Surprise!  Summer Fest is still on!  Response and participation have been so great during the last five weeks, we decided to extend Summer Fest through mid-September and then roll right into a Fall Fest.  We’ll even have a fun new Fall Fest pumpkin badge thanks to Matt of Matt Bites! Visit Margaret at A Way to Garden for all the new details and schedule.

This week we’re celebrating peppers, both sweet and spicy.  I decided to try my hand at pickling some hot peppers since I happened to have a basket of serrano chiles sitting on the counter (I picked them up for a dollar at the Farmer’s Market last Saturday).  I love pickled jalapenos, but I always end up using the store-bought kind.  I thought it would be nice to have some home-pickled peppers on hand for once!  And since I won’t go through them very fast on my own, one basket of peppers seemed like the perfect amount to pickle.

Since I’ve never pickled peppers before, I wanted to start with some sort of recipe.  I found a couple in books, and several online, but finally decided on Michael Symon’s recipe at Michael Ruhlman’s blog. It was simple and easy to adapt to my small amount of peppers.

First, I washed the peppers and poked each of them in a few places with a knife (the idea to pierce them with a knife came from David Lebovitz’s version).  Then I packed them into jars.  One basket of peppers (about half a pound) filled three half-pint jars.

Next I made the brine.  I used equal parts white vinegar and water, sugar, salt, garlic, coriander, cumin, and black peppercorns.  I had planned on using bay leaves, but at the last minute, I couldn’t find mine!  Oh well, I continued without.  I boiled the liquid then let it simmer for ten minutes.

While still hot, I poured the brine over the peppers, filling the jar completely with liquid.

Next I put the lids on the jars, let them cool, then placed them in the fridge.  They should be ready in about a week, but will continue to improve as they sit.  From what I hear, they will last a very long time in the fridge.

You’ll just have to wait to hear how they taste!  In the meantime, you should make some yourself.

More Recipes Featuring Peppers:

• Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
• Peach and Peppadew Salsa
• Feta-Stuffed Peppers from Seriously Good
• Sausage, Peppers, and Smoked Mozzarella Panini from Panini Happy
• Black Bean and Pepper Salad with Cilantro and Lime from Kalyn’s Kitchen
• Roasted Green Peppers from Chocolate & Zucchini

Other Summer Fest Attendees Celebrating Peppers:

• Alison at Food2: Making Hot Pepper-Infused Tequila
• Michelle at Cooking Channel: A Peck of Perfect Pepper Recipes
• Kirsten at the FN Dish: Chiles Rellenos and More Stuffed Peppers
• Liz at Healthy Eats: 10 Ways To Eat Sweet Peppers
• Margaret at A Way to Garden: Oven-roasted peppers, and freezing how-to
• Caroline at The Wright Recipes: Homemade Harissa & Sweet and Spicy Peperonata
• The Gilded Fork: Dossier and recipes on peppers spicy and sweet
• Paige at The Sister Project: Grilled Tomatillo Salsa with Jalapenos
• Caron at San Diego Foodstuff: Consuelo’s Hot Chile Sauce and Hatch Chiles
• Alana at Eating from the Ground Up: Homemade hot sauce, and why gloves are a good idea
• Cate at Sweetnicks: Summer Panzanella
• Food Network UK: It’s Chili Weather

How You Can Join in Summer/Fall Fest 2010

Have a recipe or tip that fits any of our weekly themes? You can contribute to our online recipe swap in various ways, big or small.

Contribute a whole post, or a comment—whatever you wish. It’s meant to be fun, viral, fluid. No pressure, just delicious. Simply leave your tip or recipe or favorite links in the comments below a Summer/Fall Fest post on my blog, and then go visit my collaborators and do the same.

The cross-blog event idea works best when you leave your recipe or favorite links (whether to your own blog or someone else’s) at all the host blogs. Yes, copy and paste them everywhere! That way, they are likely to be seen by the widest audience. Everyone benefits, and some pretty great dialog starts simmering.

Or think bigger: Publish entire posts of your own, if you wish, and grab the juicy Summer Fest 2010 tomato badge (illustrated by Matt of Matt Bites), or the new pumpkin version he just did if it’s for September 22 onward.

Summer/Fall Fest 2010 Posting Schedule

7/28: Cukes and Zukes
8/4: Corn
8/11: Herbs, Greens, and Beans
8/18: Stone Fruit – I missed this one!
8/25: Tomatoes

9/1: Sweet and Spicy Peppers
9/8: Garlic
9/15: White (or colorful “white”…but not sweet) Potatoes
9/22: Spinach
9/29: Apples

10/6: Fall Salads
10/13: Pumpkin + Winter Squash
10/20: Pears
10/27: “Mad Stash” (as in what you’re shoving in freezer/jars/dehydrator, etc.)

11/3: Root veggies
11/10: Brassicas: incl. Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower, Cabbage or other
11/17: Sweet Potatoes
11/24: Bounty to Be Grateful For

I bought a delicious Crenshaw melon at the Farmer’s Market on Saturday and after eating a few slices for breakfast yesterday morning, decided to turn the rest of it into melon balls.  I had no particular reason for wanting to do this, it just seemed like a fun thing to do.  And we all know that food tastes better when it’s cut into fun shapes, right?

As I was scooping out the flesh with the antique melon baller that has been in my family for as long as I can remember, I thought about the half-empty container of fresh mini mozzarella balls in the refrigerator.  I had never combined melon with mozzarella before, but the melon balls and mozzarella balls were the same size and shape and the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like they were destined to end up in the same bowl.

So of course they did end up in the same bowl.

I made a quick dressing of lime juice, honey, and mint since I knew those ingredients would be nice with the melon.  I also added a bit of crushed red pepper because after living in Sicily for four years I now put crushed red pepper in just about everything.  And of course a tiny bit of salt always helps to perk things up a bit (try a sprinkle of salt on fresh cantaloupe – yum!).  The resulting salad was light, simple, and delicious!

Melon and Mozzarella Salad

2 cups of cold, bite-size melon balls or cubes (use your favorite type of melon)
1 cup of bite-size fresh mozzarella balls or cubes
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon fresh chopped mint leaves
small pinch of salt
small pinch of crushed red pepper

Put melon balls and mozzarella in a medium bowl.  In a small bowl, whisk together honey, lime juice, mint, salt, and crushed red pepper.  Pour dressing over the melon and mozzarella then toss to combine.  Serve immediately.

Yield: four servings

Related Recipes:

• Blood Orange and Green Olive Salad
• Sweet and Spicy Cucumber Dill Salad
• Chilled Ginger Cantaloupe Soup
• Tangerine and Jicama Salad with Garlic and Cilantro

Around the Web:

• Cucumber Melon Salad from Not Eating Out in New York
• Melon, Chicken, and Avocado Salad from La Tartine Gourmande
• Melon Salad with Prosciutto and Goat Cheese from Closet Cooking
• Watermelon Salad with Feta or Cotija from Simply Recipes
• Cantaloupe Salad with Feta and Basil from Kitchen Parade

The Summer Fest theme this week is tomatoes and I can’t think of a better thing to talk about than slow-roasted tomatoes.  I made these for the first time last September and they were absolutely amazing.  Although I made them a few more times throughout the year with grocery store cherry tomatoes, I’ve been waiting for some good summer tomatoes to roast.

Yesterday I roasted a tray of 20 gorgeous Roma tomatoes that I had picked up at the Saturday Farmer’s Market.  It took all day, but the end result was fantastic.  I can’t believe I’m admitting this, but I ate about 15 of those tomatoes for dinner last night.  I just kept picking them off the tray as they were cooling.  My name is Nicole and I ate 15 Roma tomatoes in one night!  Now you know why you aren’t seeing photos of slow-roasted Roma tomatoes… I ate them before I could photograph them.

But I also roasted a pan of cherry tomatoes since I didn’t have enough Romas to fill two pans.  If you’re going to have the oven on all day anyway, you really should fill all the racks with tomatoes.  I managed to eat at least a handful of the cherry tomatoes, too.  I know what you’re thinking.  But you’ll understand once you make some yourself.  You should do that.

How to Make Slow-Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

And here are some more links to help you along your tomato-roasting journey.  These bloggers won’t steer you wrong.  You need to do this!

Instructions for Slow-Roasting Tomatoes:

• Slow-Roasted Tomatoes at Stephen Cooks
• Slow-Roasted Tomatoes at A Veggie Venture
• How to Make Slow-Roasted Tomatoes at Kalyn’s Kitchen
• Slow-Roasted Tomatoes at Smitten Kitchen
• Slow-Roasted Tomatoes with Sea Salt and Ground Coriander at Orangette
• Slow-Roasted Tomatoes at Andrea’s Recipes

What to do with Slow-Roasted Tomatoes:

• Pasta Salad with Slow-Roasted Tomatoes, Grilled Zucchini, and Basil at Kalyn’s Kitchen
• Slow-Roasted Tomato Bruschetta at The Perfect Pantry
• Slow-Roasted Tomato Hummus at Andrea’s Recipes
• Slow-Roasted Tomato Sauce at The Kitchn
• Slow-Roasted Tomato Soup at A Veggie Venture

Other Summer Fest Attendees Celebrating Tomatoes:

• Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef: Heirloom Tomato Tart with Parmesan Crust
• Alison at Food2: Heirloom tomatoes
• The FN Dish: Tyler’s Ultimate Tomato Salads
• Margaret at A Way to Garden: More than one way to ripen a tomato
• Gilded Fork: Celebrating summer lusciousness with a tomato dossier and recipes
• Diane and Todd at White on Rice Couple: Sun-dried tomatoes (actually made in the sun!)
• Paige at The Sister Project: 3 substantial, healthy, vegetarian tomatoey main dishes
• Liz at the Cooking Channel: Easy Tomato Tart
• Kelly at Just a Taste: Tomato Jam
• Alexis at Food Network UK: The seven deadly tomato sins
• Michelle at Healthy Eats: Top 10 Things to Do With Tomatoes
• Marilyn at Simmer Till Done: Cherry Tomato & Maytag Blue Beignets
• Alana at Eating From the Ground Up: Roasted Green Salsa (green zebras and tomatillos), and how late August makes her hurt for New Mexico
• Tigress in a Pickle: Over 50 ways to preserve tomatoes in jars
• Caron at San Diego Foodstuff: Chunky Garden Gazpacho with Flowered Corn Tortillas and Melissa Clark’s Tomato Tarte Tatin
• Judy of Over a Tuscan Stove: Tomatoes the Italian Way
• Cate at Sweetnicks: A Loaded Bowl (filled with brown rice, Jersey fresh tomatoes, buttery avocados and more deliciousness)

How You Can Join in Summer Fest 2010

Have a recipe or tip that fits any of our weekly themes? Starting with our posts of Wednesday, July 28, for five Wednesdays, you can contribute in various ways, big or small.

Contribute a whole post, or a comment—whatever you wish. It’s meant to be fun, viral, fluid. No pressure, just delicious. Simply leave your tip or recipe or favorite links in the comments below a Summer Fest post on my blog, and then go visit my collaborators and do the same.

The cross-blog event idea works best when you leave your recipe or favorite links (whether to your own blog or someone else’s) at all the host blogs. Yes, copy and paste them everywhere! That way, they are likely to be seen by the widest audience. Everyone benefits, and some pretty great dialog starts simmering.

Or think bigger: Publish entire posts of your own, if you wish, and grab the juicy Summer Fest 2010 tomato badge (illustrated by Matt of Mattbites.com).

Summer Fest 2010 Posting Schedule

7/28: Cukes and Zukes
8/4: Corn
8/11: Herbs, Greens, and Beans
8/18: Stone Fruit – I missed this one!
8/25: Tomatoes

It’s Summer Fest time and this week we’re celebrating herbs, greens, and beans.  My contribution to the party is a simple side dish of green beans dressed in a rich balsamic browned butter sauce.  It can be thrown together in minutes and has an extremely short ingredient list, but don’t let that fool you.  The flavor of these green beans will blow you away!

Green Beans with Balsamic Browned Butter

1 pound green beans, trimmed
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

Cook green beans in a large pot of salted water just until crisp-tender; drain then arrange on a serving plate.  In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.  Cook until the butter solids have started to brown, about 2 – 3 minutes.  Remove pan from heat.  Add the tablespoon of balsamic vinegar – be careful, it will sputter.  Swirl pan or stir with a long-handled spoon until it stops bubbling.  Season with a bit of salt and freshly ground black pepper then spoon butter mixture over the green beans.  Serves 4.

Other Recipes Featuring Herbs, Greens, and Beans:

• Maple-Rosemary Glazed Walnuts
• Herbed Cheese Biscuits
• Cilantro Caesar Salad with Carne Asada
• Cucumber Salad with Fresh Dill
• Tangerine and Jicama Salad with Garlic and Cilantro
• Whole Wheat Greek Orzo Salad
• Creamy Spinach Soup
• Edamame and Pea Soup with Herbed Lemon Cream
• Herbed Tuna Salad with Feta and Pine Nuts
• Green Beans with Bacon and Tart Cherry Balsamic Glaze

Other Summer Fest Attendees Celebrating Herbs, Greens, and Beans:

• Todd and Diane at White on Rice Couple use fresh mint to make Homemade Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
• Margaret at A Way to Garden stores a year of herbs—and makes one-pot Farinata a polenta dish with greens
• Food Network UK is on the edge with herbs and greens
• Caroline at the Wright Recipes is cooking up Wax and Butter Bean Herbed Salad
• Jennifer and Mark at Gilded Fork have a virtual garden of recipes for basil, cilantro, fennel, lavender, lemongrass, rosemary, sage and tarragon.
• Cate at Sweetnicks shares Fresh Green Bean Salad with Herb Vinaigrette
• Alana at Eating From the Ground Up has Shirred Eggs with Fresh Herbs
• Healthy Eats share their Top Six Herbs
• Allison at Food2 shows how to use up leftover herbs with Use-it-up Pesto
• The Cooking Channel has The Best Bean Salads and a French take on beans, greens, and herbs
• The FN Dish has recipes for The “Other” Summer Greens
• Tigress in a Jam has a preserving–book giveaway, and ways to put up greens, beans, herbs
• Kelly at Just a Taste shares Fresh Herb Ricotta
• Caron at San Diego Foodstuff shares recipes for Kale and Feta Empanadas and Roasted Romano Beans
• Judy at Tuscan Diva shares her Tuscan Herb Blend
• Tara at Tea & Cookies shares her Clean Out the Fridge Frittata
• Shauna and Danny at Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef tell us What to do with Fava Beans
• Paige at The Sister Project says Aloha, Pesto

How You Can Join in Summer Fest 2010

Have a recipe or tip that fits any of our weekly themes? Starting with our posts of Wednesday, July 28, for five Wednesdays, you can contribute in various ways, big or small.

Contribute a whole post, or a comment—whatever you wish. It’s meant to be fun, viral, fluid. No pressure, just delicious. Simply leave your tip or recipe or favorite links in the comments below a Summer Fest post on my blog, and then go visit my collaborators and do the same.

The cross-blog event idea works best when you leave your recipe or favorite links (whether to your own blog or someone else’s) at all the host blogs. Yes, copy and paste them everywhere! That way, they are likely to be seen by the widest audience. Everyone benefits, and some pretty great dialog starts simmering.

Or think bigger: Publish entire posts of your own, if you wish, and grab the juicy Summer Fest 2010 tomato badge (illustrated by Matt of Mattbites.com).

Summer Fest 2010 Posting Schedule

7/28: Cukes and Zukes
8/4: Corn
8/11: Herbs, Greens, and Beans
8/18: Stone Fruit
8/25: Tomatoes

For the rest of the summer, my Wordless Wednesday posts will be replaced by Summer Fest 2010 – a cross-blog food event that celebrates the beautiful fruits and vegetables so readily available from home gardens and farmer’s markets at this time of year. The event is in its third year and I’m thrilled to be a part of it for the first time this summer.  Thanks to Margaret Roach and Deb Puchalla for creating this fabulous summer blogging party!

Each Wednesday for the next five weeks a group of us will be sharing tips and recipes centered around a specific garden theme.  There are several bloggers participating, new friends and old, and we will be linking to each other and encouraging you to share your favorite tips and recipes as well.  It’s a big celebration of summer produce and you’re all invited!

Summer Fest 2010:  Cukes and Zukes

The theme for this week is cucumbers and zucchini.  Though not as stunningly beautiful as heirloom tomatoes nor as fragrant as plump, vine-ripened peaches, cucumbers and zucchini are high on my list of summer favorites.  Yes, you can buy both year-round at the grocery store, but there’s something special about seeing the first Armenian cucumbers and tiny summer squash showing up at the farmer’s market.  And what’s more beautiful than the fleeting appearance of delicate orange squash blossoms piled high at a market table?  Cucumbers and zucchini deserve to be celebrated and I’m thrilled that they are the starring attraction this week at Summer Fest.

I chose to celebrate zucchini in one of the simplest ways possible – grilled.  I like to slice the zucchini lengthwise into long 1/2 – inch thick strips then add a quick squeeze of lemon juice, a drizzle of olive oil, a pinch of kosher salt, and a grind of black pepper.  These simple additions along with a quick sear on a hot grill will turn your ho-hum, boring zucchini into something magical.

The entire process takes less than ten minutes once you have the grill (or even a grill pan) preheated.  And once the zucchini is grilled you can eat it warm or cold, alone or chopped and combined with other grilled veggies.  It’s great served alongside grilled meats, but can also make an interesting sandwich addition, or even layered into lasagna.

Grilled Zucchini with Lemon and Olive Oil

zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch slices (allow one small zucchini or half a large zucchini per person)
fresh lemon (allow 1/2 lemon for 2 – 3 large zucchini)
olive oil
salt
fresh ground black pepper

Preheat gas or charcoal grill.  Place zucchini slices in a large bowl then squeeze lemon juice over the zucchini and toss to coat.  Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and rub the slices with your fingers to make sure all sides are coated with the oil and lemon.  Arrange slices on a platter and sprinkle with a pinch of kosher salt and a few grinds of black pepper.  Turn the slices over and season the other sides with salt and pepper as well.  Grill the slices over direct medium-high heat for a few minutes per side or until nice grill marks appear and zucchini is tender.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Other Ways with Cucumber and Zucchini

• Sweet and Spicy Cucumber Salad with Fresh Dill
• Tzatziki
• Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
• Zucchini and Tomato Gratin

Cukes and Zukes from other Summer Fest Attendees:

• Margaret from A Way to Garden talks about Refrigerator Zucchini Pickles
• Zucchini Appetizers from Alison at the Food2 Blog
• Jennifer and Mark of The Gilded Fork share information on summer squash and a recipe for Chilled Cucumber Mint Soup and Jennifer discusses cucumber as a beauty treatment at Food Philosophy
• 10 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Make with Zucchini from Michelle at Devour The Blog
• Liz from Food Network’s Healthy Eats discusses Health Benefits of Cucumbers and Zucchini
• Caron from San Diego Foodstuff discusses cucumber varieties and shares recipes for Cucumber and Radish Confetti Soup and Zucchini Pancakes
• Kirsten at The FN Dish is in love with Paula’s Zucchini Bread
• Prosciutto, Sour Cream, and Feta Stuffed Cucumbers from Todd and Diane of White on Rice Couple
• Paige at The Sister Project is overrun with zucchini and making Summer Squash Bread Pudding
• Cucumber and Sesame Salad from Kelly at Just a Taste
• Tara at Tea & Cookies shares recipes for Stuffed Zucchini, Zucchini “Noodles”, and Zucchini Pickles
• Cucumber Mint Sorbet with Lime Shortbread is brought to us by Alana at Eating from the Ground Up
• Caroline from The Wright Recipes shares Cucumber Salad with Lemons and Poppy Seeds and Marinated Summer Squash Salad
• 50 Ways with Cucurbits from Tigress in a Pickle
• Cate from Sweetnicks shares a recipe for Indian Cucumber Wraps
• Tips, tricks, and recipes for cucumbers and zucchini including Fried Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms from Judy at Over a Tuscan Stove
• Shauna from Gluten-Free Girl and The Chef discusses how she came to love cucumbers and shares a recipe for Cucumber Soup that can be frozen as popsicles.

How You Can Join in Summer Fest 2010

Have a recipe or tip that fits any of our weekly themes? Starting with our posts of Wednesday, July 28, for five Wednesdays, you can contribute in various ways, big or small.

Contribute a whole post, or a comment—whatever you wish.  It’s meant to be fun, viral, fluid.  No pressure, just delicious.  Simply leave your tip or recipe or favorite links in the comments below a Summer Fest post on my blog, and then go visit my collaborators and do the same.

The cross-blog event idea works best when you leave your recipe or favorite links (whether to your own blog or someone else’s) at all the host blogs. Yes, copy and paste them everywhere! That way, they are likely to be seen by the widest audience. Everyone benefits, and some pretty great dialog starts simmering.

Or think bigger: Publish entire posts of your own, if you wish, and grab the juicy Summer Fest 2010 tomato badge (illustrated by Matt of Mattbites.com).

Upcoming Summer Fest 2010 Posting Schedule

7/28: Cukes and Zukes
8/4: Corn
8/11: Herbs, Greens, and Beans
8/18: Stone Fruit
8/25: Tomatoes

Here is a look back at a Sicilian recipe I posted a few years ago that is one of my all-time favorite pasta dishes.  While it might seem too hot right now for a heavy cream sauce, I crave pistachio pasta all year long.  It’s so simple and quick, the sauce will be finished by the time your pasta is cooked.  Pair it with a crisp salad and I think it’s a great way to end a long summer day.

Farfalle with Pistachio Cream Sauce Recipe

While I haven’t always been a huge fan of beets – I swore they tasted like dirt when I was a kid – I will always eat them pickled.  To be honest, I’ll eat almost anything once it’s pickled (I still won’t eat pigs feet), but pickled beets are especially good thanks to the natural sugars present in the bright red root.

While there are tons of recipes for pickled beets out there, I want to share my Aunt Kathy’s method for pickling beets.  It’s simple and the results are absolutely delicious.  She douses the cooked beets with vinegar, seasons them with salt and pepper, and stores them in the fridge.  It’s really that easy.  The sweet and sour beets are a wonderful addition to salads, but I also like to eat them alone as a snack.

I will warn you that my family might have a higher tolerance of vinegar than some of you out there – these beets are more sour than sweet.  But I think they’re wonderful!

You may cook the beets using your favorite method, but for this recipe I think it’s easiest to peel and chop them and then steam until tender.  If you prefer to roast, boil, or steam the beets whole, just peel then chop them into small pieces once they’re cool enough to handle, then proceed with the recipe.

Put the cooked beet pieces in a container and add the vinegar, a couple generous pinches of salt, and some fresh ground black pepper.  We sometimes add some extra virgin olive oil as well.  Store the beets, covered, in the refrigerator and eat them when you feel like it – they will taste great within a couple hours.  If you’re sensitive to vinegar, rinse the beets before eating.  You could also dilute the vinegar with water.

Aunt Kathy’s Pickled Beets

Four cups of peeled and chopped beets (2 small bunches)
1 cup red wine vinegar (or vinegar of your choice)
extra virgin olive oil, to taste (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste

Steam chopped beets for 35 – 45 minutes, or until tender.  Make sure to put enough water beneath the steamer and check occasionally that the level is okay – if all the water evaporates, you will burn up your pot (I know this from experience)!  Put cooked beets in a bowl, add vinegar, a couple generous pinches of salt and some freshly ground black pepper.  You may add a bit of extra virgin olive oil for flavor if desired.   Store beets, covered, in the refrigerator until ready to eat.  I like to stir them up a few times during the first day so that they all get evenly coated with vinegar.  They will be good to eat within a few hours, but can be stored in the vinegar for up to a week.

Related Recipes:

• Double Dark Chocolate Beets Muffins
• Sweet and Sour Grilled Pumpkin
• Slow-Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
• Sweet and Spicy Cucumber Dill Salad

Around the Web:

• Pickled Beets from Simply Recipes
• Pan-Pickled Beets from A Veggie Venture
• Pickled Beets from Muffin Top
• Pickled Beets from Alton Brown

Happy Food Blog Friday!  This is my absolute favorite zucchini bread recipe and I’m thrilled to be able to share it with you today.  Heidi from 101 Cookbooks calls this her Special Zucchini Bread and with extras like lemon zest and poppy seeds, it truly is special. 

101 Cookbooks is an amazing food blog that I’ve been reading for years and I’d bet that most of you have been doing the same.  If you’re at all interested in cooking with natural, whole ingredients and/or expanding your vegetarian cooking repertoire, 101 Cookbooks is a must-read.  The recipes are exciting and well-written and the photography is fantastic.  If you somehow haven’t yet visited, go there now. You won’t be sorry.  In addition to the blog, I’d also like to recommend Heidi’s wonderful cookbook Super Natural Cooking.  It’s a great book.

I’ve made this zucchini bread a couple of times now, once with whole wheat flour and once with all-purpose flour.  Both versions were fantastic.  I leave out the optional crystallized ginger and curry powder, not because I don’t think it sounds good, but because I was out of both ingredients the first time I gave this a try.  I fell so madly in love with the first loaf, I didn’t want to change the flavors the second time around.

Give this lemon poppy seed version a try and you’ll never bake plain zucchini bread again!

Heidi’s Special Zucchini Bread at 101 Cookbooks
Become a fan of 101 Cookbooks on Facebook
Follow 101 Cookbooks on Twitter
Buy Super Natural Cooking

Previous Food Blog Fridays:

• Fattoush from Kalyn’s Kitchen
• Spice-Rubbed Flank Steak from Blue Kitchen
• Lemon Buttermilk Popsicles from Whipped
• Apricot Almond Tart from Tartelette
• Blueberry Orange Cornmeal Pancakes from Satisfied
• Luscious Lemon Bars from Alpineberry

This Lebanese salad is a perfect way to use up stale pita bread, but it’s so good that you’ll want to buy (or make) extra pita to ensure you’ll always have some left over for Fattoush.  The lemony garlic dressing spiked with sumac is what really makes this salad shine – I think I would eat just about anything as long as it was drenched in that concoction! The crisp pita soaks up and helps balance the tart dressing while the garden fresh vegetables and herbs make this a summer classic.  You really need to try it.

I’ve been reading Kalyn’s Kitchen for about as long as I’ve known about food blogs and I continue to be inspired by her quick, healthy recipes and simple approach to cooking.  With a focus on whole foods, seasonal ingredients, and the use of fresh herbs and spices, Kalyn shows us that cooking and eating real food is fun, easy, and a delicious way to stay healthy.

Fattoush recipe at Kalyn’s Kitchen
Become a fan of Kalyn’s Kitchen on Facebook
Follow Kalyn on Twitter

Previous Food Blog Fridays:

• Spice-Rubbed Flank Steak from Blue Kitchen
• Lemon Buttermilk Popsicles from Whipped
• Apricot Almond Tart from Tartelette
• Blueberry Orange Cornmeal Pancakes from Satisfied
• Luscious Lemon Bars from Alpineberry

This was a simple but lovely treat on an extremely hot summer afternoon.  I had been snacking away on my first figs of the season when I remembered the bag of frozen bananas in the freezer.  Combined with whole milk, fresh figs, and a touch of local honey, I had a feeling that one of those bananas would turn into a unique and delicious shake.  I was right.

Fresh Fig and Banana Milkshake

6 ounces whole milk
1 frozen banana, cut into chunks
4 fresh mission figs, quartered (remove stem first)
1-2 teaspoons honey (optional)

Place all ingredients in a blender; process until smooth.  Serves two.

Related Recipes:

• Fresh Strawberry Milk
• Healthy Banana Milkshake

Around the Web:

• Fresh Fig and Rose Smoothie from Chocolate and Zucchini
• Fresh Fig Sorbet from Ms. Adventures in Italy
• Fresh Fig Cake from Food Blogga
• Fresh Fig Tart from Macheesmo