My favorite place to be in the summer is Humboldt County, both for the amazing produce our farmers bring to the markets and farm stands, and the fog that keeps us comfortable. This year, however, partly to celebrate my retirement, at the end of June we put our bicycles in the car and headed north to explore cycling routes in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.
Wherever I am, I adopt the same food shopping strategy: I look for farmers markets and farm stands, and scan the roadside for enticing signs. Just as I do at home, I like to shop for local produce and prepare it by myself, a preference shared by my husband. We rely on the lodging’s kitchen to provide the necessary implements. Since what is available varies, we carry some tools with us. Here are some of them:
- A four-sided, foldable grater, which flattens to save space, allows us to grate or thinly slice vegetables, or grate cheese.
- A foldable scale for when I need precise measurements, including for recipe development, which is never too far from my thoughts. It occupies little space. I carry it in one of my backpack’s side pockets, alongside a set of measuring spoons.
- In vacation rentals, knives may be dull from use. Hence, I carry a keychain knife sharpener. While it cannot make a truly dull blade sharp, it improves the performance of so-so knives. To be on the safe side, I bring a sharp paring knife. My husband carries a vegetable peeler. As chopping vegetables and fruit is something we do a lot, we bring a cutting board, just in case.
- A small set of silicon tools rounds up my traveling toolkit: a scoop and spread, a small spatula and a spoonula (the latest addition, for stirring vegetables while cooking). My husband likes his stainless-steel vegetable steamer.
- Not a tool but just as important, a small jar of harissa spice mix (also called harissa seasoning) allows me to season a variety of vegetables, like those in the recipe below.
We’ve observed regional differences in the produce available but zucchini and other types of summer squash were ubiquitous, as were tomatoes. After the long months eating storage onions, I relish the chance to use fresh ones, which cook faster. Similarly, garlic from the new crop is welcome in my kitchen.
Since our travel involved almost daily cycling and several hours of driving every four days or so, by late afternoon we were ready for a nice meal that would not require a lot of time or energy to put together. A large green salad with added fruit (berries or peaches), carrots or radishes was a constant presence. To make it more nutritious and balance the fruit’s sweetness, I added some store-bought hummus to the dressing. As an aside, visits to local grocery stores, also part of our travel experience, held some pleasant surprises, including new-to-me chocolate bars, tea and coffee.
After the salad, I enjoyed a dish of cooked vegetables to go with eggs, my favorite dinner protein. To a base of onion and garlic, I added tomatoes to make a sauce in which to cook zucchini and/or summer squash coarsely grated with my handy tool. The harissa spice mix provided a bit of heat.
There are, of course, different ways of exploring a place’s food landscape. I find farmers markets, farm stands and the people behind them, always ready to answer questions and share information, endlessly fascinating. You should embrace your favorite way — you are on vacation, after all.
Zucchini, Tomato and Onion Side Dish
This recipe can be enriched with a sprinkling of nutritional yeast or, if your diet includes it, of grated or crumbled cheese (try different combinations to find your favorite).
Serves 3-4.
Ingredients:
- 6 ounces fresh onion
- 8 ounces ripe globe tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon harissa spice mix (harissa seasoning)
- 1 pound zucchini, summer squash or a mix
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
Slice the onion thinly lengthwise and separate the layers.
Chop the tomatoes and place them in a bowl.
Warm the olive oil in a 10-inch skillet on medium heat.
Add the onion, lower the heat to medium-low and stir. After 1 minute, sprinkle in the harissa spice mix, stir well and cover. Cook on low heat for 4-5 minutes, or until the onion is soft, stirring occasionally.
While the onion is cooking, trim the ends from the zucchini or squash and grate it using the extra-coarse side of a hand grater.
Uncover the skillet, turn up the heat to medium, add the garlic, stir and cook for 1 minute.
Add the chopped tomatoes to the skillet and stir well. Cook, covered, on low heat for 6 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are quite soft.
Uncover the skillet, turn the heat up to medium, add the zucchini, stir well and cook for 2 minutes. Cover and cook on low heat for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Uncover the skillet, continue cooking for 2 minutes or so, or until the zucchini is just tender. Remove the skillet from the heat, sprinkle in the sea salt and stir well. Serve warm.
Simona Carini (she/her) also writes about her adventures in the kitchen on her blog www.pulcetta.com and shares photographs on Instagram @simonacarini. She particularly likes to create still lifes with produce from the farmers market.
This article appears in Reports from the Grand Jury.