Wednesday 24 August 2016

Green Bean Baked Potato Parmesan Salad...and sauceless Peach Melba

Tepid veggie salads have a Goldilocks appeal and an ease in preparation as they can lay about a bit before serving without any challenge to their ambient temperature. Green beans are providing harvests at intervals of several days as frequent picking increases production.


Modus is a delectable & stringless bush green bean variety.


Desiree potatoes, red-skinned and large, are not yet fully mature though a few harvested plants are giving us smaller spuds. Tater skins contain as much potassium as the flesh. It's a mineral that many don't get enough of because the adult requirement is nearly 5,000 milligrams! A large potato with skin intact provides around 1,000 milligrams.

Potassium deficiency results in fatigue and muscle weakness.

The only way I will eat the skin is if it's roasted into a crackly, toasty state. They were baked for about thirty minutes at 350 degrees F. During that time, the green beans were snapped into pieces and steamed till tender which takes about eight to ten minutes. The spuds were halved and tossed with the beans along with Parmesan shavings, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, salt, and freshly ground pepper. The salad was both earthy and fresh-tasting.


Our peach tree has responded well to its winter and early-spring sprayings by producing a small harvest of fruit free from the sticky detritus of various bugs.


Filling the hollows of a halved peach with coffee ice cream made a refreshing ending to a simple meal.


Peaches and cream can't be beat.


Liguria, an Italian beef-heart variety, is stunning when still green . . .


... and when fully ripe and red, it's breath-taking.


Though delayed because of later-than-usual planting, the tomato harvest promises to be a good one.


À la prochaine!