Zucchini blossoms stuffed with ricotta and deep-fried are a classic summer dish. The petals are too delicate to hold on to for long, so in the short time they are around we tend to stick to the tried and true recipes. Until now.

I recently saw a post from Neil Faba, the man behind the wonderful Communal Table blog, about baked zucchini blossoms. Neil did his simply just sprinkling with salt and pepper before tossing them in the oven. I decided to try my traditional stuffed and breaded blossoms baked in the oven.

To clean the zucchini blossom, open it up as delicately as you can and pinch out the little stamen in the centre, they are now ready for stuffing. The ricotta was mixed with lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon thyme and delicate pea shoots. This was then scooped into the blossoms. They were put into the fridge for a few hours to firm up and when it was time the oven was pre-heated to 400. Each stuffed flower was dipped in egg wash then dredged in breadcrumbs seasoned with salt, pepper and a touch of cayenne. The breaded bundles were then laid out on a parchment covered cookie sheet. They went into the oven for 8 minutes, were pulled out and flipped before going back in the oven for another 5-7 minutes to brown both sides.

They came out beautifully crunchy on the outside and meltingly soft in the centre with no greasy residue on the palate or the fingers. Served over a salad of farm fresh baby lettuces with radish and more of those wonderful pea shoots, they were a big hit with my dinner guests. After the dessert was served there was no huge pan of oil to clean up, no scent of deep-frying in the air. Just one crumb-y sheet of parchment to ball up and toss.

Thanks Neil, you’ve inspired and healthier and easier alternative to an old standby without sacrificing any flavour!

July 30- Aug 6

Darwin called these creatures the "ploughs of the earth". Without worms we simply wouldn't have soil. Or food.

The Wormy Truth:

1. Every acre of soil can contain a million worms. You’re lucky if you have this many.
2. Nightcrawlers—the burrowing worms—pull leaves downward into the soil as they eat them, aerating soil and leaving fertile castings—the worm poo we love.
3. Red Wigglers—the surface living worms—live on partially decomposed organics; they’re the ones used in home worm composters (vermicompost, if you want to get fancy). They can eat half their body weight in food every day. I bought a vermicomposter last year during the garbage strike, and all my tea bags and banana peels go there, instead of my city bin. Why should the city get all the good stuff?
4. Humus creation—the most important natural chemical in soil—is one of the best upsides of worms. Humus lets plants absorb existing soil nutrients and helps them withstand drought. You can pour gallons fertilizer onto soil—not that I’m recommending that!—but if there’s no humus, nothing will happen.

Best way to add more worms to your garden is to mulch with anything organic, leaves, compost, grass clippings, even cardboard. Make sure no bare soil is showing. It’s all food for the worms, who do the garden work for you while you sleep.

Country in town: Ashbridges Bay, Toronto. Chicory, Queen Anne's Lace and sweet clover in bloom.

Before green apples blush,
Before green nuts embrown,
Why one day in the country
Is worth a month in town.

I agree completely with poet Christina Rossetti on this one. But while there isn’t any way to get “city” in the country—unless you count high speed internet—luckily there are plenty of places to get “country” in the city. You just have to find it. Back alleys, vacant lots, and untamed parkland are now full of wild flowers, like Queen Anne’s Lace, intensely blue chicory, and—the smell of summer, for me—sweet clover. I’m thrilled to have these wild green spaces in the city, like Evergreen Brickworks, and Ashbridges Bay by the lake. One thing, however, I’m sure I won’t see in the city is a group of wild turkeys crossing the road like those I saw this weekend in the country.

Why did the wild turkeys cross the road? Peer pressure, perhaps?

If you feel like Christina Rossetti and me, let us know  your city / country strategy. Fave places to go? Share in the comments!

A guest post from our good friend, the founder and editor of www.spotlighttoronto.com, Suresh Doss

My Favourite Breakfast

I’ve been making this for years when I want a quick breakfast but also something different from scrambled eggs or an omelette. The recipe is very simple, here is what you need to re-create it.

Baked Eggs in Tomatoes

Ingredients

- medium sized tomatoes

- Eggs

- Fresh Basil

- Extra virgin olive oil

- Salt / Pepper to taste

Steps

- Preheat the oven to 375degrees

- Chop fresh basil and toss them in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper to create a rub.

- Cut out the tops off the tomatoes and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. You want nice hollow centres so when you drop the egg, it stays in place.

- Rub the inside of the tomato generously with the basil rub.

- Place the tomatoes on a baking sheet, and put them into the oven for 8-10 minutes. If you wish to wrap a piece of proscuitto or bacon around the tomato, cook for a longer period of time.

- Take the tomatoes out, and drop an egg into each. Try not to crack the yolk.

- Place the tomatoes carefully back in the oven for another 8-10 minutes, until desired doneness.

- Sprinkle a little basil, salt over the tomato and serve immediately.

It’s a very flexible recipe that you can play with. I like to add proscuitto and a variety of other herbs and seasonings.

This could even be a good appetizer course at dinner time, topped with some smoked salmon and creme fraiche or splashed with truffle oil and some tarragon leaves.

Suresh eats very very well and all over the province. He takes lots of pictures of what he’s having for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Join the thousands of happy food fanatics who follow Suresh’s every move on Twitter here

July 24-30

Herb gardens are going crazy all over town and we want you to make use of that bounty in every meal. Here we present a series of recipes and ideas for putting all those delicious plants to good use.

Mint is not just a garnish for your dessert plate. It is so hardy and comes back every year so you’ve got to find ways to use it up. The chocolate mint pictured is in it’s third year. No special fertilizers or anything, it sits in a planter in the sun and bursts forth every spring.

You know how your beer cooler smells all musty when you pull it out for that first camping trip of the year? Scrub it out, then add hot water and throw in a bunch of mint leaves, close the lid and leave for a day. The mint “tea” will clear out the mustiness and leave you with a fresh smelling cooler ready to be packed with beer. You can use mint to freshen up your suitcase, sleeping bags, tents. Just place a branch of fresh leaves inside and let the mint work it’s magic scent into every nook and cranny.

Behind the bar it belongs in cocktails like mint juleps and mojitos. In the kitchen try using it in savoury dishes, like watermelon salad with basil, feta and mint or minted peas. The perfect side dish to some grilled lamb and so simple to make. Fry up some shallots in butter, toss in fresh or frozen peas, season with salt and pepper, sautee. At the last minute toss in a bunch of roughly chopped mint and serve.

Choices are truly mind boggling. There was a pink flamingo too, but it flew away.

Where do you stand on garden decorations? From the classic cherub to the lady in the polka dot dress bending over, to sacred images, there’s lots you can plunk down in your garden space these days. It’s not just gnomes anymore. Of course you can still find gnomes around too, in various levels of grotesque vs cute.

I happen to like my sister’s small collection of classic looking concrete rabbits. I know one gardener who decorates her funky, edgy garden with bowling balls and plastic animals. I found a streamlined black cat at a thrift store last year that met my particular garden art standards: a little bit fun, a little bit classic.

Or maybe you are a purist and wouldn’t be caught dead with a gnome under your shrubbery. Weigh in on the comments.

Bunny & Head images ~ Helen Battersby

Vegetable garden, started the Easy Way and thriving in backyard garden in mid July

The Hard Way

1. Get shovel or spade and dig up clumps of grass. Scrape off only turf, by slicing your spade under sod or simply dig straight down. Knock turf clod  to loosen the soil. Grass clumps go in compost, grass side down. If soil is too sandy or clay, add triple mix, compost and/or rotted manure. (This step works for all) Start planting.

2. If mid July, sweat profusely, and enjoy muscles speaking to you about it the next day.

The Slow Way

1. Collect huge stack of newspapers and cardboard. Hoarders rejoice! Put thick layers (newspaper at least 10 sheets thick) on grass. If you can find an old carpet, even better. Use rocks or bricks to hold down. Lack of water and light kills grass. If newspaper offends eyes, add thick layer of coarse mulch on top.

2. Wait at least a year. Read books, file nails, catch up on Mad Men. No sweat involved. Peel off or dig through the newspapers. Remove carpet completely. Start planting.

The Easy Way to Get Your Vegetable Garden Started - Garden Planted End of May

The Easy Way

1. Use pre-bagged organic soil. Buy as many as you need to cover the garden space. Put bag flat side down, cut slashes in bottom and open up top by cutting with knife, as in picture above.

2. Lay bags side by side, with no space between. Plant your tomatoes or whatever you want right in the bag. Roots will fill bag and then go down into the soil underneath.

3. Bags will kill grass underneath. Next year, or even at the end of the season, remove the plastic that the bags came in and dispose.

Picture at top shows same garden in mid summer.

Photos and Garden by Patrick Lowney