Summer Dinner

Jim and Mike visited my humble abode for a lovely dinner earlier in the summer. The boys brought a Southwestern chopped salad with cilantro dressing that I'd seen on Pinterest. The Garden Grazer is responsible for the recipe. This is the first time I've encountered it, but it boasts some wonderful vegetarian recipes.

Southwestern chopped salad

Southwestern Chopped Salad with Cilantro-Lime Dressing

SALAD

Ingredients

Large head of romaine
15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 large orange bell pepper
1 pint cherry tomatoes
2 cups corn (I used frozen, thawed)
5 green onions
Creamy Cilantro-Lime Dressing 

Canning Tomatoes

Several weeks ago, Jason and Crystal kindly invite me to their house to can tomatoes. I am now the proud owner of seven quarts of tomatoes. Unfortunately, we ran out of time to make dill pickles, but Jason generously shared six pints that he made later. (They were also sweet enough to bestow kale, potatoes, pears, and peppers on me; for awhile, I was absolutely swimming in produce.) We ended the evening with a marvelous eggplant Parmesan for dinner. Thanks to the Daleys for re-introducing me to canning--I hadn't done it since childhood--and recommending Ball's Blue Book Guide to Preserving. (Jason L. got me a copy for my birthday, so now I'm ready to preserve at the least provocation. ;))

Heating the tomatoes to loosen the skins

 

The tomatoes are plunged into an ice bath after being heated to faciliate removing the skins

Mr. Daley preventing air bubbles

The ebot monitoring the processing

The finished tomatoes put up in my cupboards