Friday, July 23, 2010

Seeking Vegetables...

Summer to me is usually signaled by a bountiful harvest of tomato, zucchini, peppers and sometimes eggplant. While all of this beautiful produce is easily found at my grocery store and favorite farmers market, none is readily available in the garden I painstakingly put together in the earlier part of the year! Ok, more like I made my boyfriend put together the frame, help me pour all the dirt in, but I did put in my veggies and lovingly water them daily (still do)....square-foot garden why have you forsaken me? If you could only see...oh wait, here's a pic:


By all accounts there is plenty of growth in there for loads of something, apparently only a fist-full of small (sweet and tasty) tomatoes, not nearly enough for me to cook with as I had hoped. Alas, I must purchase produce from my usual sources and hope that some late-summer haul awaits me in my garden one of these days. In the interim the succulent produce from the farmers market makes a farmers market potato salad (thanks Cooking Light!) that was a terrific accompaniment to good old fashioned fried chicken:


Ingredients

* 1 cup fresh corn kernels (about 2 ears)
* 2 pounds fingerling potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
* 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
* 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
* 2 tablespoons whole-grain Dijon mustard
* 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* Cooking spray
* 3/4 cup vertically sliced red onion
* 3/4 cup diced zucchini
* 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°.

2. Place corn and potatoes on a jelly-roll pan. Drizzle vegetables with 1 tablespoon oil; toss to coat. Bake at 425° for 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Place mixture in a large bowl. Combine tarragon and next 5 ingredients (through pepper) in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil, stirring constantly with a whisk. Drizzle potato mixture with dressing; toss gently to coat.

3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion and zucchini to pan; cook 4 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Add zucchini mixture and tomatoes to potato mixture; toss gently to combine.

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