I have a pretty good sense of how much produce I can eat, which usually prevents me from going overboard, but sometimes doesn’t, particularly in the summer. When market stalls and farmstands overflow with an abundance of colorful, flavorful vegetables and fruit, restraint remains parked outside.
I often have a surfeit of zucchini or summer squash, so at the beginning of my shopping expedition I remind myself I don’t need more but then I see some pretty specimens or a new-to-me variety, and before I know it, I add to my reserve. The same happens with eggplant, another vegetable I am partial to.
Not shopping from a list doesn’t mean I waste vegetables or fruit; besides eating a lot of them, I have recipes and enjoy developing new ones, so everything is used before losing freshness.
On Saturday, my main shopping day, once I get back home, I follow a routine. During sweet corn season, roasting ears is the first task. I usually purchase three ears, which give me enough kernels to include in salads, the recipe below and some to freeze.
While the corn roasts, I empty my shopping bags, observe the various items I brought home and work on creating a photo still life with some of them. I consider the composition but don’t spend a lot of time on the minute details. I move items around, swapping some based on color and shape, and when I see a combination that pleases my eyes, I take a photo to post on Instagram on Sunday. It’s my way of celebrating produce and thanking the people who grow our food.
If I purchase a bunch of red beets to make pkhali (“Spreading Vegetable Joy,” Jan. 18, 2024), I roast the roots with sweet peppers, both at 375 F. The beet greens get cooked alone or together with a combination of radish or salad turnip greens, rainbow chard or whatever else I found appealing in the dark leafy green department. This happens within a day of purchase, as these vegetables wilt quickly and are therefore top priority. Finally, I separate items that go in the refrigerator and those that don’t, store them accordingly.
Sometimes, while roasting is in progress, I start chopping the ingredients for the dish on this page. The dish has several characteristics to recommend it, including:
It serves 6, which makes it a nice option when you have that many people around the table.
If prepared for a smaller party, it provides leftovers to refrigerate and eat in the immediate future, or freeze for consumption during the dark days of winter.
You can take out the portion for the vegan at your table and add the fromage blanc to the rest.
While it requires a bit of knife work, it is not difficult to make.
It doesn’t require constant attention, so if, for example, you are grilling outdoors, you can leave the oven alone for a bit (don’t forget it, though).
I’ve shared a recipe similar to this week’s, with eggplant and zucchini, and using the same cooking method (“Farmers Markets, Summer Produce and Joy,” July 28, 2022). This is how I operate: After I develop a recipe, I use it as a springboard for further experimenting, which may lead to a new dish. Feel free to follow. Start with the given ingredients, make a baseline rendition, then explore variants (what I call “what ifs”) one at a time and see where they lead you. For example, if one of the listed vegetables is not to your liking, try substituting it with another that cooks in about the same time.
All the North Coast Growers Association farmers markets are open right now (northcoastgrowersassociation.org) and various farmstands, too, offering plenty of options for exploring and appreciating the variety of locally grown and produced foods.
Roasted Summer Vegetables
Roast the sweet corn ahead of time. Serves 6 as a side dish.
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 pound zucchini or summer squash
8 ounces eggplant (globe, Italian, graffiti)
4 ounces tomatoes
(Early Girl, sauce, Amish paste)
2-3 ounces fresh mushrooms
(shiitake, small king trumpet)
2 ounces carrot
2 ounces minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced fresh leaves of thyme or winter savory, or a mix of the two herbs
¾-1 teaspoon ground harissa spice mix, to taste
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
3 ½ ounces roasted sweet corn
(see recipe below)
4 ounces peach, nectarine or pluot, clean weight
2 ounces fromage blanc (cow’s milk, like Nicasio Valley’s Foggy Morning, or goat’s milk, from Cypress Grove)
To roast the sweet corn, heat the oven to 450 F. Place the ears on a baking sheet (still in their husks and with silks attached, or wrapped in foil), leaving some space between them. Roast for 20 minutes. Let the ears cool briefly, then remove the husks and silks (or foil).
Working in a shallow bowl or dish, stand the corn vertically and use a knife to cut the kernels and scrapings from the cob. (Save the empty cobs to make stock or broth.) Set aside the quantity needed for this dish (it will be added toward the end of the baking time, together with the fruit) and refrigerate (or freeze) the rest. (I weigh 4 to 4 ½-ounce portions for salads and 3 ½ to 4-ounce portions to freeze and use in winter vegetable dishes.)
Heat the oven to 375 F.
Distribute 3 tablespoons of the olive oil on the bottom of a 4-quart (15-by-10-by-2-inch) glass baking dish.
Trim top and bottom of the zucchini or summer squash, quarter lengthwise, then slice crosswise, no more than ½-inch thick. (If using pattypan squash, halve lengthwise, then cube crosswise.)
Trim top and bottom of the eggplant and cut into cubes of no more than ½-inch per side.
Slice the tomatoes into a bowl. If the tomato is large, halve the slices crosswise.
Halve or quarter the mushrooms, depending on size (cut them in larger pieces than zucchini and eggplant).
Scrub the carrot well and scrape the surface to remove a thin layer of skin. Grate the carrot using the extra-coarse side of a hand grater.
Place all the raw vegetables in the baking dish, sprinkle with the herb(s), spice mix and minced garlic, then stir to mix. Drizzle the remaining olive oil on top, then stir again.
Place the baking dish in the oven. After 20 minutes, take the baking dish out of the oven and stir its contents. Bake another 10 minutes, or until eggplant and zucchini are tender.
In the meantime, cut the fruit into cubes of no more than ½-inch per side (if using a peach, peel it first).
Add the roasted corn and cubed fruit to the vegetables and stir. Bake another 4-5 minutes.
When the vegetables are ready, take the baking dish out of the oven, sprinkle the sea salt and stir.
Add the fromage blanc in small dollops and stir well to distribute it evenly. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Transfer onto a serving dish or serve immediately out of the baking dish.
Simona Carini (she/her) also writes about her adventures in the kitchen on her blog 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 ‘Come Back Young Again’.