A week ago, at the farmers' market, Westmoreland Berry Farm had brought in the big guns: blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, cherries, and even peaches. That day it was pouring rain, but the line was 30 people long, and you could see their worried eyes scanning to see if there was going to be enough left for them when they reached the head of the line. I was just trying to assemble my OLS menu for week 3 without getting drenched, so the berries would just have to wait.
The line was still that long this past Saturday at their stand, which should be no surprise, because it was a lovely sunny day. I decided then and there, I'm setting my alarm clock on Saturday mornings, because there is no way I'm going to miss out on their raspberries for even one more week. I have a plan, yes I do, and when it's accomplished I will share it here.
Meanwhile, the summer squashes were...abundant.
The night before, I was leafing through an old Martha Stewart Living--pre-kids, of course, from 2001--and I spied an entire article of summer squash recipes. The vegetable pot au feu caught my fancy.
From what I understand, a pot au feu usually included stew meat, and it stayed on the fire all day. This recipe contains no meat and what I loved about it was that the whole thing cooked in under 25 minutes. I just can't call it pot au feu.
Quick Summer Vegetable Stew (adapted from Summer Vegetable Pot Au Feu, Martha Stewart Living, March 2001).
some extra-virgin olive oil
2 ounces of onions, I used fresh shallots, Martha likes pearl
3 cloves garlic; I chopped up some garlic scapes
1/4 cup white wine
4 ounces baby carrots, sliced thin
1 bay leaf
2 springs fresh thyme (from our garden, yay!)
2 sprigs flat leaf parsley
3/4 cup homemade or canned chicken stock
3/4 cup water
4 ounces tiny new potatoes cut into quarter inch pieces (I used about 9 ounces because I knew my kids would love them)
9 ounces assorted baby summer squashes, cut in half
1 ounce trimmed sugar snap peas (I think I used about 3 ounces; they're a fave too)
1 ounce lima beans (I skipped these, maybe another time)
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook until light brown. Add white wine, cook about 3 minutes.
Add potatoes, carrots, bay leaf, thyme, parsley, chicken stock, and water; simmer for 12 minutes. [Martha wants you to add the potatoes after the carrots have cooked for 5 minutes, cooking the potatoes with the carrots for 7 minutes. I knew the potatoes wouldn't get cooked, even though I had deliberately cut them into smaller chunks, and sure enough, I had to pick them out and microwave them a little at the end before adding them back. So put your potatoes in with the carrots.]
Add squash, cooking until tender, about 5 minutes. Add sugar snap peas (and lima beans, if using), and cook 2 minutes. FYI: watch the stew and add a little chicken broth if it looks like it's getting low, but the liquid is supposed to cook down into a "gravy."
To serve: remove bay leaf, thyme, and parsley sprigs. Ladle veggies and broth into bowls. Serves 4.
I served some sauteed chicken breasts from the farmers' market with the veggie stew. I vaguely recalled a favorite Cooking Light recipe that I couldn't find anywhere so I made it as best as I could remember: ground red pepper flakes (I use a spice grinder), salt, and plenty of local honey with a little flour to thicken. Coat the chicken and then fry in olive oil. I cut the chicken through the center so that the pieces were very thin and cooked through quickly without burning.
E (who is 5) and dear D, my husband, ate every single bite. N (who just turned 4) ate all the veggies and one bite of chicken. Getting non-dairy protein into that boy is a full-time job.
