Recipes - Fresh for Fall!

In this issue I am featuring three fall treats. Tomatoes and zucchini are technically late summer vegetables, but I find that September is when their harvest hits its peak. Enjoy their abundance; neither of these veggies stores well. Zucchini loses most of its taste and texture when frozen. Probably the best way to preserve them is by pickling (see recipe below).

Tomatoes, of course, can be made into sauce. Homemade tomato sauce may not equal the deliciousness of a tomato fresh from the vine, but it can capture some of that sun warmed sumptuousness to savor in the dark days of winter.

Here's a sauce recipe that uses both tomatoes and zucchini. It features the unusual flavor addition of mint, which in my garden is even more numerous than the tomatoes and zucchini:

• 4 T olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 pound zucchini halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
• 1 tsp salt
• 21/2 pounds plum tomatoes, chopped
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp orange rind, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• dash cayenne pepper
• dash black pepper
• 2 T chopped fresh mint

1. Heat 1 T oil in large skillet over moderately low heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion and garlic are lightly browned and oil is fragrant. Remove onion and garlic from skillet with slotted spoon. Set aside.
2. Add 1 and one half tablespoons oil to the skillet. Add zucchini and sauté over medium high heat until golden brown. Sprinkle zucchini with half teaspoon of the salt.
3. Remove from pan and reserve in separate bowl.
4. Heat remaining oil in skillet over medium heat. Add tomatoes, sugar, orange rind, bay leaf, pepper, and remaining salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 20-25 minutes or until thickened. Stir in zucchini and mint, cook another 5 minutes.
5. This sauce can be frozen. Serve with linguine or any other pasta of your choice.

These zucchini pickles resemble bread and butter cucumber pickles, but I like them even better:

• 2 pounds zucchini or summer squash, sliced thinly (about 7 cups)
• 2 medium onions, sliced thinly (about 2 cups)
• 1/4 cup kosher salt
• 2 cups white vinegar
• 1-2 cups sugar, to taste
• 1 tsp celery seed
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp mustard seed

1. Place squash and onions in a large non-reactive pot; add the salt and enough water to cover. Let stand for 2 hours; drain well.
2. In a 2-quart saucepan, bring remaining ingredients to a boil; pour over vegetables. Let stand for 2 hours.
3. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes; pack in sterilized jars and seal; process for 10 minutes in a boiling water canner.

Wild rice is technically not a rice at all, but a tall grass that grows best in shallow water along the margins of ponds or lakes in the Northern United States and Southern Canada, and especially, in Wedge Co-op's home, Minnesota. Wild rice serves as an important source of food and shelter for fish and waterfowl.

A staple of Native American tribes in the region, wild rice is still resistant to cultivation and is harvested by slow, ancient methods in the late fall. This keeps quantities limited and the price relatively high. However, wild rice is a nutritional powerhouse. It has two-thirds the calories of conventional brown rice and virtually no fat. One 3 oz serving of wild rice contains 14 g of protein (almost a third of the average person's daily requirement!) as well as 45 mg of thiamin, 4 mg of iron, and 6 mg of niacin.

One cup of raw wild rice yields approximately 4 cups cooked. The rice should be cooked in three to four times its volume of water or chicken stock. You can substitute wild rice for brown rice in most recipes, keeping in mind that it has a more slippery texture and a nuttier, more "vegetable-y" flavor.

Try this soup as a fall treat:

• 2 cups wild rice, cooked
• 2 T butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups pumpkin (canned or fresh)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• salt and pepper to taste
• Chives and parsley for garnish

1. Melt butter in large saucepan. Add onion and cook until translucent.
2. Stir in broth and pumpkin. Cook 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add wild rice, salt and pepper. Cook 10 minutes longer.
4. Stir in cream; heat until scalding.
5. Serve garnished with chives or parsley.

Wendy Gordon is a writer and restaurant reviewer who lives in Portland, Oregon. She has a Masters Degree in Clinical Nutrition from the University of Chicago, and is on the Board of Directors of Food Front Grocery, a co-op in Portland.