WIAW 173 – August Already?

I understand that the way time races past me these days demonstrates my advanced age… but man, this summer is going fast! Though I do think this up and down weather has been a factor…  We had a lovely May for a while last week…

But now it is, indeed, August. It even feels like August! And we have cucumbers and eggplant! (Though I’m blaming that trip back to May for the lack of tomatoes in our farm share… ) We closed the windows and turned on the air conditioner again. Which does have the advantage of at least minimizing all the construction noise – we literally have half a dozen construction sites within earshot here on the gentrifying Lower East Side. Every time one finishes up, another begins…  These days my morning wake up call is an excavation grade hammer drill down the block. I can’t wait until they start digging the new subway entrance on the other side of my house! (Oh, yes, I can…)

For breakfast I had my bean tacos. They never do look very interesting (and these look a bit skimpy – don’t know why, they weren’t!) I use Roman beans a lot these days (largely because I can buy them in big bags at Costco – the local store doesn’t carry any other beans in bulk packaging, and we go through beans quickly!) I think these were just plain beans mushed up a bit – not seasoned, yet – with some cheese. And my cold brew iced coffee of course!

I really had not planned lunch to be the All Carrot and Mayonnaise Meal. But there was a large cabbage sitting in the back of the crisper drawer that I’d been ignoring while we ate more delicate vegetables, and we had a huge bag of carrots. So I took the food processor down and made about a gallon of Mom’s Coleslaw. Then, as long as I was chopping carrots, I followed with a batch of Tuna Chickpea Salad with Carrots. (I tell you, we eat that about every other week!) And then I was ready to sit down and eat – so just finished up with a handful of tortilla chips…  and my usual nice big glass of ice water.

Dinner was a quickie. I browned some ground turkey, and added a thin white Italian eggplant. (You’re going to see many types of eggplant, over the next month or two – our CSA farm specializes in them!) Sorting out the freezer I’d found I still had a cube of homemade – well, pesto base? Basil, walnuts, and a little olive oil, I add the cheese later – from last summer. Well, I need to clear the freezer for the fresh basil – and didn’t feel like anything complicated at the moment – so that went into the pan, with some tomato paste, and water. Let the whole thing cook until the meat and eggplant were done, added cooked brown rice, and served, topped with parmesan cheese. Fast, easy, delicious.

So the only meal that really took much work was lunch, and that could have been done ahead of time. (Not all at once, either! You don’t usually want to make a whole large head of cabbage into salad all at once!) Good on a hot summer day, when you have better places to be than in the kitchen!

Laura is hosting Jen’s WIAW party – come over and see what everyone else eats!

If you wonder why I always link to both ladies… Jen started this party, years ago, and built it up with plenty of hard work. But as it grew, it needed more and more attention (too many people dropped links that had nothing at all to do with the theme) and, well – so did her kid… and it got to be too much. So then several people stepped up to share it around, with the understanding that we would all still link to Jen, to give her credit for all her work. All but Laura have themselves dropped out, and she’s suddenly the only one doing it…  A big thank you to her for putting in the work to keep this valuable resource alive! (And sometimes she just can’t – and that’s fine. I’m astonished how much she’s kept it up during a move!)

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