Garden Food

August: the official tomato season. All summer I’ve been protecting my tomatoes—warding off bugs, squirrels, and birds of many kinds—making sure the green sprouts have enough time on the vine to turn that glossy, sun-kissed red. It’s paid off. Although some of the baby tomatoes were eaten by wild life, most survived to be used to the full potential. This past weekend, I picked five tomatoes and used them in my weekend pasta recipe.

I have this new routine down where every weekend I try to make something new. I actually recycled a recipe that I used once already this summer but I used different ingredient this time, so I’m counting it anyway.

This One Pot Summer Pasta recipe that was introduced to me through A Cup of Jo has been amazing. The recipe is from the book Every Day is Saturday by Sarah Copeland. It’s simple because all the ingredients—pasta, herbs, veggies, onion, oil—get placed in the pot and cooked all at the same time for abut 15 minutes.  Plus, the ingredients can fluctuate depending on what’s in your fridge or the produce aisle.

It’s the perfect kind of dish to make for a millennials on a budget who don’t want to get all technical in the cooking scene.

This was the second time I cooked up this pasta. For my initial go at the dish, I mixed together a sweet onion, kale, and rainbow chard. The second time, I chose to dice up some of my summer tomatoes and throw them into the mix, along with broccoli, a handful of basil, and another sweet onion. 

It turned out delicious. Topped with parmesan, it was sweet and creamy with a little zest to it. Perk: it made my kitchen smell heavenly.

One side note: The original recipe doesn’t have meat in it, just pasta, herbs, and vegetables. So if you’re looking for something a little heartier, I’ve also made the recipe with grilled chicken on top. It complements the flavors while adding a little protine to the meal.

If you’re interested trying out the recipe for yourself, check it out here.

What recipes have you been experimenting with this summer?