Splash! Grandson Jackson began summer on Monday by jumping into a pool for his inaugural dip. Memorial Day weekend is over and fun and sun have officially begun. Over the long weekend Terry and I ate some really good fresh, local goods, including tomatoes, potatoes, peas, onions and more. I am hooked on making roasted tomato salsa out of what’s around: cherry tomatoes, overripe tomatoes, tomatillos, garlic, onions and hot peppers. Roast, toss with seasonings and maybe some cumin, puree and it is soooo yummy.
I did not make it to the market last weekend, but I know that this is squash season, so you should see them this weekend or the next. Summer squash is the food of my childhood. We all must have a tattered recipe of our momma’s squash casserole, that staple of church suppers, family dinners and funerals. My family was small, and so when there was a lot of squash in the garden, it was a lot! My mother pickled the extra using a basic pickling recipe. She also pickled her Jerusalem artichokes, which I thought was very exotic.
OK, squash is prolific, but it is also very good for you, being an important source of alpha-carotene and beta-carotene. And, if you stay away from the butter and cheddar cheese, it is low-calorie.
The two recipes today give you a choice of low-cal to not-as-low-cal.
The first for grilled yellow squash is from the asouthern-soul.blogspot.com. I like it for the marinade which would be good on other roasted vegetables, as well as fish. The scalloped summer squash is from the 1961 New York Times Cookbook, edited by Southerner (Sunflower, Mississippi) Craig Claiborne, which gives it its street cred in our part of the country.
GRILLED YELLOW SQUASH WITH LEMON AND CHIVE VINAIGRETTE
8-10 small squash or 3-4 large
Canola oil
Salt and pepper
For the vinaigrette:
3 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 teaspoons chopped chives
Salt and pepper to taste
(Source: asouthern-soul.blogspot.com)
SCALLOPED SUMMER SQUASH WITH CHEESE
Makes 4-5 servings
3 tablespoons butter
1 onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 green pepper, chopped
4 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 1/2 pounds summer squash
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
(Source: The New York Times Cookbook, 1961)
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