The Atkinsons

Summer to Fall Garden Recipes.

Both my parents grew up on farms (my father a turkey farm and my mother a dairy farm,) so backyard to kitchen table was big part of how they were raised. Although my father chose to become a patent attorney instead of a farmer, my parents felt it was important to incorporate a lot of the wonderful things they learned in their homes growing up into the home they cultivated in the Seattle area. For this reason my dad commutes to the city so they could purchase a piece of land that would give them the ability to own horses, chickens, turkeys, and many other animals. They also had a strong desire to grow a large garden including raspberries, fruit trees, and all kinds of delicious vegetables. 

Upon reflection I am embarrassed to say that while growing up I didn't appreciate or learn as much as I could have from the vast knowledge my parents had to offer. It did however instill in me the value that comes with anything homegrown, and I try as much as I can to incorporate this into my own life. (This includes frequent phone calls to both my parents for guidance... I called my mom about something this morning.) 

One thing I have learned in this process is that you learn by doing and you will have lots of failures, but also lots of successes! Don't stop trying! My mom often reminds me that with all her experience she still has things in her garden that don't turn out and she is constantly trying to learn new and better methods. So here are a few of our (well mostly my husband because I'll be honest, my husband does most of the gardening- but I think it's only fair since I do most the cooking!)gardening tips  and some of my favorite recipes!

Garden Tips:

Start small! Growing one potted tomato plant is a good place to start and it will give you plenty of produce!

Measure by your successes and not your failures, and learn from what you did wrong and if you have one thing that turns out, then you've had success! Often times when doing things such a cooking I like to make the mistakes in the beginning so I know what I always need to be cautious of in the future. If I get it right on the first try, I don't know what it was I did right!

Prune your plants. At first it was painful to tear off potential tomatoes from my plants- but what you learn is that you will have an over abundance of lower quality vegetables rather than a manageable amount of delicious produce! Each plant has a different pruning technique so do research on what you have in your garden.

Keep trimming your herbs and buy smart. There can be a few things in your garden that are not worth the effort and money for the cost you can buy them at the store. One of them is cilantro and another one is corn. Cilantro and corn are so cheap it is often not worth putting energy into, but if you want to by all means go ahead! On the other hand things such as basil will cost the same to buy a plant as when you buy a small package in the store. It is most definitely worth the investment because it will keep growing all summer long! And trim trim trim. Sounds crazy but the more you trim the more you will get! It will grow back so fast and if you let it grow too long it will flower and stop growing, or the plant will grow too large to maintain itself and it will lose it's flavor. Each herb has a different pruning technique, although most often you can cut right where you see two small leaves budding out at a base. With other herbs such as thyme, rosemary, or parsley you can just trim them to the bottom leaving a few leaves or a small base. Do your research to be sure of what you are doing, but it's hard to mess up. 

Lastly, grow what you will want to eat and just relax! Gardens have an ability to thrive on their own, and it will surprise you often times how little work they require and sometimes it's the overwork and the overwater that due them in. Make sure you have enough sunlight and good soil and water often (but not TOO much) and your garden will do the rest. If you have the desire you can turn any patch of dirt into a garden (or even scatter your apartment balcony with pots.) Kc and I don't have a large backyard so we tore up a piece of front yard and went to work and we are so happy with it! 
Ok, enough about that- here are some of the recipes I use all summer for my quick garden-to-table meals. Also you can buy the necessary ingredients from the store, they are still good that way (mostly) :).




Recipes

OK, so here are some of my favorite recipes, new and old. I did a post a year ago with some tomato recipes and you can find those here. Last week I made the "don't come to dinner without this salad," the salsa, and the minestrone soup that you can find in a link at the bottom of that page, or here. I've made that orzo salad tons this summer with my sun sweet cherry tomatoes and I've yet to make the Healthy butternut squash stew since I am waiting for it to be a little cooler- but trust me I will! All these recipes are easy, healthy, and delicious and will be staples in my home for years to come. Also, in that post I think I just found a generic recipe for Margherita pizza so I will post a current link for the recipe I use the most now. 

New Tomato Recipes 

Spinach Ranch Pizza

(or in other words, the dough I use for my Margherita pizza)

The actual recipe for the pizza is also amazing with the ranch, spinach, and onion and don't feel like you have to use whole wheat in the dough, it is good with white or wheat. Mostly I just think the honey in the dough makes it taste so good! I've seen other variations with brown sugar, but I think honey is the best.

OK, for my Margherita pizza I spread pesto sauce on the rolled out dough (sometimes it works better to cook the dough for about 3 to 5 minutes first), you can make your own pesto or buy it from Costco (that's where I always get mine, it's so good!) I personally thinks it makes a WORLD of difference if you can use an heirloom such as brandywine for your pizza. It makes the tomatoes so tender and flavorful with each bite- but you don't have to (just my personal preference.) Do a layer of tomatoes, I like to cut my heirlooms nice and thick but other kinds I may cut a little thiner so they cook down better. Then add a layer of Mozzarella cheese. Don't feel like you need to buy the expensive kind because sometimes it doesn't melt as well with all the moisture and you get great flavor from both. Lastly, right when you pull it out of the oven throw your fresh cut basil on top and you'll be in heaven. I made this pizza four times in a row- it was that good!

Hearty Italian Soup

This soup is SOO good in the fall and it's really easy- everyone I make it for gobbles it up (including myself.) I often leave the meat out of recipes because I am not a huge meat eater- but the sausage just makes the soup so you can't leave it out! Chop up those garden tomatoes (any kind) and throw them in! SO good!

Caprese 

You don't need a recipe for this one but do need fresh high quality ingredients. Use your heirlooms for these, it makes them a thousand times better. Also use fresh mozzarella- the kind you see still sitting in the liquid at the store.

Sliced tomato, slice of mozzarella, drizzled olive oil, salt and pepper, and topped with some fresh cut basil. Some people (like my husband) like to add balsamic vinegar- so add that if you like- I myself like it with just oil. Enjoy!

This next recipe is a bread that is so good and so easy. What I love is that you can make it the night before because if you are like me that is your only free time! It only takes 3 simple ingredients and you can add whatever you want to it. 

Crusty Bread

To mine I like to add different herbs and cheeses. Parmesan and cheddar are really good and rosemary is my favorite herb to add. 

What I love about this bread and all these recipes are that sometimes you read things or watch shows and cooking can be so overwhelming- but it doesn't have to be complicated to be good! Often times the simplest things are the most delicious!

Lastly I made jam for the first time this year! My neighbors were giving away lots of apricots so I thought I would try my luck! I used this basic recipe, but with a little less sugar and added fresh thyme and lavender. I liked the thyme a lot more- but I think I added too much lavender and didn't separate the flower enough so it ended up having a slight woody flavor, but it was still good! I will experiment more next year so I can get it right. I added it after I had already cooked the jam directly after I turned off the heat. This seemed to get the best fresh flavor so the herbs didn't cook down. Now my plums are turning and I am going to try my luck at a chili or habanero plum jam. Wish me luck! I'm also hoping to find a good Bruschetta recipe- I'll share it with you when I do! Hope some of these recipes work out for you, Happy Cooking!