Garden Gab

In the last post we discussed creating a meal from scratch for loved ones.  We baked an herb bread in preparation for a light bruschetta.  In case you are not a baker or simply don’t have time for baking a double rise bread, this bruschetta recipe is easily translated into a pasta caprese recipe simply by serving this over warm pasta rather than bread.  Or if you have a pasta maker, you can make your own herbed pasta instead of bread, you lucky, lucky duck!

For either method you will need:

• 2-3 tomatoes, diced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• Basil to taste
• 2-3 tblspns balsamic vinegar
• mozzarella, sliced for bruschetta, cubed small for pasta caprese
• diced chicken breast or small Maine shrimp (optional)

As you can probably see from my photo, I only managed to produce two fresh tomatoes from my indoor plant so far (it’s still early), so I’ve mixed a few store bought in.   This is ok, your own produce will have much more flavor and you can use grocery store veggies mixed in and not sacrifice that fresh, homegrown taste.

My tomatoes are mixed, my onions were a trade with another gardener and unfortunately, the lemons are store bought (oh how I long for a lemon tree!)

Once you have cooked your chicken or shrimp (or you can leave these out if you’d rather have a vegetarian version), mix it with your veggies, vinegar and seasonings and let it sit in the fridge about 45 minutes to give everything a chance to absorb the great flavors.  Ideally, you should use fresh just-picked basil for a really fresh taste, but if you have already dried yours, try adding a sprinkle of fresh parsley or cilantro, just to add a nice green taste.  In the meantime, cook your pasta or toast your bread.  If you are toasting bread, melt slices of mozzarella over the top (for pasta caprese the cheese is added at the last second).  For bruschetta, leave the mixture of veggies, meat and seasonings cold and pour gently over the warm bread.  For pasta caprese, quickly stirfry the cooked pasta and veggie mixture just to warm.  Throw in the mozzarella after turning off the heat (it will melt slowly).

our bruschetta (along with drink and dessert)

While you can, of course, make this dish any time from store bought produce and premade bread or pasta, I promise you and your loved ones will notice the difference when you make it yourself.  The taste, especially when it comes to comparing store bought to homegrown tomatoes isn’t even close.  You will appreciate the extra time and effort it takes to make this dish from scratch.

Up next? A drink from those frozen berries you harvested this year.