Three Summer Vegetable Recipes

When summer gives you more cucumbers, zucchini, and tomatoes than you know what to do with, you need new recipes to try. Here are some easy GF recipes that are perfect for summer.

Summer is a time of over-abundant vegetables. At farmers markets, you’ll see vast piles of them, tempting you to buy more than you need. If you grow your own vegetables, late July into August is when you may start to feel overwhelmed by it all. What to do with all these tomatoes, another dozen zucchini, a bucket of cucumbers?  Do I have the time for canning and pickling this weekend? How many can I hand off to the neighbors?

To help you work through the abundance, I’m recommending three easy, no-cook, gluten-free recipes you can have in mind when you visit the farmers market or head out to the garden: fresh tomato salsa, creamy cucumber soup, and zucchini mint salad.

Tomato salsa is more versatile than you think; it is more than a dip for corn chips or a topping for tacos. Because of its acidity, tomato salsa is the perfect condiment to balance the fat in a grilled steak. It also goes great with grilled chicken or fish. So the next time you fire up the grill, think of mixing up a batch of salsa as well. All you need is a food processor, an onion, fresh garlic, a couple of ripe tomatoes, a hot chili pepper (also abundant in peak summer!), a bunch of fresh cilantro, fresh lime juice, and a bit of salt to taste. Click here for my salsa recipe.

(Here's a bonus tip for storing extra tomatoes: you can freeze them whole … just bag them and pop them in the freezer. When you thaw them later, you will be able to use them to make sauces—though slicing them for a sandwich or a salad won’t work.)

When you see a cucumber, your first thought might be “salad”, not “soup”. But chilled cucumber soup is one of the most refreshing summer dishes around, and there are many ways to prepare it, often involving fresh dill or mint. There is no cooking involved for the creamy cucumber soup I’ve made, so it is perfect for keeping you and your house cool in the heat of the day. Click here for the full recipe.

My zucchini salad recipe also features mint, and its preparation is extremely simple. I’d recommend using smaller, thinner squash and cutting them extremely thin—a mandolin slicer will come in handy for this, if you have one. Click here for the recipe.