Kale and Heritage Tomatoes with Eggs

I make a this single pan meal at least  once a week, often when I get home after a tough day at work and don't feel like cooking, and sometimes for brunch on the weekend.  At this time of year, it is very easy, all of the vegetables come straight from the garden, eggs from my neighbour (that is why they are so yellow), and olive oil from the pantry.  It is fast and easy, tastes great, and I think is relatively healthy.  

Autumn Garden Vegetables and Eggs

• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 small onion
• 1 bunch of kale, sometimes I use Swiss chard or beet leaves
• a selection of heritage tomato or not, depending on what you have available
• 1/2 a small hot pepper
• some fresh thyme
• salt and pepper
• 1 or 2 eggs per person
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Chop the garlic and onion, and hot pepper and sauté in a heavy frying pan.  

Clean kale and trim off heavy stems.  Loosely chop and add to pan with a tablespoon or so of water and the juice of one lemon, or some wine vinegar.   Add thyme leaves.  Lightly stir and cook until the kale starts to turn a bright green and is tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Form a well in centre of the pan, pushing the kale to the sides.  Break eggs into the well in the centre of the pan and place tomatoes around the edges on top of the kale.  Cover with a lid and cook for a few minutes until the eggs are cooked to the consistency you like. I like my yolks to be runny.  Grind fresh pepper on top of eggs and serve.

Lemon Pepper Pickled Green Beans

This spring, Denis brought me Haricot Vert seeds to plant in my country garden.  Denis, who has strong French Canadian roots, swears that they are the only type of green bean worth planting. For the past few weeks I have been harvesting a bounty of his beautiful green beans, long straight and skinny.  

I had two favourite recipes for pickled green beans until last winter, when Cathy visited and brought her Dilled green beans which she claims she made from a recipe in a book I gave her twenty years ago. What a memory!!  Now, I have three favourites; in addition to Cathy's Dill version, I also make a lemon and hot pepper version inspired by a recipe in Small Batch Preserves and a horseradish version that has evolved from a recipe I cut from a magazine years ago.

Denis' Pickled Lemon Chili Pepper Green Beans,  and Not Denis' Yellow Beans 

Lemon Pepper Green Bean Pickles

2 pounds of french green beans
2 1/4 cups of cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups of water
1 tbsp of pickling salts
1 tbsp of sugar
1 tbsp of pickling spice
3 small red hot peppers.  I like to use the Tai peppers
1 organic lemon
3 one pint preserving jars

Wash and trim beans to fit length of jars.  Mine are 4 inches long.
Peel  6 or 7 thin long strips of rind from the lemon, taking care to include none of the white pith and set aside.

Combine vinegar, water, juice from lemon, salt and sugar in medium stainless steel pan and bring to a boil.  Add beans and bring to boil for 1minute. Remove from heat and drain, reserving liquid.  Bring liquid to boil again.

In sterilized jars, place 1tsp (5ml) of pickling spice, one pepper and a couple of the strips of lemon rind rind into each jar.  Pack beans into jars, standing length wise and pour liquid into jars to 1/4 inch from top of jar. Process for 10 minutes.

Note: the quicker you get the beans into the jars and process,  the greener the beans remain.

Denis' Birthday Heritage Tomato and Buffalo Mozzarella Salad

This is the best time of the year.  The tomatoes in my garden are ripe!!!  I grow a number of types of tomatoes, and at this time of year my garden is overflowing.  I love when you pick a tomato on a sunny day and you can feel the heat of the sun radiating out of the tomato into your hand.  There is nothing that tastes better.   

Some of the tomatoes from my garden 

It was Denis's birthday last week and of course, I brought tomatoes from the garden for dinner.  Denis had some fabulous buffalo mozzarella and fresh basil in his garden, and so we made a huge platter of tomatoes, mozzarella and basil, dressed with a bit of olive oil, salt and balsamic vinegar, not a true Insalata Caprese because I added a bit of balsamic vinegar, but who cares, it  tastes fabulous.   This dish is all about the ingredients, the freshest tomatoes and basil, and good cheese, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  

Denis' Birthday Tomato Salad includes some black tomatoes, yellow tomatoes, green zebra tomatoes,  and my favorite, brandy wine tomatoes.  

I feel a bit foolish writing down the recipe for this because it is so simple and so good.

Slice a selection of the ripest, freshest tomatoes, add a few leaves of torn fresh basil, tear apart a ball of Buffalo Mozzarella, and arrange amongst the tomatoes.  Sprinkle a bit of the best sea salt you have, drizzle with the best olive oil you have, and the the best balsamic vinegar you have.  That's it.  your done. 

Heritage Tomato and Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad

This past weekend I visited my brother and his family at their weekend place and brought a selection from my garden including heritage tomatoes, parsley, mint, onions and garlic.  We decided to make tabbouleh and because of gluten sensitivities in the group, used quinoa instead of wheat berries.  My nephew Matthew, provided the commentary while I chopped vegetables, and Debbie made the quinoa. 

Red, Yellow and Green Heritage Tomatoes with Quinoa in Tabbouleh Salad

1 cup of quinoa

4 or 5 tomatoes, about 2 cups when chopped

1 onion

2 cloves of garlic

1 large bunch of parsley

1 branch of mint

juice of 1 lemon

3 tablespoons of olive oil

sea salt to taste

Rinse quinoa and prepare.  Set aside to cool.  Dice tomatoes and place in  serving bowl.  Finely chop onions and garlic and add to tomatoes.  Chop parsley and mint and add to bowl of chopped vegetables.  Mix and add lemon juice, olive oil.  Add cooled quinoa, and toss.  Salt to taste.