Summer is finally in full swing here in Boise, complete with hot temperatures and abundance of garden veggies!  We recently organized an outdoor kitchen on the back porch.  A few months ago, one of our photographs from this blog was selected for publication in Montana Outdoors Magazine!  (It’s the photo of our Dutch Oven Gyros, steaming over coals.)  For this contribution we were paid $80, and decided to put the funds toward this Camp Chef outdoor stove that we’d had our eyes on at Cabela’s.  On sale for $89, we almost stayed within our budget!  So far it’s great, no more heating up the kitchen to make dinner, perfect to take camping, and we can’t wait to use it for canning.

So, what have we been making?  Here’s a recipe for one of my favorite summer abundance dishes:

Veggie Stir Fry with Garlic and Parmesan

• Butter
• Garlic
• Parmesan
• Veggies.  Zucchini is especially good in this, and it’s a good way to cook zucchini by itself.  Also beets, peas, beans, tiny potatoes, broccoli, greens, onions, whatever you’ve got.

Melt butter in a cast iron skillet.  Add veggies and cook over medium heat until done.  If you’re using potatoes, carrots, other hard root crops, cook these a little first and add the soft things later.  Cook until veggies are done and enjoy!

It was already almost dark by the time we sat down to enjoy this dinner under the emerging stars.  Marty made a wonderful skilletfull of ham and eggs to go with my Parmesan veggies, and as usual, a huge glass of water accompanied our recovery from a busy day in the field.  The plate reminded me so much of a fabulous cartoon I saw online the other day, that I had to snap this photo.

The cartoon on the right, of course, is making fun of the USDA’s new “My Plate”  cartoon, which replaced the “Food Pyramid”  that was previously the federal government’s recommendation for how Americans should eat.   Here’s what “My Plate”  looks like:

Not sure this one makes any more sense than the food pyramid did….a glass of milk with every meal?  I like “It’s not that hard, people”  better.  As far as I can tell, the original source of the “It’s not that hard, people”  cartoon is this excellent blog post from Fitbomb.  Check it out for a history of the federal government’s attempts to tell you how to eat.

Advice from Cast Iron?  Keep the federal government, it’s screwy advice, agricultural policy, and subsidies that support the wrong kinds of foods OUT of your kitchen.  Get fresh food from farmers you know, including lots of plants and some animals if you like to eat animals.  Enjoy time cooking with your family, take photos, and send them to us.  You’ll feel better, we promise.

— Katie