Momma always told me if I didn't wash behind my ears I'd have a corn patch grow... yes please!

First thing I like to do to kick my summer off right.... buy corn.

It's quintessential to eat as much corn during the summer months because before you can change into shorts and pleat your hair, summer is gone.

My first corn of the season..... well it was basically a whole corn slightly browned in a cast iron pan with cayenne and garlic.

Simply eaten whole.

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Then I had to start mixing up the recipes because corn is best off the cob too.

Now look at this awfully ugly dinner I made!!!! But guess what? It was so satisfying.

Healthy... All my favorite veggies.... some roasted and seasoned garbanzos underneath for protein.... complete! (The garbanzos are hidden so it wouldn't look like a compete mosh pile of food. When you are cooking for one, and nobody is there to share, I feel that getting all your nutrition is important. No showiness needed)

Corn Hash My Way:

-Corn on the cob

-Zucchini

-Sweet potato

-Cherry Tomatoes

-Lots of garlic

-Parsley

- Spices like cayenne, paprika, cumin

-Beans.. or Rice... or whatever you want as a "bed" for the hash

-optional - Poached/Fried egg on top... mmmm, I wish I would have done that!!

- bacon

-- Steam Corn and sweet potato so that they are soft*.

-- Saute with your choice of olive oil or butter (bacon, if non-veggie) in cast iron pan for a few moments, and until edges brown.

-- Then throw in garlic, cayenne, cumin, paprika, chili's (if you have them), and s+p, then place in oven. Roast until lightly golden.

-- Add parsley, and scallions.

Add more olive oil to taste. And top with a fried or poached egg if you wish.

*This helps the harder sweet potato roast at the same time as the softer ingredients like the zucchini and tomatoes.

More Corn recipes later before I am sick of the taste.

In San Francisco, we yearn for spring

Back in March and April, residents of San Francisco had thought summer came early. Besides the produce, summer doesn't really exist here. It's just a swampy cloud of fog morning and afternoon, which makes it hard to enjoy the bounty of summer.

I do try to make the most of summer, however I find myself looking back to some spring recipes...... that and I only recently started this blog - s0 I have no spring recipes recorded!

I know that all of you have bought your peas in mass bulk at the end of the season to freeze, so that you can enjoy them all summer; therefore you can enjoy these recipes and still pretend they are market fresh. I wish I could say I was one of those people to buy up end-of-season produce, but I don't have that money, or that freezer space since I live with 3 other roommates.

One of my favorite recipes is a Pea Soup with Tarragon that I found in my Vegetarian Times Magazine

I only cook for one, so I can only buy a couple different herbs at a time, and my tarragon died before I got around to making it.

Then I bought mint for another recipe, which I thought would go well in place of tarragon... and that soon wilted. Let me just say that my kitchen gets absolutely no sun, so cut herbs seem to last 2 days max. It's very sad, and very expensive.

I had to go on! I had to make do! It was getting around to summer time, so I tried basil and thyme. It really is a summer recipe now!

Peas with Thyme, Basil, and Cinnamon:

Serves two: (Or one.. with leftovers)

1 Tbs olive oil

1 leek, chopped to 1/4" rings

1 garlic clove

1 cup vegetable broth

1 cup water

3 springs of Thyme

Handful of Basil

1 tsp cinnamon

dash of nutmeg

dbl dash of cayenne pepper

1/2 cup or 1/2 bag of frozen peas

-Heat olive oil and cook leeks for about 10-15 minutes until translucent and soft. Add roughly chopped garlic at the end.*

- Add 1/2 water, 1/2 broth, and half of the thyme to the leeks, then let simmer for another 15 minutes.

- Add peas and bring to boil, then turn off heat.

- Let cool until room temperature, so that it is safe enough to place in blender.

- Add 2 cups of pea mixture to a blender at a time.

- Add the rest of the thyme, basil, cayenne, cinnamon, nutmeg, and then salt and pepper.

- Blend until soft and adjust herbs and seasoning to your taste.

(room temperature is the best way to taste for seasoning because heat and cold disguise flavors)

-Then garnish with thinly sliced radishes, sea salt, and maybe some microgreens if you are feeling all fancy-smansy.

*The rougher the garlic chop and the less it is cooked down, the stronger the flavor.

Great small soup...

I had leftovers!!! So I added some quinoa, and garbanzo beans for a more filling lunch the next day (as pictured below).

Delish.