Take advantage of seasonal zucchini and yellow squash available at Farmer’s Markets with this quick side dish. Adjust the seasoning to suit your tastes.

2 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 yellow squash, thinly sliced
1/2 small onion, chopped or diced
1 tbsp butter
salt and pepper
1/4 cup breadcrumbs

Melt butter in skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add onions and saute until tender and translucent, but not golden, about 3 minutes.

Add zucchini and squash to skillet, tossing to coat in onions. Season with salt and pepper. In batches, add breadcrumbs, coating vegetables. Add fresh herbs and spices as desired.

Here is a “simple option for celebrating the humble cucumber,” from Simply in Season. This tasty dish in quick and easy to make, though I won’t take credit for those neatly sliced vegetables - that was all James! This simple side dish is great on a hot day, and you could easily adjust the seasoning to suit your tastes.

3 small (or 2 large) cucumber, thinly sliced
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup lemon juice (from 1 large lemon)
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
Fresh ground black pepper

Whisk lemon juice, oil, salt, and sugar together. In a large bowl, combine cucumber and onions. Add dressing and toss. Chill slightly before serving (10-15 minutes). Top with fresh ground black pepper as desired.

These cucumbers and onion came from the Farmer’s Market:

From Self magazine, this iced tea combines peach, lemon, ginger, and mint with black tea. The recipe calls for Earl Gray or Darjeeling tea, but I used English Breakfast. Assam, Ceylon, Irish Breakfast or plain Lipton would work just fine. This recipe is great for peaches that are slightly over-ripe, as they will be pureed and will taste just fine (but might not look so appealing).

8 tea bags
1 lemon, sliced (ends discarded)
1 piece of ginger, 2 inches, cut into chunks
4 large, ripe peaches
1/2 cup sugar, or to taste
mint sprigs, for garnish

Boil 8 cups of water over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan. Add tea bags, sliced lemon, and ginger pieces. Remove pan from heat and steep 10 minutes. Pour into a heat-resistant pitcher through a strainer. Discard tea bags, lemon, and ginger.  

Peel, pit, and dice 2 of the peaches. Place in a blender with 1/2 cup sugar and blend until smooth (add a bit of the tea if needed to get the blender going). Pour peach puree into tea and stir well, dissolving sugar.

Pit and cut remaining peaches into slices. Stir into tea. Chill tea for 1-2 hours. To serve, pour over ice and garnish with mint sprigs.

Makes 8 servings. Each serving is approx 70 calories.

Brewing the tea:

Adding slices to the pitcher:

Garnishing my tea with basil (peach and basil go well together):

A Jenn Original Recipe! I wanted to make a simple dish to go with the Macaroni & Zucchini Salad the other night, and this is what I came up with:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/3 cup basil, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 onion, coarsely chopped
3 green onions, sliced
1/4 tsp salt
fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Combine basil, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil in a large bowl. Finely dice about a third of the chopped onion and add to basil mixture. Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and place in basil mixture, turning to coat.

In a large non-stick skillet coated in oil or cooking spray over medium heat, arrange coated chicken breasts and top with any remaining basil mixture. Cook 8-10 minutes on each side, or until chicken is well browned and cooked through.

Add remaining chopped onion and green onions to skillet. Saute with chicken, scrapping any browned bits from the pan, until golden. Remove from heat and serve chicken breasts topped with sauteed onion mixture. Season with pepper as desired.

Pictured here with Macaroni & Zucchini Salad and fresh tomatoes from the Farmer’s Market:

Original title: Orzo and Zucchini Salad from the magazine Everyday Food. I did not have orzo and felt macaroni would be an appropriate substitute, and ended up altering the recipe quite a bit. It doesn’t quite make it a Jenn Original, but definitely my own spin to the recipe.

2 cups uncooked macaroni
2 large zucchini, quartered length-wise and thinly sliced
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1/2 cup chopped basil
1/4 tsp pepper

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook macaroni per package directions until al dente. Drain and spread on a rimmed baking sheet to cool.

Over medium-high heat, saute garlic in 1 tbsp olive oil to 2-3 minutes. Add zucchini and toss, sauteing 4-6 minutes or until zucchini is crisp-tender. Remove from heat.

Combine macaroni, zucchini, and basil in a large serving dish. Toss well with additional 1 tsp olive oil, vinegar, and pepper. Serve at room temperature.