How is your summer going?
I thought I would take the time to share a little about what has been happening here at Simply Recipes headquarters (my home kitchen in Sacramento) and point you to some recipes and resources that you may enjoy.
First, the garden. It’s tomato season! Somehow spring planting got away from me this year, so much of what is growing in my garden are volunteers, including the tomatoes. Fortunately, the volunteers are hardy and prolific. I think they’re the hybrid “celebrity” which I’ve grown in the past. But with compost contributing to the seeds in the garden bed, who knows?
So far this season I’ve used our garden tomatoes in an easy cheesy Tomato Pie, a Chickpea Tomato Salad, and a Tomato, Onion, Avocado Salad. I’m also tossing them in with pasta dishes, and summer soups.
See the Jack-in-the-beanstalk plant growing in the middle of my garden bed? It’s a sunflower that has yet to bloom. I measured it this morning and it’s already over 10 feet tall and still growing. I’m planning on harvesting its seeds to roast (unless the squirrels get them first).
It’s high season for zucchini as well. (Check out our zucchini recipes on the site.) My new favorite kitchen gadget to use with zucchini is a spiral slicer. It’s a lathe that turns zucchini into noodles or “zoodles”. Zucchini noodles taste great and are especially helpful if you are trying to cut back on carbs or want more vegetables in your diet.
Chicken piccata with bright new photos
You may have noticed a lot of recipe repeats on the site lately. I’ve been going through the last 12 years of recipes (can you believe we’ve been at this 12 years?!) and finding old favorites that need a little makeover, either with an update to the method, or new photos.
What’s the most popular recipe on the site right now? Our quick and easy method for cooking corn in a microwave. Takes 4 minutes. The corn steams in its own juices and absorbs flavor from the husks as well.
Many of you have asked for a way of keeping track of your favorite recipes on the site. We used to use Ziplist, but they shut down last year. These days I recommend a free service called Yummly. There’s a “Yum” button on each recipe, which makes it very easy to save.
So, that’s our summer in a nutshell so far. How about you? I would love to hear from you!
If you received this email, it’s because you signed up to get email updates from Simply Recipes. Thank you so much for subscribing! I love sharing what I’m making in the kitchen with you and I especially love hearing back from you if you’ve made the recipe. I’ll try to answer any questions you have as best I can.
What are you cooking in your kitchen this summer? What kinds of recipes would you like to see more of on Simply Recipes?
Have a wonderful August, and happy cooking!
Elise
