When the summer season begins to wind down, the summer garden harvest has a tendency to leave behind an overwhelming pile of produce, but luckily A Fresh Legacy and Smitten Kitchen have recipes to ensure that you make the most of your summertime yield. This garden salsa recipe is perfect to make the most of your remaining summer garden crop.
“Quick, Easy Garden Salsa” Recipe (Smitten Kitchen)
If your garden is aboud with pounds of whole tomatoes come summer’s end, then this garden salsa recipe is the way to make the most out of that popular garden vegetable!
Garden Salsa Ingredients:
10 to 12 whole tomatoes (peeled)
½-¼ of a large white onion
1 fresh jalapeño (trimmed)
1 clove garlic (peeled)
½ cup of fresh cilantro leaves (chopped)
½ teaspoon of kosher salt
Juice from half of a lime (2-3 tablespoons)
Garden Salsa Directions:
- Begin your summertime salsa by placing your whole tomatoes in a large mixing bowl and press them so that their juices expel and they become open and crushed. Using a colander, separate the excess tomato juice from the whole tomatoes, and set the juice aside.
- Finely chop your white onion, jalapeño, and garlic. Remove the seeds from the jalapeño at this stage if you want your salsa to be on the milder side of spicy, as jalapeño seeds are known to hold more of that fiery kick.
- Add your onion, jalapeño, and garlic to a blender or large food processor along with your chopped cilantro leaves and salt. Grind or blend the ingredients with a few pulses and then add in your drained tomatoes and lime juice and continue pulsing the machine until you reach your desired consistency. If the salsa mixture ever seems too thick, add some of your reserved tomato juice one tablespoon at a time.
- Adjust seasoning to taste, and then serve in a salsa bowl alongside tortilla chips and enjoy. Leftovers of this fresh salsa can keep up to one week in the refrigerator.
“Summer Yogurt Dip” (A Fresh Legacy)
This recipe is perfect for gardens that yield cucumbers and herbs. The yogurt base pairs particularly well with the herbal notes of mint leaves, leaving you with a refreshingly cool summer dip.
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups of peeled & grated cucumbers (3-4)
½ tablespoon of a freshly juiced lemon
½ cup of plain yogurt
1 clove garlic
A handful of fresh mint leaves (finely chopped)
½ teaspoon of sumac
Directions:
- Combine your ingredients together in a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon. Begin with your yogurt and place the remaining herbs, vegetables, and juice atop the dairy-based yogurt.
- Sprinkle the sumac on top of your mixture.
- Serve the yogurt dip alongside crusty bread or as a side with other raw vegetables from your garden such as zucchini, squash, or carrots.
“Baked Summer Vegetable Dip” (A Fresh Legacy)
This recipe takes about 20 minutes of preparation and 25 minutes of cooking time to produce a roasted tray of various summer vegetables. Feel free to add your excess to the sheet tray, because with this recipe, there’s not much that can go wrong.
Ingredients:
Half a pound of tomatoes (approximately 2-3)
1 capsicum (roughly chopped)
1 zucchini (chopped into large pieces)
2 cloves garlic (roughly chopped)
Large drizzle of olive oil
⅓ cup walnuts
3 stems and leaves of fresh basil
Directions:
- Begin by preheating your oven to 325°F.
- On a baking pan with a parchment paper lining, add your tomatoes, capsicum, zucchini, and garlic. Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil, toss them together, and then bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove them from the oven, allowing them to cool. Then, place the contents of the bake into a food processor or blender with your walnuts and basil leaves.
- Pulse the food processor until it’s all well-combined, and pour the dip into a bowl.
- Serve alongside pita bread triangles or similar starches such as crackers.
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