This summer, like the last, we have been trying to grow our own vegetables. That means we have stuck with easy-ish stuff, like tomatoes, zucchini, peppers and some herbs. By non-easy stuff, I mean the whole broccoli/cabbage/Brussels sprout family which in past experiences has wildly attracted a crowd of caterpillars and other insects who hide while the plant is being picked and washed but make a showy appearance as soon as the plant is being sauteed (cue traumatized-vegetarian music). I also mean things that are more finicky, like basically any fruits, or generally  complex to grow in small quantities, like corn.

Surprise acorn squash from compost pile!

But I digress. One of the things I love most about gardening is that you often get what you get, when you get it (nice metaphor for life). It’s hard to tell the plants to produce more tomatoes, or less zucchini to suit your needs (trust me, I’ve tried, but all I got was strange looks from the neighbor). It’s the same situation if you shop at farmer’s markets, which I also do to get my fill of non-easy plants so I don’t have to be a traumatized vegetarian (see above). Because of this, you often have to plan your meals based on the ingredients you are able to get from your garden, hence the improvisation. I know this contradicts my previous post about planning meals ahead of time, but it’s always nice to take more time during the summer to cook because all of the produce is so fresh and delicious. Plus, when you are in a hurry, there’s nothing quicker than dashing to your backyard and grabbing some veggies and herbs to make a fast meal.

Tomatoes that will not traumatize a vegetarian

As a Dance major in college, one of my favorite classes was Improvisation. I had been improvising for a while before college, but that class really opened up the idea of “tools” that help you improvise, which made the whole concept less scary and a lot more successful (as an aside, if you ever see me perform a solo, 98%

I’m smiling because I don’t know what I’m doing next!

of the time I am improvising). The “tools” were basically structures which helped you, so instead of coming up with everything from scratch, there would be smaller sections to improvise. The same concept can be applied to cooking, or pretty much anything else, although the guidelines will be a bit different obviously. My idea of realistic cooking improv is not to find a ton of random ingredients and make something completely made up, and hope it tastes good (this is simply the food you find in cafeterias and jails). Instead, you find a main ingredient and compliment it with “sidekick” ingredients, and then spice it up with some herbs. Done!

For example, our zucchini plant has been very prolific this summer, and we frequently get two or three zucchinis a week. One of my improv meals was stuffed zucchini. The zucchini was the main ingredient, and I used fresh corn and soy “beef” from my freezer as a complimentary ingredients. I sauteed those with some onions, and seasoned with oregano and basil from the garden. That was the stuffing for my zucchini, and I topped the whole thing with some leftover feta after I took it out from the oven (baking it at 350 degrees for about 20 mins). And whala! Improv meal. Another time, I sauteed a zucchini with some garden tomatoes and onion, and of course seasoned that with more garden herbs, and tossed it with some pasta.

Yum!

Here are my “tools” for cooking improv:

– Keep side ingredients in stock like pasta, frozen protein, maybe some cheese, and always keep onion and garlic around
– Become familiar with recipe categories and their general cooking times/temps: sautee over pasta or rice, stuffed vegetables that are baked, casseroles, pies/quiches, raw/room temp salads/mixes, etc. That way you have a general idea of how to cook what you are making without having to follow a specific recipe
– Keep it simple! Use few ingredients, and always season with fresh herb combinations that you also keep simple (don’t feel like you need to do a thyme and bay and basil and dill combo to be fancy, just go with two herbs at a time).

Those are just some ideas, but the possibilities are endless. What’s neat is that you get to experiment, and each meal is completely different and unique. Almost like an artist with a blank canvas, if you have delicious ingredients you’ll probably get a delicious and healthy meal too, improved and based on what you got, when you got it. That’s why summer is so great!