Suburban Farm to Table

Summer’s Bounty Graces the Kitchen

By Andrea Wallace

Like many of you, we set a plan this past spring to shrink the size of our lawn in response to increased water rates here in Broomfield. What resulted was a nearly 2,000 square foot reduction in grass and the addition of four raised garden beds which enabled us to expand our vegetable gardening. My husband, Craig, and I have been enjoying growing some of our own produce and have been happy to share with family, friends, and neighbors.

In addition to numerous zucchini, cucumbers, and a few cabbages, our garden has produced a variety of herbs, and Big Boy as well as San Marzano tomatoes. A decently hot summer helped to produce some spicy peppers including Serranos, jalapeños, and garden salsa (a hybrid) peppers. With each small harvest joining the previous, we found ourselves with overflowing colanders and bowls throughout the kitchen. This led to a plan to do some canning and preserving on a larger scale than we have done in the past.

The tomatoes seemed to take longer than usual to begin ripening and now that they have, we have been busy making and canning tomato sauce with the San Marzanos. I’ve hoped for several summers to harvest enough of these naturally sweet and perfectly balanced tomatoes to preserve an abundance of sauce for wintertime. Last summer we used the sauce as quickly as it was made. With seven plants this year, I’m hoping that we will have plenty. The sauce is a base for our family’s traditional Sunday pasta sauce as well as football chili.

We have grown Serrano chilis for a number of years. They tend to be incredibly spicy! We love spicy food as much as many others do, but the addition of these chilis can spoil a dish. Our solution is to make hot sauce. So far we have bottled 36 bottles! The bottles we use are purchased from Amazon and the recipe is below.

Although we have shared quite a few, neither my husband nor I tire of zucchini. I add it diced to a lot of our skillet meals. A spiralizer to make “zoodles” is a terrific lower carb pasta replacement. Shredded zucchini is a wonderful addition to any meatball recipe and is a great way to add fiber and maintain moisture during cooking. And who doesn’t have zucchini bread from neighbors as significant childhood memory? I also love to bake it into breads and cookies. Chocolate chocolate chip is a favorite in my family!

If you enjoy cooking with fresh herbs as much as I do, being able to grab handfuls from the garden as I’m preparing a meal is on another level. Last Christmas I was gifted an Italian herb blend from my lifelong friend, Laura. The herbs were grown, dried, and blended by her. We savored that jar through the winter months. Each and every time the bouquet of basil, oregano, rosemary, and thyme began to warm, my kitchen smelled like an Italian restaurant. Eager to replicate and share, I made a plan the grow those specific herbs. I’ve been using them fresh and will soon harvest, dry, and blend them.

Craig and I are already discussing what we plan to repeat and what we will do differently next summer. I know there are a lot of great gardeners and cooks out there so I count myself in good company and appreciate the opportunity to share the joy that summer 2025 brought my family and me! Perhaps a few more will be inspired too!

Serrano Chili Hot Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb. Serrano peppers (approx. 18-20)

• 3-6 Jalapeño peppers

• 2 Tablespoons Avocado or Olive oil

• 1/2 yellow onion

• 1 garlic clove

• 1/2 cup white vinegar

• 1/4 cup water

• freshly cracked black pepper

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano

Instructions

Give the Serranos a good rinse and de-stem them. Be sure to wash your hands after handling them.

Sauté a roughly chopped 1/4 onion and 1 whole, peeled garlic clove in oil over medium heat.

Once the onion is soft you can add 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano, some freshly cracked black pepper, oregano and briefly cook until fragrant and then add the de-stemmed Serranos, jalapeños, 1/2 cup white vinegar, 1/4 cup water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer and cook for up to 4 hours. Once the peppers are soft, purée in a blender or use an immersion blender.

Add mixture to bottles or a small or in small jars. Store in the fridge where it will keep for months at a time. This recipe should yield 2-3 of the pictured bottles.