Thursday, July 26, 2018

Veggie Carbonara!

Okay, Kav will love this! Veggie carbonara, summer style!


And it was so good, I didn't even miss the meat, but if you wanted to throw some bacon or ham or chicken into this, you surely can... but we went veggie this time.

We have a plethora of squashes. Zucchinis, summer squash, sunburst squash and green beans. But I didn't want beans, so I used a pack of frozen peas instead.

A handful of small halved or quartered tomatoes would have been nice, but they're not in yet, so I used some sundried tomatoes for a "sweet" balance.



1 medium zucchini
1 medium summer squash
1/4 sweet onion, chopped
Cherry or plum tomatoes, halved OR
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes

Garlic
Salt
Pepper
1/2 lb. Cooked pasta

Cut zucchini and summer squash into bite-sized pieces.
Chop about 1/4 sweet Vidalia onion
Halve tomatoes.

Cook pasta. About seven minutes before it's done, heat 1/4 cup olive oil in frying pan.
Add onion. Cook for about two minutes over medium/medium-high heat.
Add squash. Cook on medium high for about 4 or 5 minutes.
Add peas. Frozen or fresh snap peas. I had frozen.



Heat through.

Drain pasta. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with garlic to taste. Add salt and pepper. Toss in veggies. Toss. Add 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese.

Toss and serve. 

Seriously an eleven minute meal that we loved. Happy faces everywhere!

And this is us getting ready for weekend business: Making strawberry jam...


Strawberry jam, ready to go:





Very Berry jam, ready to go!

Such a crazy busy time of year.... but on a plus side God watered the mums TWICE this week, and that's the first time since they came!

GO GOD!!! :)

So that's how things are going here.... planting is done.


Spraying and weeding and watering is at hand.
And picking now! Summer squashes and beans... and so it begins.

Sneaking in writing time.... and rainy day cleaning time... and the swing! To go on the side porch with the nicely painted floor, I washed and bleached and refinished the old swing:






It came back to life! So pretty... and the perfect swing to rock babies, or for kids and icies or Popsicles...

There is something just right about a swing... or a rocker...




And a porch. :)

Multi-published award-winning author Ruth Logan Herne is currently hiding whenever she can so that she can write the sweet books that folks have come to expect... and when she's not writing she's living on a WNY pumpkin farm with kids and grandkids and donkeys and dogs and  cats and some chipmunks and mice and a lot of birds.... but that's okay because Ruthy loves kids and critters!

E-mail her at loganherne@gmail.com, friend her on facebook or follow her on Twitter where folks tend to get a little riled far too often.... And why is that, do you s'pose??? ;)

10 comments:

  1. I just wrote a scene with characters sitting on a porch swing. So sweet. No porch swings in Brownstone Brooklyn. :(

    That veggie carbonara sounds like one of my typical throw together meals (minus the sun-dried tomatoes). It's sort of like taking my recipe from yesterday and tossing it on top of pasta so the nationality changes. :)

    Happy Thursday on the farm, Ruthy and friends.

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    1. Cate, it's exactly like that, LOL! I'm going to roast some veggies tonight to mimic you yesterday, so you have influenced me mightily!

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  2. I love, love, LOVE that swing, Ruthy. Beautiful job with the refinishing. And I bet the carbonara was lovely with your fresh-picked squash.

    I was thinking of your farm this morning when I was at the store and saw that they had the "faux" fall flowers out. Gosh, August is less than a week away. School will be starting in a few weeks, at least here in Texas. So I guess autumn isn't that far away. For now, though, it's still hotter'n blue blazes.
    BTW, I bought the flowers. If I wait until it feels like fall, they'll be gone and, more than likely, replaced by Christmas flowers.

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    1. Mindy, that's so true! I saw fall candy displays... and I always buy my M&Ms for fall early because before you know it, they're all red and green... and then I have red and green for Thanksgiving??? No. It can't happen! :)

      My grandkids in NC go to school in two weeks....

      And yes, the fall things are starting to creep onto shelves.

      WHAT????

      But in the meantime, it's hot here, too. And I am totally thrilled with how that swing came out... It makes me smile every time I see it.

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  3. WE HAVE ZUCCHINI!!!

    My little container gardens struggled because of too much rain this summer (can you believe that?), but we finally have baby zucchini growing!

    I'll have to make your recipe when they're ripe in...12 hours? 24? It's amazing how fast those zukes grow once they get started!

    And Ruthy, I love, love, love that swing. And all it entails. *sigh*

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    1. Laughing.... and sighing, too.

      I'm so glad your zucchini is coming along... and I love the mini gardens in container growing. They are so fun.

      But it's hard to keep mini "micro" climates happy sometimes. Too much heat, sun, rain.... or bugs and blight.

      Dagnabbit!

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  4. This makes me happy -- from the veggie recipe to the porch swing! But this city girl must confess she thought summer squash and zucchini were the same thing. Oops. Must head to my farmer's market and snoop around.

    I can't believe you only got two days of rain, Ruthy. We had a steady waterfall from Sunday through to this morning. I loved not having to water my garden in the heat but now the poor flowers are flattened. lol This has been a crazy summer weather wise.

    Oh -- and homemade strawberry jam????? Droooooooolllllllliiinnnnngggg!

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    1. Homemade sour cherry jam joined the crowd this morning, so I'll have a dozen jars to put out for the weekend....

      And I had jam on a fresh bagel this morning, lightly toasted.

      I WAS SO HAPPY! :)

      Kav, most of the storms have either passed east or west of us, so tracking your way or up the lake. We think there is a SECRET NET over Lake Ontario, discouraging clouds from encroachment!

      I bet the heat of the water has something to do with it. A big body of water has her effect on things, that's for certain!

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  5. Ruthy, love the swing. It's a great addition to your porch and enjoying time there. Your veggie carbonara is going to be made at my place. I've been making a variety of zucchini stir fry dishes and have enjoyed each one. Fresh produce is the best and I've been blessed with family and friends sharing with me.

    Happy summer fun, Ruthy. I would be visiting your farm if I was in the area.

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  6. Ruthy, I'm late. But I loved the recipe, love the swing and the rockers! And I do love a nice porch. Very southern! Way to go. :)

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