Cucumbers...Zucchini...Beans! A true veggie bombardment.

Every winter, I order seeds.  This I am sure comes as no surprise to any of you.  I typically give the plants away, and keep a variety for myself.  I like to experiment with different types, varieties, shapes and colors.  This year, I decided to try Turkish orange eggplant, Hungarian cheese peppers, and Romanian Gold Beans of Bacau.  I also choose all time favorites such as Roma, and cherry tomatoes, Blue Lake Beans, and Chicago Pickling cucumbers.

My garden this year is all about new discoveries.  I have more space to work with, more sun, less tree roots, and better soil.  I dug three extra beds this spring, in order to house my veggies, and knowing how I like to over crowd my plants (thinning seedlings is not one of my strong suits) I vowed to give everything enough space...even the tomatoes...sort of.  

I planted about 6 zucchini seeds, spaced nicely apart.  Then I planted three thin rows of cucumbers, a pickling variety and a regular cucumber.  I made two areas for my beans and peas to climb, sowing purple, yellow wax, bush, pole and the beans of Bacau, in designated areas.  They filled in nicely, each producing abundantly at a different time.

And then, I accidentally watered two packets of cucumber seeds...and instead of drying them out, or discarding them...I planted them.

So this is pretty much what it looks like every day at my house....

and this.......

and now this......

Needless to say, I have stopped picking cucumbers for the time being....

What does one do with all of these cucumbers you ask...I made pickles.  Lots and lots of pickles.  In fact I should be making pickles right now.  

 

The true fact of the matter is that this mass quantity of cucumbers has brought with it, the opportunity for me to experiment with various types of pickle making and pickle recipes.  I have tried garlic dill pickles,  hamburger dill pickles, and bread and butter pickles.  

At one point, at the height of my pickling frenzy, with some brine to spare, I began pickling the string beans.

 

  I also decided to make Tzatziki Sauce.  Cucumber, dill, mint, yogurt, garlic and lemon. Yum!

Ok so now moving on the other veggies...Zucchini.  One night I decided to make a dish that I used to order at restaurants in Italy, Fritto Misto.  Often served on brown paper, this crave-worthy dish is usually made up of a variety of fried veggies and seafood.  

I decided that I would fry some zucchini flowers, along with zucchini, and string beans in a light batter that I usually use for the zucchini flowers.  Not sure how the beans would turn out ( even as I added them to the oil) I was surprised to find that they cooked so quickly and were incredibly tender while still a little crunchy.  This dish made a perfect side for the main course...and I made zucchini parmigiana with the leftovers!

( Please note the wrapped up cucumber in the background...they are everywhere!)

And this leaves us with the beans.  Oh the beans.  Producing wonderfully, I have purple, yellow wax, green, and Gold of Bacau.  Typically I like to blanch the beans in salted water, and toss them with olive oil, fresh mint, garlic, salt and pepper, and add a little splash of vinegar at the end.  This is one of my favorite summertime side dishes.  This year however, because of the shear abundance of beans, I wanted to try something different.

The Gold of Bacau, heirloom Romanian Pole Beans, are tender and light, but I had never cooked them alone.  So in order to highlight and understand their true flavor, I isolated them, and decided to make these beans in a tomato basil sauce.

I prepared the beans by blanching them lightly in salted water, while in another pan, sauteing a few  lightly smashed garlic cloves in olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Once the beans were ready, I added them to the garlic to saute, and then added Italian Cherry Tomatoes.  These tomatoes are so sweet and fresh, they make a delicious sauce.  I finished the dish with some purple basil leaves from my garden. 

The beans came out so tender and full of flavor that they almost could be used as a substitute for a pasta dish.  This is one recipe that I will add to my list of summertime favorites!

Stay tuned for more updates from the garden...as the tomatoes and peppers are finally beginning to make an appearance...