Comfort Food fresh from the Garden

One of my very favorite things to do is NOT go to the grocery store. Maybe I’m a dreamer, but I hope to someday avoid the grocery store all together. I absolutely love heading out to my garden to pick fresh produce, grabbing things from my freezer and pantry, and whipping up a home cooked meal with things I already have on hand. Comfort food straight from the garden and our own stores. That’s my kind of meal!

Today I’m going to share an easy yet wonderful meal that had my whole family going back for seconds and moaning with delight. Nothing more flattering than that! Fill your plate with this simple and protein-packed Meatloaf Muffin, steamed garden green beans and classic mashed potatoes, and you’ll find yourself happy and content on a summer evening.

Components of this Summer comfort food meal

Meatloaf Muffins. There is nothing more satisfying then shopping for meat in your own freezer. We are still enjoying grass-fed beef from our last cow, Black Licorice, and I feel like the richest girl in the world every time I open up that freezer and see all my options. This is actually The Pioneer Woman’s basic meatloaf recipe, with a few modifications.

Garden Green Beans. Garden green beans, is there anything better? My boys are nothing short of obsessed with green beans. I’ve planted four different rounds this summer just to try and keep up with their enthusiasm. Fresh from the garden, they don’t need much. I’m sharing my foolproof method below.

Mashed New Potatoes. Mashed potatoes can be rather blase, but not when they are fresh from the garden and roughly mashed with whole milk kefir. Check out my method in the potato section below.

Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce. Trader Joe’s began carrying a version of this a few years ago, which is how I first encountered it. I’ve never been a big BBQ sauce girl, and always preferred the more vinegar based versions, so this one was a BIG win. Deciding to figure out how to make it myself, I searched the Interwebs and landed on this recipe. It’s a winner!

Why we love comfort food

Comfort food is nothing new. The idea that certain dishes, or types of dishes, bring us not only physical but emotional comfort is a tale as old as time. Everyone thinks of comfort food at times like the holidays, or in the fall, but for our family, comfort food has a special role to play.

My husband is a farmer. An Oregon berry farmer. Which means that most of June and all of July he works all day and night, barely sleeps and barely eats. We don’t see much of him and when we do, he’s usually trying to squeeze in a nap. It felt like everytime he sat down this summer, he fell asleep. Maybe once or twice in the bathroom. Ahem.

When harvest begins to wind down the first week of August, my husband gets to go from survival mode to recovery mode. And food plays a big role.

Garden Green Beans

This time of year, when you’ve picked those green beans just minutes before you cook them, they don’t need a whole lot of speical treatment. Here’s how I make my simple garden green beans:

• Snap your beans into bite sized pieces and remove the stem end.
• Load the beans into a steamer basket and steam over a saucepot of boiling water for about 10 minutes, or until the beans are bright green and slightly soft.
• Drain the beans, add a healthy pat of butter and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Kefir Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes don’t have to be heavy and unhealthy. I pick mine straight from the garden and keep things light by using kefir instead of cream or cream cheese. Here’s how to get killer, healthy mashed potatoes:

• Wash your potatoes- I use about 1 lb red or yukon gold waxy potatoes- and place them in a pot. Cover them with cold water and bring to a boil.
• Cook the potatoes until fork tender. Aka when you pierce them with a fork, they slip off and back into the water.
• Drain the potatoes into a colander and dump them back into the warm cooking pot.
• Add 1/2 cup whole milk plain kefir, a pat of butter and salt and pepper, and mash with a potato masher.

Supplies you might need for comfort food cooking

Ceramic Muffin Tin. I’ve had my eye on some Caraway items for a while, but after baking these little meatloafs this week, I’m even more keen on the muffin tin. You could eliminate the muffin cups, have a pan much easier to clean and slip your mini loafs out of. I think I’m talking myself into it!

Parchment Muffin Liners. I don’t have a ceramic muffin tin, so I still use a parchment liner. I’ve used silicone in the past but I read the other day that silicone can leech chemicals into your food, so I’m going to pass on that, thanks very much. I always buy the unbleached parchment liners, the ones linked are great!

Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce. If you don’t feel like making a BBQ sauce from scratch, Primal Kitchen is typically a trustworthy brand for sauces and dressings. I keep a couple bottles of this or the Trader Joe’s brand in my pantry at all times.

Share your favorite Summer comfort food!

Leave a comment below with your favorite Summer comfort food. I’ll take all the ideas I can get around here.

And don’t forget to pin this image below, and share this easy summer dinner with friends. Is there anything better then cooking from the garden this time of year!?

Kali

I’m Kali. Oregon mama, farmer’s wife and creator of the Potager book and blog. Join me and as we cook and garden through the seasons!