Foodies Over 50

Midsummer Harvest 

by Terri Wilson Godfrey

In mid-July the humidity has established itself in our warm summer days here in the Northeast.  Vegetables are ripening and we are picking beans, zucchini and summer squashes, cucumbers, Swiss chard, corn and early tomatoes.  Herbs are full and lush, blooming and filling the air with their marvelous scents; lavender, lemon balm, bergamot, chives, dill, rosemary, mints, fennel and all that we’ve cultivated to flavor our meals and add to our table bouquets.   

In times gone by I would place abundant baskets of organic tomatoes, cukes, squashes, herbs and bouquets of herbs and flowers at the bottom of the driveway, lined up on the railroad ties.  My Thyme in the Garden farm stand was complete with an on-your-honor payment system in a cigar box.   Tomatoes 25 cents or 5 for a $1.00.  (One year we stopped counting after picking 1000 tomatoes).  Bouquets for $5.00 complete with the glass jar.  Herbs $2.00 per bunch.  My informal vegetable stand would prompt many a traveler to stop and pick up something to serve with dinner or a fresh bouquet for the table.  

Here is one of my all-time favorite recipes to make during the harvest months.  Packed with nutrition.   Serves 4 – 5.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Garden Harvest Bake

1/4 cup cold pressed olive oil

1 medium Vidalia or sweet onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves pressed thru garlic press

3 medium zucchini or summer squash sliced into rounds

1 sweet red pepper cut into strips (2 if you’d rather)

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves OR 2 Tablespoons dried basil

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (more if you desire)

2 large ripe garden tomatoes, thinly sliced

Fresh ground pepper

1 cup crushed Ritz crackers or Italian bread crumbs

Heat oil in large skillet.  Add garlic and onion.  Cook approx. 10 minutes until tender.   Add squashes and sweet red pepper, simmering until almost tender, about 8 minutes.  Stir in salt, half of the basil and parmesan cheese and all of the parsley.  Transfer mixture into a 9 x 12 baking pan and top with sliced tomatoes, remaining basil and parmesan.   Grind fresh pepper across the top.  Spread Ritz crackers (or crumbs) over top along with remaining cheese, drizzle with olive oil.   Bake 22 minutes at 400 degrees.   Let set for 10 minutes before serving.