Either way, you need to make some zucchini bread.

I originally got this recipe from one of my favorite farmer’s markets. They had samples. I tried one and said “Oh, yum! I’m going to need the recipe.” When I got home I read the recipe and nearly fell out of my chair. 3 cups of sugar. 1 cup of oil. No wonder it tasted so good! Call me crazy, but I feel like bread made with vegetables should at least try to exercise some restraint*.

So this is my altered version. It uses half the sugar and replaces half the oil with non-fat Greek yogurt, and it still tastes delicious. The texture is somewhere between cake and a muffin. They’re moist and lightly sweet with lots of cinnamon spice flavor – just the way I like my zucchini bread. I highly recommend adding chocolate chips (which I forgot – first time in my life I have ever forgotten chocolate!) and/or nuts, if you like that sort of thing.

This recipe makes enough to share – 2 loaves or a loaf and muffins – so feel free to pay that neighbor back for sharing their garden goods!

* For those of you rolling your eyes at the thought of using restraint in baked goods, stay tuned. The next recipe uses over a pound of butter and more than 4 cups of sugar. And heavy cream.

Zucchini Bread & Muffins

Makes 2 standard loaves
OR
5 mini loaves
OR
1 8×4 loaf plus 12 muffins

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups graulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
1/3 cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt, such as 0% Chobani
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350° Prepare baking pans – line muffin tin with liners and/or spray loaf pans with non-stick baking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flour through cinnamon). In a medium bowl, beat eggs lightly. Add oil, yogurt, vanilla extract, lemon juice, and water. Whisk. Stir in grated zucchini. Pour wet ingredients into dry and whisk just until combined.

Divide batter evenly among prepared pans. Bake standard loaves about 45-50 minutes and mini loaves and muffins about 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire wrack. Store covered at room temperature, or wrap tightly and freeze for later.

So I’ve decided to take my salad’s fate into my own hands. I made my own Ranch dressing. Most recipes call for a mixture of buttermilk and mayonnaise, but I couldn’t stomach the thought of using all that mayo. (At least, not for this. Let’s be honest. I love mayo.) So I cut the mayo way back, added Greek yogurt, and threw in some herbs fresh from my garden. Call my version low-fat, lite, or reduced fat, whatever you call it, it’s just plain better for you. It tastes just as good (or better!) than the original and it takes next to no time to make. What are you waiting for? Give it a try!

Low-Fat Ranch Dressing

Makes about 3/4 cup

There’s no amount listed for the herbs because you can add as much or as little as you like! This dressing tastes bests when given a few hours for the flavors to come together in the fridge, but you can eat it right away if you’d like. It makes a great dip too – just omit about 2 tablespoons of milk or buttermilk for a thicker consistency.

Ingredients

1/2 cup low or non-fat Greek Yogurt (I use 0% Chobani)
1 Tablespoon low-fat sour cream
1 Tablespoon mayo
3-4 Tablespoons low-fat milk or buttermilk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 small clove of garlic, minced and mashed into a paste
Fresh dill, parsley and chives, as much as you like, minced

Directions

Combine yogurt, sour cream, mayo, and 2 tablespoons of milk in a small bowl. Stir until combined. Add salt, lemon juice, garlic paste and herbs, stirring to combine. Add remaining milk 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator.

But wait! I’m not done with Summer yet! I feel the need to enjoy the last of Summer’s bounty of fruits and vegetables for as long as I can. The tomatoes in my garden ripened all at once and I was left with a pile of them that demanded something other than tomato sandwiches. But what?

Ina Garten had an idea. Tomato tarts, with goat cheese and caramelized onions, all piled on top of puff pastry. I didn’t need to read the recipe twice to know I was going to make it.

These tarts are fantastic. All of Ina Garten’s food is, right? But the flavor in the tarts is out of this world. The tomatoes get a little sweet after baking, which pairs oh so nicely with the melty tang of the goat cheese. The crispy crunch of the puff pasty is so satisfying and the caramelized onions add a savory background note that pulls it all together. I could have easily eaten two of these tarts… and I did.

If you have extra summer tomatoes you need to use, make these. You won’t be sorry.

Tomato, Onion, and Goat Cheese Tarts

Adapted from Back to Basics by Ina Garten and FoodNetwork.com
Makes 4 tarts

The size of the tarts is really up to you – the measurements don’t need to be exact. I made mine slightly smaller than the original recipe using a large drinking glass and a smaller drinking glass as guides to cut the circles of puff pastry. You can use whatever you have laying around the kitchen. These tarts would be perfect served warm with a green salad for lunch, or even in miniature for an appetizer.

Ingredients

½ package (1 sheet) puff pastry, defrosted
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 large garlic cloves, cut into thin slivers
3 tablespoons dry white wine
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan, plus 1 ounce shaved with a vegetable peeler
2 ounces garlic-and-herb goat cheese
1 large tomato, cut into 4 (1/4-inch-thick) slices (or several smaller tomatoes)
2 tablespoons julienned basil leaves
Olive oil
Kosher salt

Directions

Unfold the puff pastry onto a lightly floured surface and roll it lightly to about 1/4″ thickness. Using a 4 or 5-inch wide saucer, glass or other round object as a guide, cut 4 circles from the sheet of puff pastry, discarding the scraps. Place the pastry circles on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a Silpat, and refrigerate until ready to use.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium to low heat. Add the onions. Saute for about 5 minutes, then add the garlic. Continue to saute for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are limp and there is almost no moisture remaining in the skillet. Add the wine and thyme, season with salt, and continue to cook for another 10 minutes, or until the onions are lightly browned. Remove from the heat.

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Using a slightly smaller round object as a guide, score a 1/2-inch-wide border around each pastry circle with a sharp paring knife. Prick the pastry inside the score lines with a fork. Sprinkle a tablespoon of grated Parmesan on each round, staying inside the scored border.

Divide the onion mixture evenly among the tarts, again staying within the scored edge. Crumble about ½ ounce of goat cheese on top of the onions. Place a slice of tomato on top of the onions and goat cheese. Brush the tomato lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with basil and salt. Finally, top with 4 or 5 shards of Parmesan on each tart.

Bake at 425° for 20 to 25 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. Serve hot or warm.

The inspiration for baking both the Orange Cranberry Rosemary Muffins and these Cheddar Chive Muffins was my herb garden. Each year, I plant a small selection of herbs in pots on my deck. Having fresh herbs on hand to cook with is one of my favorite things about summer. Oh sure, you can buy them in most stores year round, but they’re expensive (compared to growing your own) and you can’t beat the flavor of fresh picked herbs. But inevitably I end up with way more herbs than I know what to do with.

The sweet Orange Cranberry Rosemary Muffins were a great way to use some of my flourishing rosemary. And these savory Cheddar Chive Muffins? Fantastic excuse to use some of my chives. Did I mention I never planted chives this year? I didn’t use them much last year, so I skipped planting them in the Spring… only to have them come back to life all on their own! You can’t ignore that kind of tenacity. The chives demanded to be used, and who am I to let them down?

If you don’t have chives, don’t worry! These muffins are very adaptable and would be great with a lot of other herbs, or even a variety of them. You could try parsley, dill, or thyme, not to mention non-herb additions like sun-dried tomatoes or bacon. They’re the perfect compliment to soups and salads, and they make a great snack all on their own.

Cheddar Chive Muffins
Adapted from Pioneer Woman
Makes 12 muffins

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter (I used salted)
2-3 tablespoons of fresh chopped chives (or other herbs)
Other mix-ins (optional, such as bacon or sun-dried tomatoes)

Preheat the over to 375°F. Lightly grease or line a 12-cup muffin tin.

In a medium bowl, measure flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Whisk until combined. Stir in the shredded cheese.

In a smaller bowl, combine egg, milk, and melted butter. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in herbs and other mix-ins.

Divide the batter among 12 muffins cups. Bake at 375°F for 20-25 minutes, or until the center springs back when lightly poked.

I plant the seedlings in the Spring, and then I spend the next few months fussing over them, waiting for the moment when I can sink my teeth into the first ripe tomato of the season. After what felt like a lifetime of waiting, my tomatoes finally started turning red last week. As soon as I got the first juicy red tomato off the plant, I made the ultimate summer sandwich: A tomato sandwich.

I realize that some of you will recoil in horror when you read what I put on my tomato sandwich, but I’m OK with that because it tastes so good. There are probably as many ways of making a tomato sandwich as there are stars in the sky, but in my opinion, there’s only one right way to make a tomato sandwich. There are four parts, and only four parts.

First, white sandwich bread. Sure, you could use other bread, but it wouldn’t be right.

Next, mayonnaise. Not light mayo, not mustard, and certainly not that abomination they call Miracle Whip. Only the real stuff will do here.

Third, and perhaps the most offensive of the ingredients, one Kraft Singles slice. Yes, I do mean the stuff labeled “processed cheese product”. I love a good cheese as much as the next person, and I’ve tried other cheese in my tomato sandwiches, but the Kraft Singles can’t be beat. Honest.

Last, and most important, a fresh from the garden tomato, sliced thick. If you don’t grow your own, or know a neighbor / coworker with so many tomatoes growing that they’re practically willing to pay you to take them, a farmer’s market tomato would be an appropriate substitute. Don’t even bother attempting this with a store bought tomato. It will only lead to disappointment and tears, and maybe even ruin your life. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

That’s it! Put those four ingredient together and sink your teeth into the best tomato sandwich I’ve ever had.

What’s that? You think there’s some other right way to make a tomato sandwich? Let me hear it! I’ve got a lot of tomatoes to eat before the season ends.