Summer Vegetables

I just had to share this 🙂

We’ve been so blessed by our new neighbors and friends in the way of fresh, summer veggies and fruit. Just today I received a box full of squash, zucchini, cucumbers, corn, and tomatoes. But what I really wanted you to see was this HUGE tomato. I laugh every time I look at it.

I don’t know if this picture really does the tomato justice, but let me assure you, it is the largest tomato I have ever seen. It is bigger than my coffee mug, which isn’t exactly tiny. You can also see it in the picture below in comparison to the other vegetables.

So what to do with all these veggies? And what do you do when you have more than you can eat before they expire? Since we’ve been given so many veggies in the past few weeks, it’s started to get a little boring, eating them every day. But I won’t say no to those who give because there are so many ways so preserve them for later months when fresh summer veggies are no longer available.

I started canning the tomatoes, and then I thought, why am I doing this when freezing them is so much easier? I love the idea of canning veggies for winter, but truthfully I have a lot more available space in my deep freeze than I do cabinet space for jars. Plus it really is easier- exactly one big step easier because I don’t have to boil and seal the jars.

Another space-saving tip is once you load your tomatoes into the storage bags, lay them flat and freeze them this way. They are easy to stack and organize in your freezer and will take up less space.

The other night Hubby grilled burgers and hotdogs (nitrate-free, all beef), and threw some corn on there as well. They were so good. Grilled corn cannot compare to corn prepared any other way. In fact, I am not so much of a corn eater because it’s so starchy with so little nutritional value, but as an accompaniment to a burger, this corn on the cob was wonderful.

For 7 ears of corn I combined 1/8 cup of EVOO and 1 t. sea salt. Using a brush, I coated the ears while on the grill. The flavor was wonderful and the best part was I didn’t have to bother with dressing the corn before eating (you know…butter, salt, pepper, etc) because it was already seasoned. AND way less messy than buttering and salting it yourself.

Stay tuned for post #2 to see what I do with these other veggies ~ Tomato Tart on Cornbread Crust 😉