No. 310: The First Summer Tomato Salads and Zucchini Gratins; and Here Come the Peas!
Plus: Fish tacos, fingerlings, and ice cream pie
🍅 All bets are off!
And just like that – it’s summer. I can hardly believe I’m already making tomato salads. But given the hot weather, the idea seemed appealing this weekend. Yet I doubt I would have gone down this road if I hadn’t seen some gorgeous tomatoes at Morning Glory. Not field tomatoes, of course, but the ones they seed in January and plant in the ground in their hoop houses in the spring for an early harvest.
There was a basket of red sandwich tomatoes, but even more attractive, an early purple variety that I knew would be meaty and delicious. I picked up some colorful cherry tomatoes there, too. (Alas, not local yet – a couple more weeks before those appear.) On my mind was a salad I’d put together a few years ago using a bunch of flavor- and texture-boosters.
And it turns out I had everything else I needed to make Tomato Salad with Roasted Chickpeas, Quick-Pickled Red Onions, Herbs & Lemon-Tahini Vinaigrette. I almost always have some of the Lemon-Tahini Vinaigrette in the fridge, because it’s our “house” dressing. I had red spring onions and Thai basil, cilantro, and mint in my garden. Plus, I’d opened a can of chickpeas the night before and not used most of it.
In the time it took to roast the chickpeas, everything else was prepped, in a mixing bowl, and ready to toss together. I served the salad in little vegetable dishes with some grilled chicken, and we ate outside for the first time this year.
🎉 Veggie Gratins are Back
I also saw the first Island-grown zucchini this weekend, which means that it won’t be long (July Fourth?) before I’m making one of my summer veggie gratins, which I also refer to as tians for the Provençal casserole dish they were traditionally baked in. Most of you know that I’ve been making these crowd-pleasers for years (many of you have, too!).
I’ve found that this recipe – the Layered Zucchini, Tomato, and Parmesan Tian — is happy to bake in a dish of any shape, as long as it is shallow. (Don’t choose a deep dish – you need the wide surface area for the vegetable juices to reduce down and infuse the gratin with flavor.) Mini-gratins — square or rectangular — are fun, and a quiche pan makes a lovely round gratin. I often use a shallow oval enameled cast-iron gratin dish, because the pan retains heat so well and tends to reduce and caramelize the juices more intensely. It also has sloped sides (more like a traditional tian), which I find makes layering easier.
🫛 The First Peas 🫛🫛🫛🫛🫛
While early tomatoes are ripening in hoop houses, I’m harvesting my first snap peas and snow peas. (And yes, I still have pansies growing in my garden!) I know that seems weird; we think of peas as spring vegetables but our harvest on the Vineyard doesn’t start until late June. I noticed in Beetlebung Farm’s newsletter that they will have peas for sale this week, too.
My husband is in a long Zoom meeting tonight, so I thought I’d make an improv pea & rice bowl for myself: I’ll just sauté my snap and snow peas simply with a bit of garlic and serve them in a bowl of ginger rice. I’m going to cook a quick one-egg scallion “pancake” with spring onion tops and cilantro, and slice that thinly for the bowl, too. Then a squeeze of lime, a dash of tamari, and a small dollop chili crisp should do it.
When my shell peas come in, I’m going to make this Swiss Chard and Peas with Maple-Balsamic-Lemon Sauce, because I have a lot of chard in my garden, too. I’m not sure why but I seem to have planted it all over the place. I noticed Ghost Island Farm has really nice chard. I always like to temper the slightly mineral-y taste of this green with something acidic and something sweet. A bit of salty ham or salami helps too.
But we’ve got lots of things you can do with fresh snap peas and snow peas. You might remember the two recipes we introduced this spring. One was this yummy Chicken Salad with Peanut Sauce and Crunchy Vegetables.
And the other was this Stir-Fried Veggies with Rice Noodles in Fragrant Coconut Broth. Either would make a lovely light summer supper.
And you can find the complete pea recipe archive here.
🥬 Cabbage is for summer (slaws), too
I also saw Caraflex cabbage at Morning Glory, which reminded me that one of my favorite things to do with fresh snap peas is to slice them and add them to Quick Limey Slaw.
You could use that slaw with Sam Sifton’s Fish Tacos with Salsa and Lime Crema.
Or with Grilled Swordfish Tacos.
Instead of a green cabbage slaw with peas, you could make Gingery Red Cabbage and Pea Slaw with Cilantro, Lime and Peanuts, which is more of a side dish than a condiment.
Maybe serve that with Summer Meatballs with Cilantro, Lime & Ginger.
🐟 Friday Night Fish
We haven’t had black sea bass in a while. I’m not sure I can wait to see if we’ll get some in our next CSF share, so I think I’ll head over to Larsen’s this week and pick up a few filets, maybe for a nice Friday night dinner of Black Sea Bass with Fresh Garlic-Lemon Butter.
I might serve that with Fingerling Potato, Cremini Mushroom, and Baby Spinach Ragout with Lemon-Thyme Butter. I was at Ghost Island Farm yesterday morning and picked up some fingerling potatoes that had been harvested just the day before. They’ve also harvested their first garlic of the season – a Chinese pink variety that apparently is ready to pull almost a full month ahead of other varieties.
🍨 🥧 🍫 🍓 Ice Cream Pie for the Fourth
Looking ahead to the Fourth of July, I’m thinking you might want to make an ice cream pie this weekend and tuck it in the freezer. I admit, this recipe for Summer Berry and Vanilla Ice Cream Pie with Chocolate Sauce is one I adapted from a recipe my mother always made. That pie had coffee and vanilla ice cream in it; this one has the option of incorporating homemade Summer Berry Ice Cream into it. But honestly any ice cream packed into a chocolate cookie shell and drizzled with chocolate sauce will make a very fine pie that absolutely no one will complain about.
Stay cool and enjoy your week. We’ll be back in your inbox next Wednesday, July 2. JULY already! And, as always, if you have a question, leave a comment here or feel free to email us at cookthevineyard@vineyardgazette.com.
— Susie Middleton, editor
❤️ Don’t forget to click the little heart at the top or bottom if you liked this post!
🥗 Where to find recipes and past newsletters
Our recipe archive is always open at cookthevineyard.com.
All previous newsletters can be accessed by paid subscribers at cookthevineyard.substack.com.
🍽️ What’s happening around the Island
📆 News & Events
Learn to make your own ice cream at the FARM Institute on Friday, June 27 at 3:15 p.m. The class is designed to be kid-friendly, and all family groups will leave with a finished pint of ice cream. Registration required.
Noman’s in Oak Bluffs is having a six-year anniversary party this Thursday, June 26 with a Mediterranean style grill, pizza from @reunionmv and live music. Party starts at 5 p.m., live music at 6 p.m.
🥕 Farm Stands, Summer Schedules
Ghost Island Farm is open every day, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
North Tabor Farm is open daily, dawn to dusk.
Beetlebung Farm is open Wednesday to Sunday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Morning Glory Farm is open daily, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Grey Barn’s farm stand is open Thursday to Monday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Mermaid Farm is always open!
🐟 Seafood Markets
The Fish House at the airport is open Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Net Result in Vineyard Haven is open Monday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Larsen’s Fish Market in Menemsha is open daily, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Menemsha Fish Market is open Monday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.
Edgartown Seafood is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
🎧 Listen to On the Vineyard from the Vineyard Gazette
The new On the Vineyard podcast from the Vineyard Gazette is deeply rooted in the sense of place the Vineyard evokes, with reports on local happenings, events large and small, and, of course, food and restaurants. The weekly podcast has sounds from the Island both present (i.e. Memorial Day celebrations) and past (archival voices). Listen here or anywhere you get your podcasts.
Photos: Swiss chard with peas, Alexandra Grablewski; Sam Sifton’s fish tacos, David Malosh; Chef Montoya, Ray Ewing; all others, Susie Middleton.
🥕🥕🥕
Great collection of recipes to kick off summer! Thanks