Though I love hearty entree salads, I have a hard time serving them.

A salad for dinner? It just never seems like enough.

I guess it’s the country girl in me. You know the type – when a country girl asks ‘what do you want for dinner’ she really means which slab of meat do you want. She’ll figure out the rest from there…

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‘There are only two things that money can’t buy and that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes.’
My friend Hayley quotes that song all the time and it’s SO true.

It’s become my gardening mantra as I slowly narrow down the list of things I’m willing to slave over in the garden. Corn? So not worth it. It never gets quite as sweet as I like it and the ants get it far before it’s fully ripe. Squash? I’ve been banned from planting them after last summer’s saga (it’s a long story but basically, I was bed-ridden with a bad back when Andrew found me on hands and knees in the garden, killing vine borers while sobbing in pain – yes, I’m a little neurotic). Cucumbers? Apparently a rare orange Chinese variety has found its way to my back yard. Essentially, I’m down to peppers, melons, green beans, okra, herbs and homegrown tomatoes.
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It’s hard to cook when it’s 110 outside. When we haven’t been out of town this month, we’ve been not-so-silently suffering through one of the most brutal summers in Austin history. And actually, all of this before summer officially started.

With heat like this, it always seems like a good idea to grill outside and keep the heat out of the kitchen. It sounds good on paper anyway. The problem is, I end up cooking sides on the stove or in the oven. Doh!
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It’s official — we are Hatch Chile fanatics.

It was pretty official before, but ever since fresh, roasted Hatch chiles appeared at our neighborhood HEB this season, we’ve been hooked. Every single dish we cook features Hatch chiles in some form. We’ve added them to our eggs, side dishes, main dishes and desserts. I’ve made pastes, sauces, salsas and gravies. I’ve used them to marinate meat, wrapped them in meat and cooked them alongside meat.
I told you…we’re addicted.

One of our greatest resources this Hatch chile season has been a fantastic cookbook I found at Half Price. I didn’t really discover this tome…I just recognized it as an amazing find. A’s parents (who lived in Santa Fe for a time) own this cookbook. A has referred to it as the ‘Bible of Green Chile Cooking’. I have to agree…it’s pretty damn great.
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It’s Hatch Green Chile time!

We love this time of year. Central Market (and sometimes even HEB) sets huge roasters out in front of their stores and roast the chiles on-site. It’s amazing to pull into the parking lot and get knocked over by the smell of spicy Hatch chiles.

The best part is seeing all of the creations they come up with…
They somehow combine green chiles with pretty much everything you can think of. Green chile hamburgers, green chile stuffed pork loin, green chile marinated chicken. There’s green chile bread and green chile scones. Green chile cheese and green chile pesto (also known as ‘crack’ in our house). Every year, they seem to come up with something new and inventive.

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