Chunky Garden Tomato Soup

 

1 Tablespoon olive oil

3 cloves garlic

5 medium slicing tomatoes

2 cherry tomatoes

4 inches dried baguette

4 Tablespoons grate mozzarella or Parmesan cheese

Directions: Pour olive oil into smaller sauce pan. Slice garlic and add to olive oil. Sauté until golden. Slice tomatoes into chunks and add to the olive oil and garlic. Stir and cook until hot or just boiling. Remove from heat. Add pepper. Tomatoes and cheese are naturally salty so it is fine to omit salt. Slice dried baguette into chunks and divide into bowls. Ladle soup over bread and then top with cheese.

Serves 2 people or 4 servings as a side or cup.

Notes: Thank you to the brother and sister-in-law for the garden tomatoes.

Tomato and Mozzarella Salad

2 medium slicing tomatoes, approximately 8 ounces

8 ounces of mozzarella, approximately

1 Tablespoon olive oil

Lavender Pepper

Directions: Slice the tomatoes into cubes. Slice the mozzarella into small cubes. Combine the tomatoes and mozzarella in a bowl. Toss. Add the olive oil and toss again. Both tomatoes and mozzarella are naturally salty so it is not necessary to salt the salad. A couple of grinds of lavender pepper, make the mixture delicious. The measures in this salad are estimates. The ratio of tomatoes to mozzarella is roughly 1 to 1.

Serves 4 people

Notes: Thank you to the brother-in-law for the gift of garden tomatoes.

Parsley Salad with Red Onion and Mandarin Dressing

 

1 bunch of Italian or flat leaf parsley

3 cherry tomatoes

1 small red onion

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 fresh sweet mandarin or tangerine

Salt and pepper

Directions: Wash parsley in cold water and pat dry. Using a sharp knife cut the leaves from the stems, until you have approximately 2 cups of parsley leaves. Reserve the stems for another use. It is not necessary to dice the leaves as they are in bite size portions. Wash cherry tomatoes and dry. Slice the tomatoes. Place parsley and tomatoes in a salad bowl and toss.

Red onion and mandarin dressing

If onion is recently from the ground wash and remove outer skin; otherwise simply remove the outer skin. Dice onion. Place olive oil and onion in small pan and sauté. Cut the mandarin in half. When onion is limp, squeeze the mandarin juice into the onion and olive oil. Stir and cook for a minute longer; cool slightly and pour on greens and tomatoes.

Serves 2 people.

Notes: This is a refreshing summer salad.

Cake visual

Happy Birthday to one and all!

This cake was drawn in response to the prompt, parma purple from Colour Collective

Cheers!

 

Summer Turkey Sandwich

 

8 slices pumpernickel bread

12-16 ounces turkey, grilled, smoked or roasted

Sprig of fresh dill

Sprig of fresh parsley

Mayonnaise

Dijon mustard

Directions: Wash and pat dry the dill and parsley. Remove softer dill leaves from the fibrous main stem. Then, assemble the above ingredients into four sandwiches. Do keep the mayonnaise refrigerated as well as all the other ingredients.

Serves 4 people.

Notes: The fresh parsley and dill make this one of the finest turkey sandwiches. It is especially important to keep anything with mayonnaise well chilled.