Garden meals are the name of the game around here during harvest season.  As much as you’d like various items to ripen at different times the inevitable happens.  It’s like being a kid in the proverbial candy store…. what do we eat first, next and thereafter?

Last night’s meal was roasted green beans and cherry tomato pasta.  Yum!  Ever since I talked to my friend, Pat from Michigan, and her love for roasted green beans, I’ve been experimenting.  The first time I roasted some raw green beans, slivered onions and sliced yellow summer squash.  I tossed this mixture with a splash of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste and roasted it for about 25-30 minutes at 425 degrees.

The next time we tried the beans on the grill but couldn’t get them soft enough for our liking before they got too dark.  It may have been that the temperature wasn’t quite right.  As much as crunchy green beans seem to be in favor at a lot of restaurants these days we like our beans slightly softer – they are more enjoyable to us that way.

So back to the drawing board – this time I blanched the whole beans for 4 minutes & let them drain.  I tossed them with a splash of tamari, olive oil and toasted sesame oil mixed with a crushed clove of garlic.  If I had to hazard a guess – the splash is about 2 teaspoons each – for about a pound of beans.  Noel put them on a hot grill for 15-20 minutes, until they started to blacken & shrivel a little.  They were declared the best green beans ever by our friend Dave!

Now for the cherry tomato pasta sauce, I read this recipe in a magazine several years ago.  I have no idea who to credit this to but I’ve been making it every year since. Halve about 4 cups cherry tomatoes of various kinds – red, yellow, orange, purple – whatever you have.  If using some of the larger ones such as Sweet Treats you may have to quarter them.  Mince several cloves of garlic and sauté in 2-3 T. olive oil for about 1 minute on medium low.  Don’t let the garlic brown or the flavor of the garlic may add a bitterness to the sauce.  Add the chopped tomatoes all at once being careful not to get splashed by the hot oil.  Add about ½ tsp. salt & freshly ground pepper and let simmer for 10-15 minutes or to taste.  Add a handful of chopped fresh basil for the last 5 minutes. Serve over your favorite pasta & top with freshly ground parmesan cheese.

Now I wonder what we’re going to eat next????