Eating meatless seems simpler in the summer, when steamy hot August days often leave me in the mood for little more than a salad for supper. The traditional caprese salad, comprised of tomatoes, basil and mozzarella, is perfectly sufficient for dinner along with a few slices of a nice, crusty baguette. I was in the mood for something with slightly more substance, though, so I added pasta. You’ll want to use very ripe cherry tomatoes and real, fresh mozzarella — the liquid from the tomatoes and cheese combine to make a silky sauce for the spaghetti. I used Blue Ridge Dairy’s boccini mozzarella (small ball-shaped) from the Falls Church Farmers Market.

The sungold yellow cherry tomatoes and the basil for this meal came from our own kitchen garden — the two stars of our garden, I might add. While the sungold tomatoes have not made a tomato lover out of my son, he did voluntarily taste one … and offer to try them again another time. Small steps… he does enjoy picking them and bringing them in for us to eat, though!

Recipe: Spaghetti Caprese

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound spaghetti, cooked according to package instructions
• 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• about 4 large basil leaves, thinly sliced
• 4-6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, preferably small balls (halved) or else cut into small cubes
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• sea salt and pepper

Instructions: Prepare spaghetti according to package instructions; drain and set aside. In a large saute pan, heat olive oil and garlic over medium heat. Cook until garlic softens and begins to appear translucent, being careful not to brown. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook several minutes, letting tomatoes give off their juices. Add basil, season with salt and pepper and remove from heat. Toss with the spaghetti noodles and let cool a couple minutes before adding the mozzarella. Makes 4 servings. Enjoy!

My mom, brother and sister-in-law were in town this past weekend, so naturally I took advantage of the opportunity to have extra hands and dragged them out to an orchard for peach picking. (I have a little one to carry, after all.) We went to Hollin Farms this time in Fauquier County, a hilltop orchard and farm with views that can’t be beat.

And we were in for an extra treat with pick-your-own-corn. The boy and his aunt and uncle picked a dozen ears of Silver Queen sweet white corn, which we then took home and immediately grilled up for dinner, along with our Cibola Farms buffalo burgers. It doesn’t get any fresher than this!

Now typically when we make corn-on-the-cob, I cut the kernels off for the boy. I know some kids love biting into a big ear of corn, but I guess it’s a little intimidating when the ear is bigger than your head. Yesterday, Jan from Family Bites shared a recipe on Twitter for “corn coins,” and a light bulb went off. These “coins” are simply short pieces of corn, cut into kid-sized lengths, wrapped in foil packets with butter and seasoning and cooked on the grill. It’s proof that sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. Sure enough, they boy devoured five of them with dinner. (Thanks, Jan!)

I could eat plain old grilled corn-on-the-cob all summer, but I’ve seen some other corn recipes lately that look pretty tempting, too. Like this corn-and-asiago-cheese bread pudding from the Tennessee Locavore. Yum!

What’s your favorite way to enjoy summer’s sweet corn?

If you’ve got a favorite corn recipe, please share it below — or anything else you’ve cooked up lately from the farmers market, CSA or your garden!

Local Potluck Tuesday — a few guidelines:
1. Share a relevant post — a recipe, menu or pictures of a meal featuring local foods, from the farmers market, CSA, farm stand or your own garden — using the MckLinky widget below. In the link title field, enter both your post title and your name &/or blog name, e.g., “Lemon Cucumber Salad — Colleen @ FoodieTots.”

2. Bonus points if you included your kids in picking, growing, purchasing or cooking the ingredients for the meal! (And by bonus points, I mean increased likelihood of seeing your post featured in a future post.)

3. In your post, please link back to this post here at FoodieTots, so your readers can find the potluck and be encouraged to join in as well.  Of course if you don’t have a blog, you’re welcome to share in the comments.

That’s it! I hope you’ll join in and share what you’re cooking up that’s fresh & local to you!

If you garden or belong to a CSA, you’re likely searching for new ways to use up all that zucchini and summer squash right about now. These meatless stuffed zucchini, or “zucchini boats,” are a simple and tasty recipe that’s fast enough for a weeknight supper.

I use quinoa, a quick-cooking grain similar to cous cous, because of its high protein content. This recipe also includes some chopped mushrooms for added texture, in place of the meat. It’s also a good way to use up any stray half onions or peppers you may have in the fridge — I like to use red onion and pepper to make it more colorful, but you can use whatever you have on hand and of course mix up the vegetables according to your family’s tastes. If you have a child who objects to certain colors or vegetables, you can set aside some of the quinoa for his or her squash.

And, this recipe is great to make with older kids, ages 4 and up, who might enjoy hollowing out and filling the zucchini boats.

Recipe: Quinoa-Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Ingredients:

• 4 medium-sized zucchini
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped baby bella (or button) mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sherry or red wine vinegar
• fresh parsley
• sea salt and pepper
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions: Rinse and drain the quinoa. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Add the quinoa and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes. Add the vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes, or until broth is fully absorbed. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice the zucchini in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to scrape out the soft centers, leaving a hollow boat-shaped shell.

In a mixing bowl, gently toss the quinoa with the the chopped pepper, onion and mushrooms. Season with parsley, salt and pepper. Drizzle oil and vinegar over and stir to combine.

Arrange zucchini in a shallow baking dish. Scoop quinoa filling into the zucchini. Sprinkle mozzarella on top. Pour water into the pan to cover the bottom by 1/4 inch (this helps keep the zucchini moist while cooking). Bake for 35 minutes, until zucchini is tender when pricked with a fork. Turn on the broiler for about 2 minutes, just to brown the cheese. Serve 1 half as a side dish or 2 halves for a main course. Enjoy!

The FoodieTots family participates in Meatless Mondays, cutting out meat one day a week for our health and for the environment. (When we do eat meat, we choose local and grassfed whenever possible.) Visit the Meatless Monday pledge page to learn more, and sign up for weekly tips and recipes you can use to go meatless, too! And click here for more of our favorite family- friendly Meatless Monday recipes.

What comes after asparagus and strawberries? Fresh peas! I bought both English peas (for shelling) and sugar snap peas this past weekend at the Falls Church Farmers Market. The English peas joined some Black Rock Orchard asparagus in a cold soup for a hot and steamy evening.

While the boy’s favorite vegetable is actually peas, he generally prefers them frozen. And though I couldn’t coax him into helping me shell, he did snatch a handful of fresh shelled peas out of my bowl. (He even tried a sugar snap pea with its pod last night, rather than slurping out the peas as though it was edamame in his usual manner.)

Recipe: Chilled Asparagus Pea Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 pound asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 cup shelled fresh peas (or frozen if that’s all you have)
• 1 small yellow onion
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 6 leaves fresh mint
• 1/2 cup half and half (or cream)
• salt and pepper

Instructions: Warm olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook until it becomes translucent, about 5 minutes. Add asparagus, a pinch of salt and pepper, and broth. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil; then reduce to a simmer and cook for 7 minutes. Add peas and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Asparagus should be just tender when pricked with a fork. Remove from heat and let cool a little. Add mint (torn into small pieces).  Process in small batches in a blender until smooth. Stir in half and half.  Pour into a bowl and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour. (You can also accelerate the cooling by setting the bowl into a larger bowl with ice and water.) Garnish with additional mint leaves. Serves 4. Enjoy!

Note: Make this with vegetable broth for Meatless Monday.

I’m not sure if there’s an official rule about seafood on Meatless Monday, but I’ve generally avoided it thus far. Since part of the purpose of Meatless Monday is to raise awareness of the environmental impact of our food choices, I figured I’d make an exception for a farewell to Gulf shrimp. This dinner was loosely inspired by Aimee’s coconut rice, in that I had the two ingredients on the mind. The snap peas came from the farmers market, and were just as crisp and sweet as they look. And the basil was the first harvest from my freshly-potted herb planter.

Recipe: Coconut Basil Shrimp Stir-Fry

Ingredients:

• 1 pound wild Gulf shrimp
• 1/3 cup shredded coconut
• 2 cups snap peas
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 4 basil leaves, finely chopped
• salt and pepper

Instructions: Toast coconut in cast iron skillet over medium heat until lightly browned. Remove from heat and set aside. Warm olive oil in skillet and cook garlic until soft and translucent, 3-4 minutes. Add shrimp, season with salt and pepper, and cook until pink and cooked through. Add soy sauce, snap peas and coconut and cook another 2 minutes. Remove from heat and sprinkle basil over top. Serve over rice. Makes 4 servings. Enjoy!

The FoodieTots family participates in Meatless Mondays, cutting out meat one day a week for our health and for the environment. (When we do eat meat, we choose local and grassfed whenever possible.) Visit the Meatless Monday pledge page to learn more, and sign up for weekly tips and recipes you can use to go meatless, too!