Eating fresh and local is easy this time of year, but dealing with an abundance of that tasty garden produce can be a challenge. Soon, many of us with our own attempt at gardening (even on a small scale) will be overwhelmed with foods like squash, tomatoes and cucumbers. While you try to make good use of every last precious vegetable from your garden, you may find yourself eating them at just about every meal of the day. Well, here is another time to incorporate them that you may not have considered: tea time!
Cucumber Sandwiches
These are incredibly easy-to-make treats that are healthy and refreshing. Making cucumber sandwiches can take as few as 4 ingredients, or more if you like a little extra flavor and spice. Toast up some English muffins, spread them with cream cheese, layer on a few cucumber slices and sprinkle with dill weed or garlic powder (or both!). Then enjoy with a crisp black tea such as Ceylon Star. If you are serving them to guests, go ahead and give guests a chance to take home some of your abundance of cucumbers for their own enjoyment. After all, we don’t want any fresh garden produce to go to waste, right?
Tomato Treats
With a little extra time and a few more ingredients, you can integrate your extra tomatoes into tea time, too. Italian bread slices, garlic, cream cheese, black pepper, parsley and plum tomatoes are all you need for these tomato toasts. This recipe is a little more heavy in taste but a perfect companion to the light, refreshing cucumber sandwiches. They both go well with a malty Assam or a nutty Darjeeling black tea, but feel free to try others, too. And again, invite your guests to help themselves to your tomatoes if you are overwhelmed with them.
Have fun making these treats and even more so in eating them! What other ways do you like to use up an abundance of garden produce?