A fresh take on pasta salad and a great addition to any summer barbecue or picnic.

This recipe is great as-is, and a serves as a firm foundation for any mix-ins you have on hand and strike your fancy: tomatoes, olives, capers, feta, pickles, marinated vegetables, toasted whole spices– you really can’t go wrong! I like to make a big batch on Sunday and have it for lunch during the week, topping with nuts and seeds for crunch and protein. Don’t skip salting and squishing your squash to remove excess water– this step will prevent you from a soggy summer salad that will lose its allure long before it should. 

Serves 8-10

• 1 pound orzo + about a tablespoon of salt
• 5-6 small-medium to large zucchini and/or squash
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 garlic clove, grated
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
• Juice and zest of one lemon
• ½ tablespoon maple syrup
• ½ cup chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon each of thyme and oregano, finely chopped
• A handful of basil and mint leaves
• S&P to taste

Shred zucchini with a cheese grater, as coarse as you can. Put it in a colander or a fine mesh sieve and sprinkle with a teaspoon of salt before stirring. Drain over a clean bowl while you prepare everything else, 10-15 minutes. Cook the orzo in salted water, according to the directions on the package. While the orzo is cooking, grate garlic into the olive oil and add lemon juice and zest along with the mustard seeds and maple syrup. Whisk it. Chop your parsley and thyme and stir into the dressing. Drain your pasta and let in cool in a colander. Check on your zucchini/squash, which should be sitting over a little puddle of squash water. Using a spoon, press against the colander to release more liquid, squeezing out as much water as you can. Stir the squash into the orzo and add your dressing. Add your mix-ins if you have them. Clap basil mint leaves between your hands before tearing them once or twice and sprinkling over your salad. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Written for Johnson’s Backyard Farm

Fresh tomatoes, the last of a pot of Louisiana-style red beans and a cheddar sharp enough to stand up next to the tang and the spice were the inspiration for this savory summer pie. This recipe was created last May, for a tomato-forward dinner with Johnson’s Backyard Garden to celebrate their bountiful harvest of ‘maters and to show CSA subscribers another way to enjoy them.

Emiliy HIlliard of Nothing in the House is a folklorist and pie-maker in West Virginia, and her pie crust recipe has been my go-to for years. It’s easy to work with and always flaky– ideal for making a galette. If you don’t have leftover red beans, canned beans work just as well here. Make sure you salt and drain your tomatoes before placing them on your pastry– the excess liquid will make for soggy crust, so don’t skip this step! I prefer the crunch and the defined flavor of whole spices in the beans, but ground spices work just as well here.

Filling

1½ cup kidney or pinto beans, drained

½ teaspoon coriander

¼ teaspoon cumin

¾ teaspoon mustard seed

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

3 medium tomatoes (preferably different colors–a variety of red and green is great here) sliced ¼ inch thick, perpendicular to the core

Butter

Crust, adapted from Nothing in the House

Ingredients

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (or 1 c. all-purpose + 1 c. whole-wheat pastry flour*)

1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper

1 1/2 sticks COLD unsalted butter (12 tablespoons), cut into slices

1/2 beaten large egg, cold (save the other half to brush on top of the crust)

1/4 cup ice-cold water

1/2 tablespoon cold apple cider vinegar (I keep mine in the fridge)

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and pepper. Using a pastry cutter or fork and knife, cut in the butter. You want to make sure butter chunks remain, as that’s what makes the crust flaky.

2. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the COLD liquid ingredients (Using cold liquids ensures that your butter will not melt–another crucial detail for a flaky crust!).

3. Pour the liquid mixture into the flour-butter mixture and combine using a wooden spoon. Mix until dough comes together, but is not overly mixed (it should be a little shaggy). Form into a ball, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and let chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour before rolling out.

*If you use whole wheat pastry flour, you may need to add additional liquid.

Lay sliced tomatoes on a cooling rack placed over a sheet pan or in a colander over a bowl and sprinkle with salt.

While the tomatoes drain, heat olive oil or butter in a small skillet and add the spices. Cook until you can smell the spices start to toast. Stir in garlic and cook for 30 seconds, then add the beans. Using a potato masher or the back of your fork or spoon, mash the beans against the side of the pan as they cook. Cook on medium heat until the moisture is cooked out of the beans. Remove beans from the heat and set aside.

Preheat oven to 400F

Once your dough is chilled, split it in two and roll one into a flat, thin circle. Spread half of the bean mixture onto the middle part of the dough, then top with cheddar cheese. Arrange sliced and drained tomatoes on top of the cheese, alternating colors and size to keep it jazzy.

Fold the edge of the dough over the filling, letting the filling show as indicated in the picture. Brush the crust with egg wash and place a few pats of butter on your tomatoes. Repeat for the second disc of dough.

Bake at 400 for about 30 or 40 minutes, or until your crust is golden brown.

Pesto is my go-to solution for greens that won’t go straight into a salad, so carrot-tops fit the bill here just right. Our CSA box from Johnson’s Backyard Farm had a big handful of dill last week, so I threw some in last minute and learned about what happens when dill, carrot-tops and pecans come together: sweet, sharp and earthy, with a tang from the dill that reminds me of warmer weather. 

Swap out parsley for anything else you might have on hand here– I imagine mint and cilantro would take this paste to a whole new place. If you don’t have a food processor, chopping everything by hand works just fine.

• 2 cups carrot-tops, washed, dried and roughly chopped
  
• ½ cup parsley
  
• ⅓ cup dill, roughly chopped
  
• ½ cup pecans, roughly chopped
  
• 1 clove garlic
  
• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  
• A squeeze or two of lemon juice
  
• Salt and pepper to taste
  

Pulse everything but the salt, pepper and lemon juice in a food processor, adding more olive oil as you need to. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.

Traditional pesto calls for Parmesan, but I never seem to have the right amount when I set out to make pesto. Nuts, herbs, garlic and olive oil and salt are ever-present in my kitchen and I have found that is really all you need to make a flavorful green paste to spread on sandwiches or quesadillas, toss with pasta, roasted vegetables, dip raw veggies, etc.

Ideas for Carrot Top Pesto:

• Sourdough sandwiches with roasted carrots, spinach, sharp cheddar and pesto
• Brown rice with carrot-top pesto, wilted spinach & poached egg
• Grilled cheese with havarti & pesto
• Fried eggs with pesto toast
• Roasted Sweet Potatoes with carrot top pesto, greek yogurt, pepitas & sriracha

Written for Johnson’s Backyard Farm in January 2017.