The garden has been on overdrive. I have been freezing more
beans than I think we can eat this year (yessss!), and the tomatoes are turning
bright colors of red and gold.

There is nothing better than fresh garden tomatoes, they are
so incredibly sweet and have so much flavor. One of my tomato plants has
actually outgrown its cage and I had to add some wooden stakes to keep it
upright. It has gotten so bushy I can’t even begin to prune it. I am not the
only one I know with this problem, so I’m thinking it must be the year of the
tomato around here.

I recently had to pull all of my arugula and lettuce mix,
since a lot of it went to seed while we were on vacation a couple weeks ago. I
think I’m going to do a late summer radish crop or maybe some other cold
weather veggies, I will have to look at what my options are. My peas are
reaching the end of days with the heat, so I’m going to pull them soon and get
ready for a fall crop of peas. Maybe this time around I’ll be able to store some
for winter, Chuck it pretty good about eating them before I can get them
stored.

In the mean time let’s talk about one of my favorite meals
with these garden treats. This year I have been loving these wonder bowls,
but also a simple classic panzanella. A nice warm panzanella with fresh garden
produce and a big glass of white wine and you have one happy camper over here.

Simple Early Season Panzanella

3 cups day-old crusty bread, cubed

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

4 medium tomatoes, chopped into 1-2 inch pieces

3 cups arugula

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tbsp diced red onion

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

Fresh ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. On a large cookie sheet toss
bread with1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and toast for 5-6 minutes, tossing
once. Remove from heat, and set aside. In a large bowl add all other
ingredients and toss to combine. Add the bread, and toss again. Serve immediately.

Serves 4-6