Sungolds, Sweat, and Pink-Eyed Peas

O I've been here.  I've been sushi rolling, cheese making, cheese sellin, chicken tending, weed pulling, bean pickin, blueberry eating, river swimming here.  I've also been cooking as well, I just haven't found the time to sit down and tell anyone about it.....

I would have said, back in my younger more naive days, that summer was my favorite season for food, if not just because of tomatoes.   Now that I am more mature I can tell you that although beets are wonderful, cabbage is delicious, and butternut squash is what angels must dine on, summertime food is the BEST.  I do love all the other seasons, nothing says late spring like the cool sweet crunch of a sugar snap pea or autumn like butternut tortellini.  But eggplant, tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, and pink eyed peas?   The Main Street Farmer's Market is dazzlingly dizzyingly full of these wonders.  It is begging me to get my glass jars down from the cabinets and get to "putting stuff away".  But right now I'm just eating it.   This is the easiest and most fun time of year to eat entirely seasonally and locally.  If I didn't work in a grocery store I wouldn't even remember what the inside of one looks like!

Sungolds and Pink-Eyed Peas

  for four people

• 3 cups shelled fresh pink-eyed peas (buy as many as you can and freeze them, seriously)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, rough chopped
• 2 cups Sungold cherry tomatoes, half of them halved and the other half left whole (how's that for a tongue twister?)
• 1 bunch basil, chopped 
• 1/4 cup olive oil, or less
• Salt to taste

Cover the peas, onion, and garlic in water and bring to a boil.  Turn down to a simmer and let cook til done, about 15-20 minutes.  Salt to taste and let cool.  Remove peas, onions and garlic from liquid and toss with Sungolds, basil, and olive oil.  Serve chilled or at room temp.

Cumberland Cheese Grits

•  1 cup Riverview Farms grits
• 4 cups water (or 2 c water and 2 c beer)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2-3/4 cup shredded  Sequatchie Cove Creamery's Cumberland cheese 

Bring water to a boil and then whisk in the grits and garlic.  Add a pinch of salt (the cheese will add salt flavor, so you can add more after you taste it with the cheese) and turn down to a simmer, stirring often.  Cook til thick and bubbly, about 20 minutes, and add the cheese.  Stir til melted and serve warm.

Chard and Beet Slaw

Normally I slice all the veggies by hand because I think it looks nicer.  Grating works just as well though, and it's a lot quicker. 

•  1 bunch chard, or any other green thing you can find (what did I tell you about those greens?), thinly sliced
• 1 large, or 2 small beets, grated
• 1 small summer squash, grated
• 2 small carrots, grated
• Large drizzle of honey
• Large pinch of salt (you want it to get everything good and soft)
• Splash of vinegar

If you serve with the grits and peas, start this first.  Toss everything together and let sit while you finish everything else, at least 20 minutes.  I always like to add a little raw garlic to slaws, but that is up to you.