Summer in a Sandwich: A Wicked Vegetable Patch Special

That, my friends, is a sandwich. Summer layered lovingly, stacked high between two halves of a toasted pretzel roll. Every flavor a reminder that the real season is still new. We've only in the last three weeks stepped into the high grass of harvest in the Midwest. I like to think I know a little bit more about that this year.


The view above (click for the real detail) is from day 1, week 3 and week 6. I'm talking to you now from the beginning of week 8 and can bear witness to even taller tomatoes. I remain absolutely enamored of this new hobby.

Through that lens, I'd like to share the first two eggplants of my eyes. I think you can hear the cliche I was going for but it still sounds weird (I'm going with it). They are such a dark purple that in this light they look black but get past that onyx exterior and there's a pale flesh with just the freshest tint of green. I was weeding when I realized just how big the eggplants had gotten and since these two, we've enjoyed four more, even trading one for a tomato and some arugula.

The gift of an overzealous farmers market trip brought extra pretzel rolls so I set about deciding what I could make with my haul including eggplant, chard, basil and cabbage from the garden, an onion from the garden of a friend, yellow squash from my CSA box and that traded tomato. And some found feta, which made up the first layer of the sandwich I couldn't keep myself from.
On top of the feta went a thick layer of lightly steamed greens. There are a lot of lovely vitamins hidden this sandwich's foundation but those greens are the real powerhouse so this is not a time for frugality of sandwich. With a modest pinch of truffle salt over the top? Perfection.

From there I took a cue from my inspiration in both activity and appetite and slow roasted the eggplant and squash. This row made it into my sandwich but the rest made for sweet accoutrement to other meals for the rest of the week.

A lovely tomato, grown in the same garden that produced many other layers. Bartering for vegetables is the weekly pleasure chest that bartering for Halloween candy was annually as a kid. Only this kind of trade enriches my palate rather than a dentist's pocket.
That last layer is a crisp, clean crunch of basil. I've got no shortage on aromatics this year and I am throwing basil into everything.

Look at that. Stacked to heaven with homegrown angels. There's something so incredibly satisfying about knowing where every piece of this sandwich came from.

With feta and a little love (Jaimeson's vocabulary word for olive oil) as the only accompaniments to the bread, the vegetables unique flavors absolutely shine through. Okay, there may have also been a nice drizzle of balsamic over the tomato layer but I was going to keep that between me and them.

It was such a spectacular sandwich, it deserved to look like something special. Parchment paper and a little garden twine did the trick. I love how at home a vegetable sandwich looks, wrapped in the same twine their leafy vines grew up in the back yard. My thumb just might be green after all. Don't worry though, I'll still wash it.

Easy Breezy Summertime: Spicy Pickle (Cucumber) Soup

I have forever been a girl built for autumn- better suited for well-worn jeans and someone else's sweater than weather that makes my hair identifiable via satellite.

And yet.

This year I am in love with the summer. Even in the heat, I feel a breeze. I am drawn to early mornings where I can fuss over that patch of edible earth. I roam toward golden afternoons on two wheels (that's mine with the basket).

Isn't it just like summer to make my Internet eye wander? Wander from the screen toward a dappled patch of grass or vine-ripening fruit. Wander from the city toward sandy shores (some salty, some not). And, inversely, wander away from the evenings formerly spent typing. I have four posts loaded right now and not a one of them had any words...just the pictures. My goal for this week is to clear that up because man alive...summer is too good for eating not to share it.

My mom was in town last weekend and I thought it would be an appropriate time to formally give you her cucumber soup recipe. This was the summer classic growing up- I can still see the gray ceramic mugs she served it up in. Every member of the family beaming when they opened the fridge and saw that blender in there, frosted from the chilling process. I love cold cucumber soup. I love it so much that, as an adult, I've taken to adding heat.


That's a strange way to say it but it's true- spicy pickle juice changed the course of this recipe's story. That's what made it mine- different from my mom's but clearly, gratefully derivative.
I attempted to type up this recipe a couple years ago but have had the hardest time doing it here, where things become official in a sense. Lucky for me, I won't have to.

As with all good recipes, Cucumber Soup now has several storylines going. There's not much more satisfying for a home cook than having someone take something you love and make it their own.

So it worked out that the person who introduced me to spicy pickles (and to the summer glory of coastal Michigan) is the one who has the fully typed and lovely recipe up on her blog today. You know the backstory, now take two people's word that this is a summer soup to be immediately added to your arsenal. It's worth wandering toward.

Full recipe for Spicy Pickle Soup at Foodmomiac.

Wicked Vegetable Update

It's been three weeks since the soil first got tilled and we have already come a long way. While there's still a good month of patience ahead for any harvest beyond herbs, I look around the garden every morning and every night...there is always something new.
This little Thessaloniki tomato being the biggest news in new things. He is going to get big and red and heavy. He is soaking in the rain and the sunshine and all the sweetness available. I am quite protective of my lone tomato.


This is an eggplant. Err...this will be an eggplant.


Beets. And that also means beet greens.

The tomatoes are starting to grow up onto the trellis built for them and I'm hoping the zucchini and cucumber will see what a wonderful idea that is and try it out for themselves.

So far the only seed that hasn't consistently come up is the carrots. I will try again but I'm thrilled with the butternut squash, zucchini and cucumber. Send recipes...I'm going to need them. The garden is a totally new kind of joy for me. You'd already know that if you heard my pep talk to it yesterday morning.

Maybe not the best idea to admit to talking to the plants on the Internet. You won't commit me till the first frost, right?