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Patty Pan Squash and English Peas

For me the best feeling in the whole wide world is to prepare and eat something that I grew. Knowing that I raised them from a wee little seed into something that give me nourishment as well as a lot of joy to my table. There is a process I love about growing food. First it’s getting the soil ready, this happens far before the seed is planted. Then planting the seed, watering the seed, slowing watching the seed sprout as I am protecting it from the weeds and other things. Eventually comes the first blossoms, sooner or later the fruit, and soon enough comes harvesting time to enable me the joy of preparing something wonderful to eat. We are not finished yet! It's all about continuing to harvest and water frequently. Sad, but true, the seed that became a plant to feed me and you must die - it's the circle of the plant life my friends. So last of I turn the dead plants into compost so that someday they will be food for new plants. I love the process, from start to finish!

The other night when the sun started to go down and it became cool enough to walk through the garden without breaking a sweat, I wander through to see what I could make for dinner. I picked my very first squash of the season . I picked two patty pan varieties that were ready, one being called sunburst because of it's bright yellow color. The other is called flying saucer because it is yellow with green tips. I didn’t harvest any blossoms because you need to do that in the morning so I wandered down to the pea patch to see if any peas were ripe for the pickin’. I managed to harvest a good handful of peas then I went about robbing the potato beds but had no success. I only found two tiny little spuds, not enough to make it in the meal.I’ll be honest I love greens but it was really exciting to eat something else! Greens on my end are almost though their cycle and soon the beds will become beans, more squash and more corn. I can't wait to pick my first tomato!

Oven or Grill Baked Patty Pan Squash and Peas

1 pound patty pan squash, cut into quarters

6 ounces fresh English peas, stemmed and left whole

2 cloves crushed garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

Pinch salt and black pepper

Few sprigs of oregano or rosemary (optional)

Juice and zest of ½ lemon

In a large bowl, coat the vegetables well with the olive oil, lemon, and garlic. Place vegetables in a large piece of foil; wrap and close the vegetables up tightly in the foil. Place in a 350⁰ oven or on a grill for about 10 to 15 minutes or until tender.

Serves: 4 Calories: 120 Protein: 4g Carbohydrates: 12g Total Fat: 7g Saturated Fat: 1g Cholesterol: 0mg Fiber: 3.5g Sodium: 75mg

Weight Watcher’s Points: 2

Seretean Wellness Center at Oklahoma State University

Chef: Lisa Becklund

Sweet Turnip Slaw

1 bunch turnips, washed and peeled (small purple top turnips work well but if you can find the small white turnips even better. Don’t bother to peel the really small turnips)
2 sweet onions
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
¼ cup light sour cream
1 rib celery
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons honey

In a food processor with the shredding attachment, shred the turnips and the onion. In a large bowl mix the turnips, onions with the rest of the ingredients.

Serves: 6 Calories: 80 Protein: 2 g Carbohydrates: 18 g Total Fat: 1 g Saturated Fat: 0.5 g Cholesterol: 5 mg Fiber: 3 g Sodium: 185 mg

Weight Watcher’s Points: 1

Marinated Sweet Onions & Baby Beet Salad

This is a great side dish for grilled salmon!

1 bunch beets (red or Chioggia if available)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 small sweet onions sliced very thin
¼ cup red wine vinegar
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch salt
1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
12 ounces arugula

Blanch the beets by cutting off the greens and placing in a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes. Peel the skin off the beets and slice to medium thickness (⅛ inch). In a medium bowl combine the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt and let dry ingredients dissolve in the liquid. Add the onions and the sliced beets and parsley. Let marinate for at least 15 minutes before serving. This salad will last refrigerated for a week. Serve over a bed of arugula.

Serves: 6 Calories: 70 Protein: 3 g Carbohydrates: 14 g Total Fat: 0.5 g Saturated Fat: 0 g Cholesterol: 0 mg Fiber: 4 g Sodium: 130 mg
Weight Watcher’s Points: 1

Broccoli Sweet Onion Pie

Dough for flat pie
¾ cup warm water
1 tablespoon wildflower honey
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
¼ cup non fat milk
2 tablespoons olive oil
Pinch salt
2 cups unbleached flour
1 cup whole wheat flour

To bloom yeast, combine ¼ cup of the warm water with the honey and the yeast in a small bowl and let rest for 10 minutes until mixture is foamy. In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients; add the olive oil, milk and the rest of the water. When yeast is foamy add to the flour and mix with a wooden spoon. When the dough becomes too hard to mix with the spoon, turn out onto a clean surface and knead by hand for 8 minutes. Place in a lightly oiled bowl covered with plastic. Let rise for 2 hours. Now you’re ready to roll.

Roll the dough out into a round pizza pan.

1 recipe for flat pie
3 onions caramelized
4 cups chopped fresh broccoli
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 ounces fresh mozzarella, diced small
3 tablespoons chopped kalamata olives
2 tablespoons fresh chopped oregano
2 tablespoons nice extra virgin olive oil

First get the dough going, when the dough is rising caramelize the onions. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. When dough is ready, roll it out the size of a 12-inch pizza dish, rub the dough with the olive oil and the minced garlic. Par cook the dough in the oven for about 10 minutes. Top the par cooked dough with the onions, the broccoli, olives, oregano and the mozzarella and the parmesan. Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Cut into wedges.

Serves: 8 Calories: 330 Protein: 12 g Carbohydrates: 42 g Total Fat: 13 g Saturated Fat: 4.5 g Cholesterol: 20 mg Fiber: 5 g Sodium: 190 mg
Weight Watcher’s Points: 7