The so-called “dog days of summer” have gotten to me and when it comes to cooking I am giving in. Salads and variations-on-the-salad will be my mainstay for a bit. Cool foods that I can quickly and easily put together with ingredients that are readily and locally available. I will make foods that do not require breaking a sweat.
This colander of fresh Crowder peas in where we start today. I quickly cooked them in a plastic bag in the microwave…no hot water steaming up the kitchen on this 90+ degree day, then I rinsed them in cold water and let them drain for a bit.
Hmmmm….homegrown tomatoes & cucumbers from the Duren-Kemp garden of earthly delights. (That’s my son-in-law and daughter’s garden.)
A splash or two or three of this fab balsamic vinegar purchased down the street from Lazzaroli’s Pasta emporium.
Easy as this Lemon Salt & freshly ground black pepper added to taste… served with glass of chilled white wine and a baguette from Dozen’s Bakery.
A late summer, no oven or stove-top dinner, healthy & fresh, cool as a cucumber meal! Keep it simple, don’t work up a sweat with this “Crowder Pea, Homegrown Tomato & Cucumber Salad”. It’s another “E.A.T. ” (easy as this) meal brought to you from my little Food on Fifth kitchen.
(Almost No Cooking) E.A.T. Late Summer Salad of Crowder Peas, Homegrown Tomatoes and Cucumbers
Ingredients:
- 2-3 cups fresh, shelled Crowder peas, lady peas or any other summer pea
- 4 medium size home-grown tomatoes cut into bite-size chunks
- 1-2 fresh smallish size cucumbers, peeled or unpeeled, sliced or cut into chunks
- a good balsamic vinegar, as much as you like to coat
- lemon salt & freshly ground black pepper (or just regular sea salt)
Directions:
- Rinse & drain peas & put in a zip-lock bag left slightly open. Cook in microwave for about 8 minutes on high. Dump into a colander and rinse with cool running water. Leave to drain for 10 minutes.
- In a large bowl toss together the cooled peas, tomato chunks & cucumbers.
- Season with salt & black pepper. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar to taste. Serve at room temp or chilled. Delicious with a crusty baguette and, of course on a hot day, a glass of chilled white wine. Bon Appetite.
Teresa Blackburn teresablackburnfoodstyling.com foodonfifth.com
Yum. That’s exactly what I want for dinner.
I know just perfect for August! I can’t wait to hear about your trip…maybe lunch this week. I am off Mon, Tues and Wed!! as well as Friday!?
You are in good company Teresa:: dog days of summer equals easy, fresh, get out of the kitchen quick cooking! And your dish looks super delicious.
Thanks so much Johanne. So nice to hear from you. Stay cool!
Reblogged this on COSECOMM.
Thanks for the reblog!
Yumptious! And to top it off : ice cream for dessert.
Yes my next thing is to make a vat of ice cream…yum?
Gorgeous!! 🙂
I appreciate you stopping by and you have a great rest of the summer and stay cool!
yum.
I miss you and thanks for stopping by Ed.
Alas, someone that knows what Crowder peas are! We typically cooking them in pot with ham hock, but I would love to try them like this. So much healthier! Thanks for sharing!
Crowder peas are one of my favorites in the world of peas! I also cook them with ham hock for the true Southern way! Aren’t they just the best? Thanks so much Debbie.
Heavenly! <3 Have a good weekend, Teresa!
Sounds so delicious and refreshing. There’s nothing like fresh garden tomatoes. 🙂
Oh mercy isn’t that the truth! A homegrown tomato is like nothing else in this world…Thanks so much for stopping by.
YUMM, I love black-eyed peas! (Well at least that is what they look like and I call them.) We escaped the triple-digit heat and went to the Oregon coast for 5 days. It was pleasant mid-70s and sunny the entire time. (OK I’ll slink off now with that info for you, lol!)
OMG is am so jealous of your trip to the cooler lands! I feel like swooning all the time down here this month.
Delicious! My tomatoes have just started coming through, I love how you can make such simple food and when the tomatoes are fresh and perfect it always tastes incredible. This year I grew yellow tomatoes as well, and I;m really enjoyed the mix of colours.
Well I learned something new today. I never knew you could cook fresh peas this way. Sounds like a nice light meal, perfect for your hot day.
Sounds like a nice light meal, perfect for your hot day.
This sounds like a delightful summer salad! One question though..there is so much information out there regarding heating/cooking foods in plastic…aren’t you concerned about the possibility of chemicals from the plastic leaching into the food? Just to be on the safe side, I always microwave food in glass containers. 🙂
You know Chris I use plastic so seldom in my kitchen that I am pretty sure overall once a summer won’t hurt, but since this 2017 post I have banished most plastic from my kitchen overall. And yes peas could be steamed in glass bowl with a lid that is set askew or loose or a piece of parchment paper on top. Thanks for the reply and for stopping by Food on Fifth. Stay Well. T
Oh, I didn’t realize this was an older post as I too was using a lot of plastic and heating in it “back then” I should mmob right? I can see you shaking your head…Yes! 🙂
You stay well too!
No problem….I reposted the original post that had the link for this recipe due to the mag using my image from the initiating post…ha ha….