Low Bowl #5

 

Mostly, I try to use things up. But I had to have this meal, somehow, because it was summer and I am under a "heat dome" and words can't describe my misery in that regard, but then I get some good summer food and although it doesn't make up for it, really, it helps distract me from the fact that it doesn't dip below about 76 degrees overnight and thus my body goes into total rebellion mode.

Just me? Okay.

Here we have sliced tomato with salt and pepper (the good beefsteak tomatoes I pay too much for but are so good in the summer), some Texas caviar (recipe from Healthy Cooking for Two (Or Just You) (1994)), a fresh ear of corn, and some okra patties which I am attempting to veganize and have not yet perfected, so you don't get a recipe yet, and some homemade vegan ranch for the patties and the tomatoes.

Okra patties are a bit like fried okra in fritter form, and I do love a good fritter! I also made these on the same day I bought the okra, so that it was at the best version of itself it could be for me (although in these northern climes you never get really good okra from the store, alas). It was also the same day I bought the corn and the tomato, which are transcendent in summer where I live, so that was great. It all seemed very Southern of me and that called for Texas caviar, even though that meant buying black eyed peas and that's not really in keeping with using stuff up. But I will use up the black eyed peas as quickly as I can, no languishing in the freezer for a year, so I welcome suggestions for that, even though I can just make more Texas caviar and be perfectly happy so far as that's concerned.

The flavor of the fritters was amazing, but they just didn't hold up as firmly as I would have liked, so I'm not ready to share a recipe. And let's face it, I'm not likely to make these fritters again this summer, so maybe this was just an experiment I enjoyed and can move on from.

Anyway. I'll keep working on staying cool. Stay safe out there.