After all the preparation of July 4th I expected life to settle into a sleepy summer, not happening. Gratefully, the phone began to ring and kept the catering end of my life full steam ahead, combine that with the garden and then hubby was off for two weeks and wanted to go to the beach, I could not find 10 full minutes to sit and catch up.
Summer in the Northeast is a combination of everything but snow. We have had a heat wave with unforgiving heat and sun, torrential rains that included hail and one week of perfection. The garden, of course, sees it all and that plot too is seeing the gamut. Remember my saying back in June the best part is the planning? Truer words were never said. I am so glad I took picture every 7 to 10 days; I can look back to early July before the brown leaves of blight took hold. Blight is a fungus that once it takes hold of a plot of land is tough to get rid of. Blight caused the Great Potato Famine of Ireland and while we have some solutions now, this fungus will be with us till the end of times. I fight it tooth and nail but the potatoes succumbed after the first and only harvest for the 4th. The tomatoes are struggling to keep producing but 2 plants have bitten the dust. We have grasshoppers who like to take a bite out of the perfectly ripe fruit and beetles who just love leaves. The acorn and butternut squashes never set fruit. BUT! The corn is coming in, the cantaloupes look full, and cucumbers have made me into a one woman relish factory and the tomatoes….. I swoon.
During the brief time I had yellow and green beans I made a favorite salad whose recipe is below.
My Yellow & Green Bean Salad
Yield 4 as a side dish, 2 as a main course salad.
This is sort of a green bean Panzanella….
• 3 cups mixed-colored string beans, trimmed and cut into 2” lengths and blanched
• 2 1/2 cups cut ripe tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/3 cup pitted oil cured olives
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• Sourdough Ficelle cut into ¼ “ rounds and dried in oven.
Toss all and let sit.
VARIATIONS:
Grill some romaine, place on top.
Add grilled Chicken, Shrimp or Salmon.
Add grilled Haloumi Cheese or cubed Feta
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