squashI love yellow summer squash – in moderation.  It seems however, that a squash plant is a plant that keeps on giving and giving and giving.  Then you have to figure out what to do with all the excess squash. So far we’ve stewed it, fried it, grilled it, baked it with  Italian seasoning (delicious), and given much of it away.   

I’m not a great cook and I don’t pretend to be.  I can hold my own and that’s about it.  But there are times when you have to get creative and take drastic measures.  In other words, I pulled out the cookbooks, something that intimidates me.  To complicate matters even worse, I reached for a cookbook I like but rarely use – Italian Cooking: The Definitive Encyclopedia of Fabulous Italian Food by Capalbo, Whiteman, White, and Boggiano.  I rarely use this cookbook because it describes things that I don’t have a clue about or have an idea how to find at my local grocer’s.  Plus it uses the metric system first along with the standard U.S. measures, which means I sometimes have to do math (never a good thing) or I glance at the wrong number in the margin.   However, I was bored and feeling adventurous. 

What I found was a delightful recipe for summer minestrone.  The recipe called for green and yellow courgettes, which I assumed were zucchini and squash.  I was desperate to use the squash and didn’t bother to look it up – that and the fact that I didn’t want to look it up.  Other ingredients included olive oil, onion, tomato paste, Italian plum tomatoes, new potatoes, garlic, chicken stock, basil, and Parmesan cheese.  Thank goodness my willingness to be adventurous paid off and I have a new recipe to keep on hand.  Now I have to find something to do with all those tomatoes. 

What summer vegetables do you enjoy?

AAR Heather