five.....garden to table dinners for two

the growing season is over for the year here in boulder, colorado which is always sad because i love my garden and all of its bounty but i have to admit its also a bit of a relief as i am feeling near boredom exhaustion with weeding, monitoring, thinning, transplanting and fighting pests. what i will miss most as the cold arrives, are my morning wanderings through the colorful vegetable and herb beds concocting ideas for dinner inspired by what is ripe and ready. this summer, i kept a photo journal of some of the fresh garden to table dishes i created for me and paul celebrating seasonal vegetables, hard work and the rich rewards of a summer garden.

this year, we planted swiss chard in our shady raised bed alongside lettuce, spinach, rocket and other greens. i had in mind making spanakopita when i planted the tiny seeds and was looking forward to when the deep green leaves were ready to be picked. i used this quick & easy spanakopita recipe substituting my beautiful swiss chard for ho-hum frozen spinach thawed and drained (bleh!). it turned out just like the dish i had been dreaming of.

i made ratatouille at least three times this summer because i actually couldn't help it. with the zucchini, summer squash, tomatoes, onions and herbs all raising their hands to be picked, i can make everyone happy, including me and paul, with this delicious dish. i followed once upon a chef's ratatouille recipe this go 'round. we like ratatouille served over warm polenta and topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese. a summer veggie classic with a cool french name.

this meal was a paul sunday lunch special. (he never uses a recipe - cooking comes so naturally for him) the garden to table feature is the roasted cherry tomato, onion and fresh herb side dish that brightens up the plate. we planted three cherry tomato plants this summer which kept us running. the day before, i had picked two bowls full of the savory cherries and paul used about one third of them which helped. the rest were tossed, along with handfuls of regular-sized tomatoes, into making a cream of tomato soup to freeze for many up and coming winter weather suppers.

slurping homemade corn chowder with potatoes, fresh corn off the cob and thick bacon sprinkled on top felt decadent but.....whatever. it was a cloudy, cooler day so we dove right in, enjoyed it and all the world felt right and comfortable. i'm still working on the timing of harvesting our corn. sometimes it doesn't look quite ready but then sometimes when it looks ready to pick, its a bit past prime. i also have the pressure of the all-knowing raccoons helping themselves to the corn whenever they want to. during the night, they can strip a corn stalk and cob like no one's business and leave the remains for me to clean up. naughties.

i used our onions to make this divine french onion tart and served it with a tossed green salad made with our veggie garden ingredients topping it with bright nasturtium blossoms from the herb garden. they add a strong peppery tang! onions were a first for us this year and we learned a thing or two. first of all, onions are a kindly and very undemanding vegetable :) secondly, we didn't plant them deep enough so i don't think they grew as big as they could have. finally, next year i will plant them closer together and many, many more. when we harvest the rest of the onions, i want to make an onion braid to hang in the pantry. i remember my mom doing that once when i was younger and i thought it was so cool. harvesting, cooking, serving and eating garden-fresh seasonal vegetables is one of life's simple pleasures.

a good marriage

is a contest of

generosity.

                                   - diane sawyer