Why we garden

 Picked our first tomato of the season today. Just a cherry one, but it's one of those life-affirming acts of summer.

Sometimes the weeds, the bugs, the heat, no time combine to make me think I'm nuts for knocking myself out to grow what I can readily buy at local farmers market.

And then I go out and randomly pick a big bowl of herbs to make my take on James Beard's pasta sauce of butter and herbs. (Melt a half pound of butter, add a finely chopped shallot and cook until soft. Toss in a cup of assorted chopped herbs and juice of half a lemon. Toss with a half pound of cooked pasta.) Then I'm good again for a while.

Italian meatloaf and basil potato puree

It's basil season in spades outside right now. I've even got volunteers crowding the usual planter. So even after Dave put a vat into the hefeweizen he made this weekend, we've got plenty left for pesto. Since I've still got pesto in the freezer from last fall, I decided to start looking for ways to use it up beyond the usual suspects and ran across this recipe for pesto meatloaf. I paired it with a basil-laced potato recipe to use up some of the fresh stuff.

Italian meatloaf

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Food Made Fast Series, “Simple Suppers,” by Melanie Barnard

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground pork

½ cup pesto, plus more for garnish

1 cup fine bread crumbs

2/3 cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

Method

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, mixing with your hands. Transfer to a shallow baking dish and form into a 9-by-5-inch loaf shape. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for about 60 minutes, or until the interior temperature is about 160 degrees. Let stand at least 5 minutes before slicing.

Rating: Not a wower as far as meatloaf goes; there are better recipes. But it got a lot tastier once I thought to put a dollop of additional pesto on top.

Potato basil puree

Adapted from “How Easy Is That?” by Ina Garten

Ingredients

2 cups fresh basil leaves

2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and quartered

1 cup half and half

¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons kosher salt

Method

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil basil for 15 seconds and then plunge it into a cold water bath to set the bright green color. Add potatoes to the pot and cook until tender, about 20-25 minutes. Drain and put into a large bowl. Add butter and beat with an electric mixer to mash.

Drain basil and puree in a food processor. Heat half and half and Parmesan cheese to a simmer in a small pot. Add to basil and process until smooth. Add to potatoes and blend. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Rating: Tasty. I had to add the butter to get these to be the right consistency, but that seemed to do the trick. Definitely the better part of the meal.

Note: I should add a rating based on number of dishes generated. This meal blew away the counter, which was not ideal for a weeknight, so make it when you have the energy to cope with dishes after a kind of heavy meal.