twist of ADD)

I love this time of year, heat and all.   As crazy as it sounds, I often bake when it is hot outside.  It’s already hot; who is going to notice the oven is on (insert chuckle here).   However, there are day’s I am too lazy to cook and that is when I turn to quick “No Cooking Required” recipes. 

 

Yesterday was a day of errands. One of those included visiting the local public market.   They call it a “Public Market”    due to the variety of vendors they have.  Not all of them are farmers.   I love fresh fruits and veggies and the variety that are displayed at the market.   I also like the fact that there is always something there you can’t get in a supermarket.    And the fact that just purchasing your produce in the open air makes them taste better.  Fresh air makes everything taste better (you should try a weenie roast in the dead of winter, nothing tastes better than that Hot Dog cooked over an open flame in the dead of winter).

What did I purchase you ask?   Well, I was hoping to find green tomatoes at the market.  Yup they had them.  But then I spied an Eight Ball Zucchini, surprisingly not many people at the market knew what they were.  They are a grapefruit sized round Zucchini.  Great for stuffing, but that is a recipe for another time.   I also purchased a ¼ bushel of pickling cucumbers, 2 small purple eggplants, Italian Pole Beans, Jalapeno Peppers, Peaches, Nectarines, and Heirloom Tomatoes.    I think that was everything at the market.  

Off to have breakfast with a couple of my girlfriends.  You have to get to the market early and why not arrive when it just opens.   My girlfriends are lucky I didn’t eat anything at the market. Need to go potty and have a second cup of tea.  Breakfast was a trip as usual.  We have polite conversations mixed with a little bit of ball busting, one upping and throwing each other under the bus.  How we love each other.  We part and go our separate ways.

Now, to get back on track and finish my errands.    The next few stops are irrelevant, stopping here and there to get essentials like toothpaste and toilet paper, shop for shoes for the wedding and fill up the car with gas.   

My last stop: I have Heirloom tomatoes from the market, it is off to a place called Roma’s.   Roma’s is a little Italian deli, where they sell imported pasta, cheeses, and meats.   They also carry homemade Italian bread and pizza pie to die for.  I consider it to be the best in the area.   They have a large mixed olive case with a variety of black and green flavored olives.  Did I mention the Imported Italian Cheeses:  Parmigiano-Reggiano, Pecorino Romano, Mozzarella, Basket Cheese, Braided Cheese, Smoked, Wedges and Grated and my favorite of all time Soft Fresh Mozzarella Balls.  Fight the urge to purchase tomato pie.    Don’t inhale at the register, you will then smell all the deliciousness and weaken. Pay the man and hold your breath till you get out the door (just teasing, I love the deli smell). Okay leaving Roma’s with a loaf of fresh Crusty Italian Bread, a small container that holds a variety of the many olives from the olive case, a bag of freshly grated parmesan cheese and my mozzarella balls.  

I arrive home about 1:30ish.   Unload the car and carry everything in the house.   Drop everything and take the dog outside to do her necessaries.  Let the dog romp and play for a few minutes as she has been inside all morning.    Back inside, cappuccino from the Keurig while unpacking all of my wonderful goodies.    Such a sense of accomplishment overcomes ones-self, as I stare at the variety of health and wellness displayed on my counter.   Lunch! Its lunch time! With all the errands I had run in the morning lunch needed to be quick and painless and of course consist of several items I had purchased well running all those errands.   Let’s make a fresh Cucumber Caprese Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes and Fresh Mozzarella drizzled with imported extra virgin olive oil and reduced balsamic vinegar (both previously purchased at Roma’s), topped with a slice of fresh home baked crusty Italian bread.    Ahhhhhh! Or should I say MMMMMM!

I shall be posting more recipes from my finds at the Public Market.   



For more recipes, click the button below:



 

Follow me on Facebook
 

Or find me on Pinterest

 

 Click this image to subscribe

 

 

Join me on Google+

 

 

 

 

From the bottom of my heart..............