Welcome to mama eats, a twice-weekly newsletter (Tues. & Sat.) inspired by a simple + seasonal home life. This week’s post about summer grocery staples is free to read. I try to provide as much free content as possible, however, this newsletter is a labor of love and I am a busy mother of three. If you have the means and find value in what I share, please consider becoming a paid subscriber, which also gives you the benefit of access to the growing archive (posts over a month old).
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Summertime is here, with its hot lazy days, faces and bodies glowing like full moons with salty sweat, hair wavy from swimming, the deep sweet smell of melons as you walk through the market. My favorite time of year, I feel like I can breathe again in summer. Easy warmth, less structure to the days, stretching in a seemingly endless and inviting way. Possibilities abound.
In summer more than any other season, I gravitate towards easy, easy meals packed with produce. It’s hot and I don’t want to spend a bunch of time in the kitchen- I utilize my instant pot for things like beans, potatoes, and beets- plug it in outside so the steam doesn’t have to heat up my kitchen when I release it. Produce here is at its peak, pristine and bursting with flavor, requiring very little to dress it up. I rely on a few meals that I can make bigger batches of and reinvent through the week by adding a component or two. Here is a small list of my usual suspects:
burrito or sushi or peanut sauce bowls
crushed puy lentils with tahini & cumin with rice and tomato/cucumber salad
greek salad, lemony chickpeas + dolmas
French style potato salad- boiled potatoes, summer veg, vinaigrette, herbs
cold pasta salad- beans, tomatoes, sauteed zucchini, bell peppers, olives, basil etc
ratatouille and bread or rice with simple fresh cooked white beans dressed in olive oil and basil leaves
summer minestrone
white bean, tomato, cucumber, basil salad
a simple whole grain pasta revolving around one or two summer veg, garlic, and plenty of olive oil and herbs
tomato tart
tostadas spread thickly with refried black beans, sauteed summer veg, avocado
farinata, a chickpea flour crepe/pancake of sorts
We usually have these dishes with whatever other little odds and ends I have on hand to round it out:
any kind of melon or peaches or tomato, sliced and drizzled with a touch of peppery olive oil, flaky salt and pepper- maybe a few leaves of basil too or some slices of mozzarella
fresh crusty sourdough
sautéed padron/friggitelli/shisito type small green peppers
juicy ears of fresh, local sweet corn
peperonata (olive oil stewed red peppers and tomatoes)
buttery green olives or tapenade (olive spread)
simple stuffed, roasted tomatoes or round zucchini
hummus
tzatziki (yogurt and cucumber sauce)
It’s no secret that I love beans, for so many reasons- they are a nutrient dense, comforting, inexpensive, versatile food- and this summer bean salad is a staple for us.
white bean salad
notes: beans cooked from dried are superlative in both flavor and texture and really elevate such a simple salad. That being said, I have made this plenty of times in a pinch with canned beans and it’s very good still. Use the ripest, freshest tomatoes you can find, and don’t be tempted to chop the mint or basil- roughly tear the leaves into largish pieces- trust me, the flavor is better this way as it doesn’t oxidize as much. Try swapping out the beans with chickpeas, borlotti beans, green beans, lentils, farro, or quinoa for different variations. Lemon juice can be used in place of the red wine vinegar.
2 cups cooked white beans, like cannellini
a large tomato
a large cucumber
1/2 bunch of parsley
4 large stalks of fresh basil or mint
5 green onions, sliced
red wine vinegar and olive oil, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
Rinse and drain the beans well- extra water will dilute the flavors here- then add into a large bowl. Chop up the tomato and cucumber and add them to the beans. Mince the parsley and add it to the bowl, then tear the basil or mint leaves and add them along with the green onions. Drizzle over plenty of olive oil, I would start at about 3 tablespoons, adding more to taste/as needed. Add the red wine vinegar- start with 1 tablespoon and add more to taste/as needed. Season with salt and pepper, then mix gently and taste. Add more oil/vinegar/salt as you wish and serve.
Here are two very simple ways I’ve eaten this salad for dinner (there are endless possibilities though!). Dinner one: white bean salad as described above, sauteed red onion, zucchini, and pink potatoes.
Dinner two: white bean salad as described above (but with no tomato and adding a sweet red onion, sauteed zucchini and romano beans, rigatoni with pesto.
nectarine, tomato, and basil salad
notes: sub peaches or cantaloupe for the nectarines- the main thing is that the fruit is very fragrant and delicious. Sometimes I’ll add some mozzarella or feta in to make it more of a light meal, alongside some bread or a slice of farinata (a chickpea pancake/crepe).
two ripe but not too soft nectarines
two medium ripe tomatoes, or a pint of cherry tomatoes
a small red onion
a few sprigs basil
olive oil
salt and pepper
Slice the nectarines and tomatoes into similar sized wedges and add to a bowl. Slice the red onion thinly- if it tastes very spicy, you can soak it in cold water with a splash of vinegar for 10 minutes to remove some of the pungency- and add it to the bowl. Tear over the basil leaves (don’t cut, it changes the flavor and color), and drizzle over a generous amount of olive oil and a splash of red wine vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix gently and serve right away.
Here is an example of a dinner I’ve made with this salad: nectarine salad (with a bit of feta added), a wedge of farinata with red onions and rosemary cooked in, cooked lentils tossed with olive oil and red wine vinegar/s+p, steamed green beans, steamed beets.
Dinner two featuring this salad can be seen in the first photo of this post.
I hope this post can serve as a useful resource for summer meals that are packed with vegetables and flavor- I’ll continue to come back and add more links if I post recipes to things mentioned here, like the zucchini chickpea fritters and farinata. Please leave links or recipe suggestions in the comments if you have all time favorite summer dishes you make, I (and other readers, too, I’m sure!) would love to know. Happy July, and I’ll see you Saturday xx
I’m blown away as ever by how much amazing information you share with us! I’m across the country in mountainous zone 4b so my available produce is usually very different but the way you structure your meals and your food is so insightful! This is going to make such a lovely foundation for our summer meals, thank you again 💛