Harvesting Ground Cherries at the Lowell Elementary School Garden

I feel incredibly lucky that our elementary school has a fantastic learning garden. During the school year, students help prep, plant and maintain the garden. During the summer, families volunteer to take care of the garden, making sure the beds get plenty of water, weeding as needed and harvesting ripe vegetables. Last week was our week to tend to the garden and when we arrived, the boys and I were delighted to see their literal fruits of their labor from earlier in the school year. The garden was overflowing with big, fat juicy tomatoes, deep purple eggplant, humungous zucchini and vibrant peppers. Ratatouille anyone?

Well, not for my kids who are pretty much against eggplant and zucchini. But I recently came across this Grilled Ratatouille with Pasta recipe from Martha Stewart and I knew I had a chance to convert them.

It doesn't get any easier than this:



Cook a 1lb of pasta (we used farfalle) according to package instructions. Reserve a cup of pasta water and return cooked pasta to the pot. Heat grill. Brush the following with olive oil: 1 large zucchini (cut lengthwise into thick slices), 2 bell peppers (halved, stemmed and seeded), 2 red onions (halved), 1 large eggplant (cut lengthwise into thick slices), 4-6 large tomatoes (cut crosswise into thick slices). Season with salt and pepper and grill all the vegetables until browned and tender. Roughly chop the grilled vegetables then add to pasta. Add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve.

The boys ate it all up. And asked for seconds. Just one of many reasons all schools should have a school garden!

Yes, it is way hot. But it's also August and after the brutal winter we had earlier, I've embraced the heat and humidity here in New England. It is hard to deny the weather has definitely affected my cooking mojo. Lots of simple dinners cooked on the grill around here lately. But even I'm now groaning when BBQ chicken and corn are on the menu. I decided to shake things up by 1) making something WITHOUT using a recipe (I'm a recipe girl) and 2) not slaving over the grill or stove (and not have it be sandwiches for dinner). The answer? Fresh Vegetable Summer Rolls.

Like a burrito or wrap, you can pretty much customize this with whatever vegetables you like or have on hand. For me, I go with lots of traditional Asian produce: bean sprouts, julienned cucumbers, scallions, cilantro, and carrots. We had leftover purple cabbage, bibb lettuce and avocado, so I threw that in too.

Step 1: Prep and gather all your ingredients and have them nearby your work station. 

Step 2: Soak spring roll skin in a shallow dish filled with hot water until soft and pliable (about 10 seconds). 

Step 3: Lay out spring roll skin on a clean surface and layer ingredients on the bottom third of the wrap. 

Step 4: Like a burrito, pull skin over filling, tuck in sides and roll to a close. Work quickly as the skin becomes super sticky and becomes trickier to work with.

I do have to come clean about two things. The boys were famished so I wanted to add some protein to some of the rolls so quickly boiled some shrimp to add to these spring rolls. You also need a killer peanut dipping sauce if you're going to go through the trouble of making summer rolls right? I whipped up this super easy dipping sauce from Epicurious. So a little cooking and a little recipe inspiration. And glad I did both because dinner was amazing.