Edible Summer

We’ve put ourselves on a bit of a budget for the foreseeable future. And by budget, I mean we’re trying not to eat out as much, and only when it’s a “special” meal (i.e. not phoning it in and ordering delivery when we’re hangry after going to the gym). I’ve got a few small trips coming up, wedding season is in full swing, and we are getting married in September and hoping to be able to take a nice honeymoon.

We’re allowing for a little wiggle room, though. Last night when we were going to bed, for example, when discussing what we were going to happen for breakfast (no joke, I can’t go to bed without knowing), Brien suggested going out for bagels! This may not sound so exciting, but given that I haven’t had a “real” bagel sandwich in a year and a half, I was definitely on board.

Whole wheat everything bagel with tofu vegetable cream cheese, lox, tomato + onion

Our CSA is in full swing, and now that we’re in mid-July (!), we’re finally getting more than just heads of lettuce. I’ve been trying to mix things up and find creative ways to prepare each ingredient, and finally created a separate board on Pinterest that I’m dedicating to the task. Here are some favorites:

oats with blueberries, lemon curd, + peanut butter
beet + arugula soup with sage + Greek yogurt
kale salad (massaged with lemon + oil) with blueberries, sundered tomatoes, avocado, marinated tofu, + horseradish pickles
sole (purchased at a farm stand + frozen in Spring) en papillote with tomatoes, zucchini, + yellow squash
spaghetti with zucchini, tomatoes, basil, Greek yogurt + parmesan

Most often, though, we resort to our favorite easy-peasy meal: Middle Eastern- inspired stir-fry! All we do is sauté in oil whatever vegetables we have on hand (carrots, potatoes, zucchini, onion, etc.), add a protein like chickpeas or tofu, wilt in a handful of greens, and toss with a generous pour of tamari. We serve it over cooked grains like rice, millet, or quinoa, then drizzle it with tahini and hot sauce (the Trader Joe’s chili pepper sauce is literally the.best.ever). If we have fresh herbs, we’ll sprinkle a handful on top. It takes less than 15 minutes to make, and the taste can vary depending on what vegetables we have. We’ve been eating it about 5x a week for months, and haven’t gotten tired of it yet.

Soon, we hope to have a few more foraged things, too. Brien scoped the parks out last weekend, but because the weather has been so weird, nothing was quite ready.

We do have a huge container of sumac berries, which he foraged for us last year. We’ve been steeping the berries in water and leaving it in the fridge, then straining out the berries to make an iced tea/lemonade beverage. We just got a SodaStream as an early wedding gift- we’re obsessed- and I like to do a 1:1 combination with sumac “tea” and seltzer.

What are you cooking with seasonal fruits and vegetables?