Roasted Tomatoes

These tomatoes are super quick and easy to make.

 You can find the recipe HERE.

Basic Sauteed Squash

Today's recipe isn't an exact science, and is one that is easily tailored to your taste. (see how I inserted tailored...kinda like Taylor...hehe) Anyhow, sauteed squash was (and still is) a summer staple with the Taylor family.

Here's what you need. Butter/margarine, onion, pepper, squash, salt and pepper.

 Chop the squash, onion and pepper.

 Put it in the pan over medium heat. Add salt, pepper and some butter. (obviously the more butter the better it tastes, but if you're going for health just use a couple tablespoons)

 Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until squash is tender. I usually cover it for most of the cooking time so the juices stay.

 And you have a wonderful side dish!! I love that there are lots of variations to this basic recipe. Mom always stuck with squash, zucchini and onion. I find the peppers add nice color if you are only making squash. I usually keep the spices basic with salt and pepper, but adding garlic is a yummy option too!

Peach Quick Bread {or muffins!}

Today's recipe comes from one of our favorite bakers, Mina Pincus. She was kind enough to share this Peach quick bread recipe with us. This can also be made into muffins!

Peach Quick Bread

Makes 3 loaves (can also be made into muffins)

3 ½ cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar

4 eggs

¼ cup honey

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup milk

3 cups diced peaches

Topping

¾ cup quick oats

1 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.  Set aside.

Combine topping ingredients in a separate bowl and set aside.

Cream butter and sugars; add eggs one at a time mixing after each.  Add honey and vanilla and mix well.

Add flour mixture alternately with milk beginning and ending with dry ingredients.

Fold in diced peaches.  Pour into greased loaf pan and sprinkle topping mixture over the batter. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  (If baking muffins, bake for 18-20 minutes.) 

And viola!! You have delicious and easy peach bread!  {And I'll tell you a little secret...the soft peaches that are best for baking, are often much cheaper at the stand than the harder ones!} So let's get to baking everybody!

{Back to Taylor's Produce Homepage}

Marinated Tomatoes

After seeing the red and yellow grape tomatoes at the stand the other day, I knew I needed to make some type of marinated tomato salad. There are tons of variations of this online. I'll have to post my mom's recipe for marinated tomatoes sometime soon too.

For this recipe, get some tomatoes. (regular tomatoes, cut up would work just fine also) I used a pint of red and a pint of yellow. Make sure you wash them thoroughly!

Next, get out olive oil, red wine vinegar, basil and garlic.

Now, this part isn't an exact science. I used all the basil pictured + 2 cloves of garlic. For the oil/vinegar, mix together in a 1:1 ratio. (I used 3/4 c of each) Whisk it all together. (it looks gross right now, doesn't it?)

Next, pause to let the cat out onto the porch 'cause he's been sitting and whining at the door long enough to drive you nuts.

Wait. What? That's only at my house???

Once your liquid is whisked together (and the cat is on the porch) cut your grape tomatoes in half and add them to the marinade. Stir.

 Refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight. (if you're impatient like I am, they are certainly edible after only marinating for 20 minutes, but they are better if you give them a couple hours.)

Lastly, eat up!

Back to Taylor's Produce Homepage

Another tomato recipe I hope to try soon is found here.

Grilled Zucchini

Super easy and quick recipe today. (It's so easy, you can hardly call it a recipe) Wash your zucchini, then cut it in half (or into quarters if you want it to cook a little faster).

 Brush all sides with Olive Oil, then season it however you'd like. You can just use salt and pepper, I used salt, pepper and Montreal Chicken seasoning. De-lish.

 Ready for the grill...

Grill for 5 minutes.

 Flip. (not you, the zucchini...no somersaults near the grill...)

Grill 5 more minutes.

This is a great way to make your meal completely grill-prepared. No heating up the kitchen for this meal of burgers, corn and zucchini!!

Back to Taylor's Produce webpage.

Refreshing Blueberry Tart

So, who loves blueberries?? I know I do. I was wanting to make a blueberry dessert, but didn't want a hot one since it's been so hot outside. So a Blueberry Tart was the perfect dessert to make.

First, you need a baked tart. I used Smitten Kitchen's "Great Unshrinkable Sweet Tart Shell" recipe. It eliminates the need for pie weights, and was SO yummy. If you don't have time to make your own shell, I'm pretty sure you can buy the frozen version.

There are 2 layers that will go in the tart.

 For the first layer, mix 6 tablespoons of softened cream cheese (that's 3 oz. so you don't have to look it up like I did :) ), with 1/4 c sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Once it is mixed (I just used a spoon and it mixed well) spread it in the bottom of the tart shell.

Now, for the blueberry part! Wash your 3 cups of berries (that you purchased from Taylor's Produce, of course) and set them aside.

Next, put 1 cup of the berries in a pan with 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup sugar and 2 T cornstarch that was dissolved in 2 T of warm water. Let it come to a boil, then turn it back to simmer right away. The heat will cause the berries to burst (I also mashed mine a little to help them along.)

 Let it simmer until it gets thicker, and is all blueberry color. (as pictured below) 

Mix the remaining 2 cups of berries with the cooked berries and then pour into your tart shell.

You are ready to eat! I stuck mine in the fridge and it made it super refreshing. It got thumbs up from everyone who ate it!

Based on a recipe I found here.

Back to Taylor's Produce Homepage.

Grilled Corn...2 ways.

So how do you cook your Taylor corn? I've lived most of my life eating sweet corn at least once a day during the summer. But in all that time, I'd never had grilled corn on the cob. I decided to change that.

I found multiple sites with directions online and decided to give them a try. Method #1 is an herb butter corn. First, peel off a few of the outer layers of the corn. Make sure to leave a few for protection. This photo is the before and after of removing the outer layers.

2. Cut off the tip of the silk end. (I think this just helps it be less messy)

3. Soak in cold water for 15-20 minutes.

I couldn't get it to stay under the water (it kept floating) so this was my solution to keep it under water!

4. Remove the corn from the water and husk it back to about 1 inch from the base. We need the husk to stay attached, and if it gets pulled all the way back it won't stay attached. I'll be honest, it took 4 tries for me to get 2 ears done correctly.

5. Smear the corn with an herb butter. (just soften butter, and throw in your favorite herbs. I used parsley and basil.)

5. Wrap the husk back around the ear and secure with kitchen string. Or, if you are like me and don't have kitchen string, aluminum-foil-turned-twisty-tie works just fine!

6. Grill over high heat for 15-20 minutes, turning occasionally.

Now, if you want to grill corn and don't have time to do the soaking and the husking and the smearing and the tieing and the cooking, here is method #2 (which is much simpler).

Step 1. Don't husk at all. Don't soak. Just cut the silk end off the ear.

Step 2. Throw it on the grill and cook for 15--20 minutes, turning occasionally. That's it!!

We tried both versions of grilled corn, and found we liked Method #2 (the less work one) even better than the one with herb butter. I think that if I loved the herb butter enough, it could always be added after cooking to save the middle steps of husking, smearing and re-wrapping.

It does take longer than my standard method of boiling corn, BUT if we're already grilling, it makes sense to put it on the grill too. If you try it, come back and let us know how you liked it!