Garden Vegetable Meal For One

Summer is in its glory--stone fruit falling off the trees and the vegetable patch full of good things: potatoes, herbs, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, beans, yellow squash, carrots, onions and strawberries. Bring in your harvest or find a farmer's market and simmer the vegetables together with herbs. This recipe was created after a morning of harvesting small bits of produce in the vegetable garden. It's a quick, easy, very filling meal with approximately 580 calories and 20 grams of protein. You can easily double the recipe for two.Serve this recipe with the Silverhorse 2006 Big Easy. Silverhorse makes hand-crafted wines in small lots that are almost impossible to find in stores. This week you can buy this wine at a great price, along with the Silverhorse 2006 Tomori and 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon through the Online Grapevine. READ MORE... | ORDER 6 bottles and save $80!.

GARDEN VEGETABLE MEAL FOR ONE:
1 1/2 cup total chopped or sliced vegetables: eggplant, red bell pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, carrots
1 small tomato
2 small new potatoes: purple, red or Yukon gold
2 oz. goat cheese
1/2 Tbsp. basil
1/2 Tbsp. oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp. butter
Steam the new potatoes until easily pierced with a fork (about ten minutes). Wash, dry and chop your vegetables. Bell pepper, carrots and any other hard vegetables should be thinly sliced. Squash, peeled eggplant, and zucchini can be chopped. Melt the butter in a saucepan with a lid and add the raw vegetables and herbs. Cover and simmer over low for ten minutes, stirring occasionally. The vegetables should be moist, if they start to dry out, add a bit of water as they cook. At the end of the cooking time, add salt and pepper to taste. Put the potatoes on a plate and roughly cut into quarters with a fork, so the skin side is down. Break up the goat cheese and sprinkle the bits onto the hot potatoes so the cheese softens. Top with the vegetable mixture. Serves one, but recipe can be easily multiplied. Nice served with a glass of the 2006 Silver Horse Big Easy.

Thanks to Susie of South Dakota! She sent in a recipe for using the Lemon Preserves:

MOROCCAN BAKED CHICKEN WITH PRESERVED LEMON:
4 chicken breasts, unboned
1 white onion
5 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. chopped garlic
1 tsp. cinnamon
4 threads saffron
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. turmeric
1/4 cup kalamata olives pitted
5 slices of preserved lemon
1/8 cup water
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Rinse the lemon slices, then chop. Slice the onion and the olives separately. Put the oil into a Dutch oven or Moroccan tangine. Heat the oil over low and sautee the garlic and onion for two minutes, then add the rest of the spices. Turn up the heat to medium and brown the chicken. Turn the chicken so the skin side is up, add the water, cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover, stir in the olives and preserved lemon, then cover and bake another 10 minutes. Test the chicken for doneness and add salt to taste. The lemon and olives will add salt, so additional salt may not be necessary. Serves 4. I didn't try this recipe, but I think it would pair well with the 2007 Healdsburg Ranches Chardonnay.

See June 14 09 post for recipe for Preserved Lemons. Please email your tasting notes and comments! Or, use the "Comment" link below.