Tomatoes, beans, peas, peppers, eggplant, okra, cucumbers, squash, potatoes, watermelon… if you have plants, and you try your best to take care of them, you’ll have a harvest.

So now what? What can you do with all those goodies?

Below are just some of the meals that we’ve (by we, I mean my husband) created this past spring and summer to enjoy the bounty from the garden. What are you cooking? Just leave a comment below or send me an email at pigdogfarms@gmail.com.

Tomatoes: salsa, gumbo, fresh pasta sauce, bruschetta,

Okra: gumbo, Chai Pani-style okra (sliced thin, cooked in a cast iron skillet and sprinkled with spices), fried okra

Jalapenos: add to nearly anything!

Corn: corn salad, add to pasta, stir fry or any salad

Eggplant: roasted eggplant and bean dip (my favorite), La Tienda-style fried eggplant with thyme and honey, Peter Chang-style dry-fried eggplant

Potatoes: Curate-style Spanish tortilla, potato salad, mashed potatoes, fried potatoes

Sweet potatoes: soup, chorizo and potato tacos, add to curry

Beans: sauteed with garlic and olive oil and topped with chopped almonds, stir fry (many kinds)

Peas: stir fry or in salads (or eaten raw off the vine, my favorite)

Cabbage: shredded on sandwiches, cabbage bake with sausage, Thai salad

Peppers: stuffed peppers, rajas for tacos, gumbo, sausage and peppers

Zucchini: fried zucchini, stir fry

Cucumbers: raw or make into pickles! (and then fry the pickles…yummy)

Watermelon: eaten fresh or…made into a margarita or daiquiri!