Tomatoes and cucumbers were a regular side dish to all our summer meals when I was growing up. Today, they're still a symbol of summer and especially on hot days, they make the perfect ingredients for a cool meal. Last week, when the mercury went above 100 for several days out here, we made a couple dishes I want to share with you.The picture above is of our Tomato, basil, nettle pesto and Mozzarella Sandwich on Fred Meyer Harvest Bread. I can't tell you how perfect this was! I used two of our frozen nettle pesto cubes from this spring as the sandwich spread and added a little ground finishing salt from The Meadow in Portland. The rest is basic. You could make your own basil pesto if you didn't get the chance to freeze the nettle earlier this year.
We also enjoyed a Corona and wedge of lime with a Cucumber Salad. I added two cucumbers, several Sungold and Yellow Pear tomatoes, Scio Feta Cheese from the wonderful Ancient Heritage Dairy, a little balsamic vinegar, spot of sugar and pepper... viola! We dipped harvest bread into olive oil, sat back in the shade and enjoyed our sunshine salad.
Finally, just before the hot weather set in, I whipped up something I'll call Sage Butter Noodles with Summer Squash and Kale. This one involved sauteed patty pan squash, kale, and shallots tossed with buckwheat soba noodles and pine nuts. This is all topped with a brown butter sage and feta dressing. The squash is just perfect in this...firm, fresh tasting and the sage/feta butter gives it a richness that's making my mouth water just writing about it. I'm a big butter fan, however, so...
The way I made the dressing is pretty simple. I threw 4-6 TBS butter in a small pan(serving four), added the finely chopped sage leaves and stir until the butter starts to brown. Then I quickly add finely crumbled feta for about 10 more seconds, just to allow some of the feta oil to blend with the butter. I spoon it over individual plates and top it off with a little fresh feta. Like I said, rich!