gimme some oven

***Click here to enter this week’s giveaway for custom eco-friendly grocery bags!  Giveaway ends September 6, 11:59pm.***

We’ve had mixed results with our garden this year.  Thanks to a few weeks of some blazing summer heat (which scorched a few plants), and one of our trees that randomly decided to grow like crazy directly over the garden (blocking the sun over a third of the bed)…we didn’t get quite the harvest we expected.  But we definitely had tremendous success in one area — tomatoes!

Actually, all of our tomato plants have been going crazy, but there is without a doubt one leader of the pack — this one huge cherry tomato plant.  Apparently it’s going for the gold — I’ve never had so many cherry tomatoes in my life!  So fun to eat and share with friends.  :)

One of the recipes I was looking forward to trying with them this summer was a simple no-bake vegetable lasagna.  I’ve seen this approach for years, but have somehow never tried it myself.  So last week, I (very briefly) heated up the stove to boil the lasagna noodles and saute the veggies (kept it simple with zucchini/squash).  And then had maybe a little too much fun playing with my food and assembling these cuties.  Since I was just cooking for me, myself and I that day — I quartered the recipe.

And while I must admit, the word “lasagna” in my mind has always equaled “WORK” — these little guys were completely simple!  I pretty much followed Martha’s recipe and kept things totally simple (with yummy, vegetarian ingredients), and they came together in about 20 minutes total, and were completely delightful!  I loved the no-sauce approach — just fresh, light, delicious ingredients.  And a perfect way to use up some cherry tomatoes.  AND, I didn’t even have to heat up my oven. Yessss!

Can’t wait to give this a try with some other creative ingredients soon!

see recipe for no-bake summer vegetable lasagna

Who loves walking into a store with fabric reusable grocery bags?  Ok, even better — who loves walking into a store with cute fabric grocery bags???

For all those who raised their hands high, I have the perfect giveaway for you.  So excited to introduce you to Lillian Grace Bags, and her adorable eco-friendly grocery bags!  I recently ran across her store on Etsy, and absolutely loved all of the gorgeous fabrics that she uses.  Plus, her bags are made from pre-washed cotton and are very sturdy.  So no worries about the bottom falling out!

Perhaps the BEST part of this week’s giveaway is that you get to choose your own fabric to design your bags!  Details to enter are below.  So check out Lillian’s Etsy site, and enter to win so that you can shop (mmm…maybe for the ingredients to your favorite Gimme Some Oven recipe?)….in style!  :D

see recipe for giveaway: custom eco-friendly grocery bags!

Wow, it has been a busy week!  Definitely a good kind of busy — with kickoffs at work, lots of people to see, friends’ weddings to prepare for, and on and on.  Seems like my slightly-more-relaxing summer schedule is now long gone.

But even though the “fall semester” may have begun, it’s still summer.  And all of the season’s delicious fruit and produce is still in abundance!  As is the summer heat — no longer in the triple digits, but still hot enough that I have zero desire to heat up my oven.  So in the midst of all the craziness this week, have been relying on fresh salads to get me through the days.  Since fresh peaches are still in season around here, decided to try grilling some up (very briefly on my stove in the grill pan!) for a tasty arugula salad.  I was feeling like a traditional balsamic vinaigrette, and ended up loving how it paired with the sweet (and ever-so-slightly charred) grilled peaches, the tangy cheese, peppery arugula, and hea-ven-ly nutty toasted pecans.  A fantastic combination…and so simple!

So hooray for quick, fresh and delicious summer salads.  (And if you really love grilled peaches, you must check out this easy recipe for my favorite peaches and meringue dessert.  Quite possibly my favorite summer dessert ever!!!)

see recipe for grilled peaches, arugula and feta salad

Hi Ali!  I absolutely love your food blog and all your hard work. I especially come here when I need some tips on photography. Anyway, you mentioned that your set up was a foam board and fabric. I was just wondering that when you photograph with fabric, how do you lay it out? Does it hang on the foam board or do you just lay it out on the table and let the board reflect the light? And when there isn’t any natural light handy, what do you do? Sorry for all the questions, but your blog has been a favorite with me, and I come to it when I’m looking for recipes and tips. It’s proven so helpful!

Thanks so much,
Isabel

see recipe for mailbox monday: photographing backgrounds