A Short Cool-Down?

We’ve enjoyed a brief respite from the heat this past week. In fact, some of us were feeling chilled at a balmy 70°, with that slight breeze and a few sprinkles Sunday. (I’m some people.) But having a high below 107° for fair entry day was unexpectedly nice. (I’m projecting here, as this column was penned last Sunday. I was contemplating actually entering a few items after many years of not getting to town on entry day. I’ll be in town all of that day, so I might gather enough items to make filling out entry forms worthwhile.)

The garden is coming along, albeit slowly. I’d thought about taking this year off from gardening, but relented and put one in. But it was later than is normal for me: part of that was the cool, wet weather, and part was being away for our daughters’ surgeries a month apart, and far from home. Everything is delayed.

The raspberry crop is a distinct disappointment this year. I’m not harvesting many at all, and the ones I do beat the flies to are on the small side. Two summers ago, a neighbors’ blind dog got into the canes at the end of the season when they’re dryer and brittle. He caused a lot of damage in his panic. Last year I think there was an infestation of spider mites, also at the end of the season. A lot of the canes had their juices sucked out and they turned whitish and died. They’re working on coming back, plus I’m hitting them with Tempo to discourage a repeat. The pesky flies are glomming onto the berries and ruining them. The Tempo should help with that problem. The new growth this year is what will produce berries next summer.

I am enjoying some Sun Gold cherry tomatoes. If you haven’t grown those, you should. They’re so sweet. There are also baby carrots to be enjoyed as they need thinning. The Chinese peas (you eat the pod and all), green onions, and one skinny cucumber went into a salad for me, mixed with some cottage cheese and the last of my dill veggie dip. That dip is amazing with the tomatoes.

I promised to share the green onion pesto recipe once I’d tried it out. It was great on a ham sandwich (on my home-made whole-wheat bun), as well as with the chicken thighs I cobbled two recipes together for. So here’s the pesto recipe:

Garlic and Green Onion Pesto

6 green onions, green tops only

3 cloves garlic

1/3 C parsley

1/2 C EVOO

1 Tbl lemon juice

1 Tbl red wine vinegar

1/3 C pine nuts

1/4 C Parmesan, grated fine

1/2 to 1 tsp coarse salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Process all together, drizzling in the oil slowly. Set on the counter for 30 minutes before using. Refrigerate after that.

I used dried parsley, so half the amount called for. You could use unsalted sunflower seeds instead of expensive pine nuts. I used more than 6 onion tops, or I would have used much less oil, and I grated my Parmesan fresh. I barely used any salt, either.

And here’s how I made the chicken thighs. The two recipes I used are lo-cal.

Spicy Garlic

Lemon Chicken

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp  EACH: pepper, cayenne, thyme, and garlic powder

1/8 tsp EACH: smoked paprika and onion powder

2 chicken thighs (or breasts)

2 Tbl butter

1 - 2 Tbl EVOO

Juice of 1 lemon

Pinch of oregano

Sprigs of fresh parsley

Mix all the spices/herbs together. Sprinkle on both sides of patted dry chicken. Melt the butter with the oil in a pan: sauté chicken 6 minutes per side until golden. Add lemon juice and oregano, continuing to sauté until juices run clear (4-5 minutes longer per side). Garnish with fresh parsley.

The single zucchini plant has already produced three good-sized squash. I do plan to make some sweets with them Monday morning. I made a side dish with the one to go with that chicken. You know Dennis didn’t help me eat it. The recipe called for grilling, but I pan-fried it. I felt the spice rub was a bit too much for me, so I’ll use less cumin next time. I didn’t grow summer squash, so my dish only had the zucchini and the sliced small green onions I’d used the tops of for the pesto. (The green onions were on the large size, too big for a single bite.)

Dry-rubbed Veggies

1 large red onion, cut into rings

3 TBL oil, DIVIDED

3 TBL spice rub, DIVIDED

2 medium zucchini

2 summer squash

Brush onion rings with 1 Tbl oil, sprinkle with 1 tsp spice rub. Slice zucchini and squash 1/4” thick lengthwise. Brush with rest of oil and sprinkle with remaining rub. Grill until tender, 2-3 minutes per side.

Smoky Spice Rub

6 Tbl chili powder

2 tsp cumin

1 Tbl oregano

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp smoked paprika

You could use this herb rub instead of the spicy one:

6 Tbl oregano

2 Tbl dry mustard

2 Tbl coriander

1 Tbl sugar

1 Tbl thyme

1 Tbl sumac*

1 Tbl sage

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

* substitute any of these other items for sumac: lemon zest, lemonade, tamarind paste, Za’atar, or vinegar.