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Sarah's Salsa
Sarah Simmons, Virginia

4 cups heirloom tomatoes (skinned and seeded) * 1 cup tomatilloes, chopped * 1 small onion, diced * 1 7 oz can mild green chilies, roasted 1-2 jalapeño peppers, finely diced (to your taste)* 2 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoons pepper 2 teaspoons garlic, minced * 1 Tablespoons chili powder 2 teaspoons fresh parsley, chopped * 2 Tablespoons vinegar 1 Tablespoons sugar

All items with asterisks are locally grown items from Shenandoah Valley.

Reserve some juice from tomatoes as well as juice from chilies. Combine tomatoes, tomatilloes, onion, green chilies, and jalapeño in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil then turn down to simmer. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer for about 15 minutes.  Combine 2 T cornstarch with reserved juice and shake well to combine. Add to salsa to thicken.

Blackberry Roll
Jayne Smith, Maidens, Virginia

Pastry:

2 cups sifted flour 2 teaspoons sugar 1 teaspoon salt

½ cup (1 stick)  butter or margarine, softened 1 egg, beaten About ¼ cup milk

Sift together dry ingredients; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse corn meal.  Add egg and enough milk to make a soft dough.  Stir gently with a fork until mixture holds together.  Press into a smooth ball. Divide dough in half; cover and set aside.  Prepare filling.

Filling:

2 cups sugar 3 tablespoons flour 6 cups fresh Maidens Thornless blackberries

½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, divided 2 cups water    2 tablespoons sugar

Preheat oven to 375° Fahrenheit.  Grease a 13x9x2-inch baking dish.  Carefully fold 2 cups sugar into berries.  Roll out half of dough into a 14x10-inch rectangle; cover with half of berry mixture, spreading within two inches of edges.  Dot with half the butter.  Roll up jelly-roll fashion, folding ends under, and carefully place in prepared dish.  Repeat procedure with remaining pastry and filling.  Cut several slits in top of each roll.  Pour water into dish around rolls; sprinkle rolls with 2 tablespoons sugar.  Bake 60 to 65 minutes.

 

Blackberry Cobbler
Jayne Smith, Maidens, Virginia

1 cup sugar 1 cup flour 1 cup milk 1 stick margarine or butter*

1 tablespoon baking powder 1 to 2 quarts Maidens Thornless blackberries, sweetened to taste 2 tablespoons tapioca or cornstarch

Melt the butter in a deep baking dish.  Pour on top of it the batter made with sugar, flour, milk and baking powder.  Have fruit heated with the extra sugar and tapioca.  Pour hot fruit on top of the crust.  Bake at 325° Fahrenheit for 25 minutes.
*(Margarine may be reduced to ½ cup if you are concerned about fat content.)

 

Creamy Cheese Cake with Toats Crust
Tindi Gondan, Purcellville, VA
Servings:  16

Crust Ingredients:

2 ½ Cups Toats* 4 TBSP melted butter

¼ Cup sugar

Filling Ingredients:

3 – 8 oz. packages of cream cheese ¾ Cup sugar 4 Local eggs

1 – 16 oz. sour cream 1 TBSP vanilla

Best to make this recipe in the morning.

Set cream cheese at room temperature.

Prepare crust by grinding Toats biscuits in a food processor or mini chopper.  (For a drier crust place Toats crumbs in toaster oven or regular oven and set temperature to 200 F. degrees.  Dry at 200 F. degree for about 10 minutes while stirring the crumbs occasionally.  Turn off oven and let sit in warm oven for 50 minutes, turning crumbs occasionally.)  Melt butter.  Mix sugar with Toats crumbs then add melted butter and combine well.  Press crumbs onto bottom and sides (about one inch) of spring-form pan.

Preheat oven to 325 F. degrees.

Prepare filling in a large bowl by mixing with blender the soft cream cheese and sugar.  Add eggs, mixing into the batter one at a time.  Mix in sour cream and vanilla.  Pour into spring-form pan and place into oven.  Bake for one hour, and then turn off oven and let cheese cake stand in oven for an additional hour.  Remove cake from oven and let cake cool until room temperature. Then place in refrigerator over night, uncovered.  Decorate cake and have fun sharing with your family and friends.

Toats are organic biscuits manufactured in Leesburg, Virginia.  www.toatsorganic.com

Summer Bean Salad
Melissa Barnwell, Woodbridge, Virginia

1 15.5 oz. can  cannellini beans drained and rinsed 1 medium Virginia Grown heirloom tomato 2 ounces feta cheese 1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar 1½ teaspoons fresh Virginia Grown dill ¼ teaspoon salt Lots of freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

Drain and rinse beans.  Place into a large bowl.  Dice tomato.  Add to bowl.  Crumble feta cheese in with the beans and tomato.  Add in all other ingredients and mix until combined.  Serve immediately or refrigerate then serve.

Yield: 4 servings

 

Virginia Grown Summer Salad
Charles Green, VDACS Marketing Director, Richmond, Virginia

3-4 fresh cucumbers 1 cup Virginia apple cider vinegar 2 cups of ice ½ to 1 pint ripe red grape tomatoes ½ cup unsalted Virginia peanuts

1/3 cup Virginia feta cheese (or other VA cheese that can be crumbled) (Optional) Virginia's Finest salad dressing of your choice (Optional) Cubed grilled chicken or other protein items can be added

Wash fresh produce.  Fill large bowl with cold water.  Add ice cubes and 1 cup of Virginia apple cider vinegar.  Peel cucumber then slice into disks, approx ½ to ¾ inch thick.  Place cucumber slices into cold water.  Add grape tomatoes.  Let sit for approximately 2 minutes. This will crisp the cucumbers and chill the salad.
Crush peanuts to desired crumb size.  Strain cucumbers and tomatoes to remove water and any remaining ice cubes.  Sprinkle peanuts and feta on top of salad.  If desired, top with a light spritz of Virginia's Finest salad dressing.

What is great about this recipe is it can be a cool, light meal or for heartier fare, cubed grilled chicken or other protein items can be added.

Pickled Eggplant
Peggy Slifer, Newport News, Virginia

Very small or baby eggplant (you’re looking for fewer seeds) Garlic

Red wine vinegar Salt

Peel eggplant and cut into large match sticks.  Put into a colander and salt liberally.  Invert a plate onto the top of the eggplant and weight it down with a pot of water.  Let sit for about an hour, then rinse eggplant and squeeze out as much water as possible.  Peel whole cloves of garlic.  Stuff a glass jar almost full with eggplant, adding cloves of garlic, to taste, and fill jar with red wine vinegar.  Put on lid and store in the pantry for two to three weeks.  Refrigerate, after opening.

These pickled eggplants are great in salads, on sandwiches, or as a sandwich filling itself.

 

Summer Squash
Peggy Slifer, Newport News, Virginia

2 medium sized zucchini squash 2 medium sized yellow squash 1 medium onion 1 Tbsp. Sugar

3 Tbsp. Dried basil 2 Tbsp. Olive oil ½ Cup water Salt and pepper, to taste

Wash and slice squash.  Peel and slice onion.  Heat olive oil in a deep skillet or wok and add onion.  Cook for about 3 or 4 minutes until softened.  Add squash, sugar, basil, salt and pepper, and water.  Stir. Cover and cook until soft, about 30 minutes.

This is my healthy take on an old southern squash recipe, which uses bacon.  You get a lot less fat and a lot more flavor.

 

Freezer Pickles
Alice Barton, Mineral, Virginia

7 cups thinly sliced cucumbers 1 green pepper, sliced in strips 1 large onion, cut in thin slices and separated 1 t. celery seed

1 cup white vinegar 1 T. iodized salt 2 cups sugar

Let cucumbers stand in cold water for one hour before slicing.  Put cucumbers, onions, peppers in large stainless steel bowl or kettle.  Mix other ingredients and pour over cucumbers, onions and peppers.  Cover and let stand in refrigerator for 24 hours.  Put in containers and put in freezer.  Makes four pints.

August Delight
Shirley McQueen, Hampton VA

Boil 1 cup of white rice, 1/4 cup vegetable oil and 1 packet of Sazo'n Goya seasoning.

Cut Queen corn from 2 cobs. In a pan add 1-1/2 cups water, 2 tablespoons of butter and cook about 5 minutes.

Wash and rinse 10 whole Okra; add salt and pepper to taste; cook for 10 minutes.

Rinse, core and wedge 1 large red tomato.

Slice 1 medium Zucchini or squash.  Season with Lawry's Cayenne Pepper. This may be cooked f or 5 minutes or eaten the way nature presented it to us to enjoy

Slice 1 large Delicious peach.

Arrange everything on a platter, top with Cilantro and serve

 

Summer Salad Platter
Elaine Lidholm, VDACS Public Relations Manager, Richmond, Virginia

Basil-flavored olive oil A variety of tomatoes – slicing and grape or cherry tomatoes; red, yellow, and white varieties.  The more, the better. Small cucumbers or an English cucumber

Fresh basil Feta cheese – I like the crumbled, cracked peppercorn type.  You also can use mozzarella. Meatballs, browned and cooked

A few days before assembling your salad, make a flavored olive oil:
Warm a good quality olive oil slowly on a stove.  While it’s warming, put a handful of fresh basil leaves into a glass container or jar with a lid or stopper.  Pour the warm oil into the container and screw on the lid.  Leave the oil at room temperature for a few days to infuse it with the basil flavor.  You will need to taste it occasionally until it is the right strength for your taste.  You may also use a combination of basil, thyme, oregano, and other herbs.

Begin by making your favorite meat ball recipe, or thaw a bag of frozen turkey meatballs.  Brown your meatballs and cook until done.  If using frozen meatballs, I thaw them and put in a crock pot for two hours on high.  They brown nicely without turning.

On a large platter, slice red, yellow and/or white tomatoes.  If you’re using mozzarella cheese, you can sandwich a cheese round between tomato slices. 

If using English cucumbers or small picking cucumbers, slice them with the skin on.  If using regular cucumbers, you may need to peel it first.  Arrange the cucumbers with the tomatoes, and then add red and yellow cherry tomatoes.  Grind fresh pepper over all, and then drizzle with the flavored olive oil.  Snip some fresh basil leaves and scatter it over everything.

To make it a main dish, crumble some feta cheese over all.  (Omit feta if you’re using mozzarella cheese.)   Add cooked meatballs on the side.

 

Three tomato tart with baby greens and goat cheese
Nadine Thomas, Alexandria, VA
6 servings

Small heirloom tomatoes, 3 each
Olive oil, 1 tbsp
Salt and pepper, pinch each

Puff pastry sheet, 1 each (the frozen pre-rolled ones work perfect)
Milk, 4 fl oz
Goat cheese, 6 - 1 oz slices, frozen
Basil pesto, 3 tsp
Salt and pepper, pinch each

Black cherry tomatoes, 6 each
Sungold cherry tomatoes, 6 each
Salt and pepper, pinch each
Fresh basil, baby tender leaves, picked
Baby greens from farmers market

Balsamic vinegar reduced by half, 2 tbsp
Extra virgin olive oil, 2 tbsp

Cut tomatoes in half, toss in the olive oil and salt and pepper and roast in a 275 F oven for 45 minutes (ingredients from part A.)

Slightly thaw puff pastry sheets and cut into 6 squares 2” x 3”, place on sprayed baking tray and brush with milk. Place 1 frozen goat cheese slice in the middle of each square. Top the goat cheese with a small dollop of the pesto. Sprinkle each square with salt and pepper. Return tray of puff squares to the refrigerator until the roasted tomatoes are completed and cooled slightly.

once roasted tomatoes have cooled slightly place one half roasted tomato cut side up on top of each goat cheese slice. Bake in pre-heated 425 F oven for 7 minutes, reduce the heat to 350 F and continue baking for an additional 8 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.

cut the cherry tomatoes in half, season with salt and pepper. Place tarts on plates arrange cut cherry tomatoes on plates; arrange baby leaves next to the tarts. Drizzle tomatoes greens and plate with olive oil and reduced balsamic vinegar.