Veggie Heaven

You may have guessed that I am in Veggie Heaven. In my humble opinion, this part of Long Island is the veggie and fruit basket of the world. Yesterday, I took mom for a Sunday drive which included stops at two fabulous roadside markets. The exciting part was that we arrived right as a truck came in from the field...LOADED with heirloom Roma tomatoes. People swarmed the truck and in a flash, about 50 25-pound boxes were sold...a whole truck bed picked clean. It was really fun to watch and be a part of.  Like a veggie "rush". Check out these pictures...

This last picture is the view from the farm itself. The fields butt right up to the salt water marshes and the combination of salt air and rich sandy soil make for incredible growing conditions. Everything in the pictures above, even the late season berries, came in straight from the fields...just picked moments before. Freshest of the fresh!

This morning, as luck would have it, this recipe arrived in my inbox from my pal HJB. He is a fabulous cook and so I am giving this to you right from the horse's mouth. This soup seems well worth the trip, a Monday drive, to find the best of the season's late tomatoes, beautiful peppers and fragrant basil and so delicious sounding that I am not going to wait for the picture. I am just going to go grab a soup pot and dig into this recipe.

HJB's Gumbo

2 quarts fresh tomatoes
8 hot banana peppers, chopped
1 sweet onion, sliced
6 bell peppers, sliced
2 pounds of sliced okra
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon seasoned salt
fresh basil and savory

Combine ingredients in a large stock pot and simmer over low heat...all day or as long as you have time for. HJB also uses the same ingredients to make shrimp or Italian hot sausage gumbo. YUM!