Summer Bounty

I never met a summer squash I didn’t like, or a tomato either for that matter. The summer garden that my family helped me plant this year is overflowing with squash and tomatoes. Beans too, but that’s a story for another day.

I got the idea from Mike Eberhart’s gluten free blog to make “bases” that can then be used in other recipes. The idea is to start with a set of ingredients, cook them, then use the resulting “base” as an ingredient, or a sort of sauce, in other dishes.

Using what I had, which were onions from the grower’s market and lots of tomatoes and summer squashes from my garden, I made this “base”:


Tomato Zucchini Base Sauce

2 onions, chopped and sautéed in a little olive oil.
8 cups diced, peeled and seeded tomatoes
8 cups diced summer squash (zucchini, yellow crookneck and patty pan)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine and simmer until all veggies are cooked. Store in refrigerator for up to 5 days, or store in freezer.


Here’s how I’ve used it so far:

Eaten as-is – sort of as a thick soup
Mixed with leftover pot roast and peas to make a delicious stew
Thinned with chicken broth and added to leftover grilled chicken and peppers (from fajitas) plus a dash of cayenne pepper for Chicken Fajita Soup
Combined with cooked red beans and served over rice for a quick vegetarian meal.

Comments

  1. JenSeptember 19, 2008 at 6:31 AM

    I'm so glad I found your blog! I also have an autoimmune disorder (Crohn's) and have been fighting with doctors for years to give me ALL of the tests for Celiac disease because the only way I feel better is when I'm not eating gluten. My blood work has been negative but I have not yet had a small bowel biopsy. I am under-going extensive treatment right now for Crohn's, I've only been diagnosed since May and my GI says there is a lot of damage in there. I'm thinking of asking him when I go back on 10/3 to schedule me for the small bowel biopsy. I'm on 3 different meds, entocort, pentasa and imuran but no matter what, if I'm eating gluten I still feel horrible. Your story has inspired me to push for more testing. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AndreaSeptember 19, 2008 at 7:02 AM

    What a great concept! Perfect timing for all of those summer veggies we still have access to at the farmers market. Thanks for the idea!

    ReplyDelete
  3. MegSeptember 19, 2008 at 7:49 AM

    I think I may have to use this in a chicken fajita soup! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete

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