---
title: "Recipes for summer vacation"
url: "https://probablyworthsharing.com/newsletter/recipes-for-summer-vacation/"
author: "Marko Savic"
published: "2023-07-23"
type: "newsletter post"
description: "My vacation, not your vacation. You’re at home. I’m on vacation this week! I’m finally seeing my American friends I haven’t seen in (eighty) FOUR YEARS!…"
source: "https://probablyworthsharing.substack.com/p/recipes-for-summer-vacation"
---

# Recipes for summer vacation

*My vacation, not your vacation. You’re at home.*

*Probably Worth Sharing is a reader supported publication, please consider a free or paid subscription to support my work!*

# Hot Garlic Summer

I’m on vacation this week! I’m finally seeing my American friends I haven’t seen in (eighty) FOUR YEARS!

I stopped in Toronto and went for the best breakfast sandwich at [Gold Standard](https://www.instagram.com/goldstandardsandwich/?hl=en)! Then I went Disneyland! Next I’m going to [Arsicault](https://www.instagram.com/arsicaultbakery/) for San Francisco’s best croissant! I get to try the actual real [Bitchin’ Sauce](https://bitchinsauce.com)! And then I’m going to the newly opened [Kiln](https://www.instagram.com/kilnsf/) for a 20 course tasting menu!

It’s going to be great.

But that means I don’t have time to write you a story. Instead, to celebrate how amazing summer produce can be, you get **TWELVE** really good recipes for what’s in season right now. Why is it easier for me to write twelve recipes instead of a personal narrative? I don’t know. But it is.

So pick your favourite recipe, go to the farmer’s market, and embrace Hot Garlic Summer. You can get literally everything right now.

All these recipes are below:

1. Jin Sol’s Candied Garlic Scapes
2. Fennel and Orange Salad
3. Fennel Frond Pesto
4. Any Green Frittata with Crispy Garlic and Cheese
5. Zucchini, Lemon, and Ricotta Pizza
6. S-S-Summertime, Summertime Salads feat. Lemon, Garlic, and Herb Croutons
7. Sunset Salad Dressing
8. Charred Bok Choy with Bitchin’ Sauce
9. Peach Caprese Salad
10. Herby Bruschetta
11. Any Green Mac and Cheese
12. Chickpea Pasta with Feta and Dill

I’d love to hear what you’re making with all this great summer produce, or what you have too much of that you don’t know what to eat. Leave a comment and give me some ideas for what to cook when I’m back and have even more vegetables to eat.

# Recipes

---

## Jin Sol’s Candied Garlic Scapes

![](https://probablyworthsharing.com/images/newsletter/recipes-for-summer-vacation/764b4260-60b1-49cb-ac93-cfc773e00722-682b3b.jpeg)You *might* still be able to get garlic scapes this week, but save this one for next year if you can’t. A bunch of my friends are all getting the same CSA, so we get to share what we did with our produce each week. My friend Jin Sol Kim, founder of [Vital Little Plans candles](https://www.vitallittleplans.com/), told me about candied garlic scapes. They sound wild – a sweet-salty-garlic treat? Sign me up.

They taste amazing.

Her recipe was simple, “Cut them, cook them in oil, add soy sauce and sugar.” Jin Sol sent this “recipe” to a dozen people, who then bombarded her with questions, like – what size do you cut do them? How much soy sauce? How long does it cook?

So I made the recipe a few times to translate her chaos into something you can repeat at home – and repeat it you will, because candied garlic scapes are delicious.

### Ingredients:

* 10 garlic scapes, cut into 1” pieces
* 1 tbsp water
* 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
* 2 tbsp light soy sauce
* 1 tbsp cane sugar
* 1 tbsp sesame seeds

### Method:

Cut the garlic scapes into 1” long pieces.

Place a medium saucepan on medium heat and add the cut garlic scapes and water. Cover with a lid and cook for 10 minutes until the garlic scapes are softened.

Add the sesame oil, soy sauce, and cane sugar. Stir to coat. Cook for 3–5 minutes until the soy sauce is thickened and the sugar is beginning to caramelize.

Add the sesame seeds and cook for another 30–60 seconds until the sesame seeds begin to take on some colour.

**Serving**

Eat warm as a side dish. Make a rice bowl with candied scapes and a fried egg. Allow to cool and use as a topper for salads. Eat it straight from the bowl as a TV snack. This recipe is addictive. You’re going to be very sad garlic scape season is over.

---

## Fennel and Orange Salad

![](https://probablyworthsharing.com/images/newsletter/recipes-for-summer-vacation/5758df9e-cfec-48fe-8976-c9eef83771c4-5934f6.jpeg)This is a sample salad that looks very fancy but takes five minutes to make. Impress your friends, or yourself. The citrus and herbs are a great contrast to the crunchy fennel. It’s bright and fun like summer should be. I ate the whole thing by myself for dinner.

### Ingredients:

* 1 fennel bulb
* 1 orange, zest and flesh
* 10 sprigs of parsley or mint
* 1 lemon, juiced
* 2 tbsp olive oil
* Salt and pepper

### Method:

Thinly slice the fennel bulb (save the fronds to make pesto). Break up the pieces and place in a bowl.

Zest the orange into the bowl, then peel it and break up the orange slices into the bowl.

Finely chop the parsley. Add the olive oil, lemon juice, 1 tsp of salt, and pepper to taste.

Toss everything together and serve.

---

## Fennel Frond Pesto

I made vegan fennel frond pesto with my fennel from Lucky Bug last week. It's a really easy recipe if you have a food processor or a blender.

Fennel fronds taste lightly licorice-y, gentler than the fennel bulb, with a green vegetable taste. It's very fresh and light and goes with almost anything.

### Ingredients:

* 75g | 1/2 cup toasted walnuts
* 75-100g (1 fennel) fennel fronds, stems optional
* 120ml | 1/2 cup olive oil
* 2–3 cloves of garlic, peeled
* 3 tbsp lemon juice (1 lemon)
* 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

The nutritional yeast has a strong cheesy flavour that's a great vegan replacement for Parmesan in a recipe like pesto. You can leave it out. You can use grated Parm. Follow your heart.

### Method:

Add everything to the food processor (or blender) and run for 1–2 minutes, until very smooth.

Keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.

**How to use it:**
You can use this as a pasta sauce or pizza sauce base, as you would a basil pesto. It's a great dip with sourdough crackers. I turned mine into a salad dressing by thinning it out with more lemon juice (for a salad dressing you want the extra lemon juice). This was really tasty and perfect with the beautiful lettuce greens from Lucky Bug.

For a non-vegan version, check out my [carrot top pesto](https://probablyworthsharing.com/recipes/carrot-top-pesto) recipe from last summer.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SjwXj4nBfY

---

## Any Green Frittata with Crispy Garlic

I asked Aliyah, owner and farmer of Lucky Bug, to give me the weird produce. Who wants standard kale when you can have blue chard? It was delightfully tender and tasty and weird.

I have so many greens to use, and I’m still really focused on eating enough protein (it really works, I’ve lost 40lbs). Enter the frittata. You can make a frittata in 20 minutes. You can use any green or herb that you have. You can add one or two bunches in.

It’s low effort. It’s high protein. It’s tasty.

Everybody wins.

The only caveat is you need a really good non-stick pan that can go in the oven, or a well seasoned cast iron or carbon steel skillet. If you don’t have one of these you can start cooking in a stainless steel pan then bake the frittata in a glass pie plate (you can even add a parchment round as an insurance policy).

### Ingredients:

* 1 bunch of greens, such as kale, chard, spinach, or beet greens
* 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
* 2 tbsp olive oil
* 8 eggs
* 100g cheese, I used Gruyère
* Salt
* Pepper

### Method:

**Pre-heat your oven:** Pre-heat your oven to 325°F.

**Crisp the garlic:** Set a non-stick skillet on medium-high heat, add the olive oil, and when hot (oil is shimmering), add the garlic slices and cook for 1 minute until golden. Try not to let it burn like I did (I was taking photos) because it will get very bitter.

**Wilt the greens:** Add the greens to the pan and cook, stirring often, until wilted and soft.

**Whisk the eggs:** Beat the eggs together with 1 tsp salt and a generous amount of black pepper. For a silky smooth texture, blend them in a blender.

**Transfer to the oven:** If you’re using a non-stick pan, add the eggs to the pan, stir, add the cheese, and transfer to the oven for 12–15 minutes. Bake until the centre is just set (barely there jiggle).

If you’re using a glass pie plate, transfer the greens to the bowl with the eggs and cheese, and stir trying to break up any big clumps of greens. It will take slightly longer to bake as the glass plate needs to heat up, so check around 15 minutes but it could take 20.

Try not to overbake as the eggs will become rubbery.

**Flip out:** Allow to cool for 1–2 mintues, this will help the proteins firm up so you’ll reduce the risk of it breaking in half. Use a silicone spatula to gently release the edges of the frittata. Place a large dinner plate on your pan, then using a towel to hold the very hot pan with one hand, and the bottom of the plate with the other, and flip with the courage of your convictions.

Remove the pan and hopefully you get a clean release for your frittata.

Slice and serve. It’s great with salad. It’s great cold from the fridge in the middle of the night in your snacking cape.

---

![](https://probablyworthsharing.com/images/newsletter/recipes-for-summer-vacation/414f1d70-7f40-496b-9807-69cea035e184-aec19f.jpeg)## Zucchini & Lemon Pizza

I am a huge fan of pizza, I think pizza is one my one true love. My second love is using local, seasonal produce to drive the type of cooking that I make.

My favourite pizza to make in the Summer uses one of the most bountiful produce items: zucchini. This pizza has thin, slices of zucchini, slices of lemon, tender home made ricotta, thyme, and a garlicky tomato sauce.

I made this with sourdough crust in my Gozney Dome pizza oven (not sponsored) but you can make this with any crust in any oven by following this guide.

Ingredients:

* 255g pizza dough (makes a 12" pizza, [my recipe](https://probablyworthsharing.substack.com/i/96791548/markos-pizza-dough))
* 1/4 cup of your favourite pizza sauce ([my recipe](https://probablyworthsharing.substack.com/i/96791548/markos-pizza-sauce))
* 1/4 cup ricotta (make your own, [recipe on my YouTube channel](https://youtu.be/G6-k5f1J1vY) – it's easy!)
* 1 zucchini, thinly sliced
* 1 lemon, thinly sliced
* 1 tbsp thyme
* 1 tbsp olive oil
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 tsp black pepper

Method:

Wash your zucchini well since the peel is staying on. Thinly slice your zucchini. In a medium bowl, add your sliced zucchini, salt, pepper, olive oil, and thyme. Set aside for at least 10 minutes. The salt will pull a lot of water out of the zucchini.

Slice your lemon very thinly, as thin as humanly possible. Pop out any seeds that remain.

Shape your pizza, add the tomato sauce, then your thinly sliced lemons, then zucchini (leaving any extra water behind in the bowl), then add drops of ricotta

[Bake however your pizza oven wants you to bake it](https://probablyworthsharing.substack.com/i/96791548/how-to-bake-pizza-at-home). Drizzle with fresh olive oil and/or hot honey before serving.

---

## Summertime Salads (feat. Lemon, Garlic, and Herb Croutons)

*Crisp me hard before you go*

*Summertime salads*

*I just wanted you to know*

*That baby, you lettuce*

![](https://probablyworthsharing.com/images/newsletter/recipes-for-summer-vacation/98cfe96d-e85b-46a2-a413-4ee77490f7a7-c5e245.jpeg)\*These are very large croutons because I was multi-tasking and not thinking, I would suggest making your croutons smaller. But also they were delicious, so does it matter? It does not.\*

I like to eat a salad on my porch every night through the summer. The greens are crisp, full of flavour, and delightful. It’s light and refreshing against the oppressive heat. And I get to watch the sunset.

For me, the key to a good salad is a sharp dressing, lots of herbs (Parsley! Dill! Mint!), and something crunchy (Sunflower seeds! Walnuts! Croutons! Savoury granola!). My favourite way to add crunch is to make garlic and lemon croutons. They're really easy to make and a great way to use up extra bread.

## Lemon, Garlic, and Herb Croutons

### Ingredients:

* 1/2 loaf sourdough bread or pan di mie
* Zest of 1 lemon
* 1 garlic clove, grated
* 2 tbsp olive oil
* 1 tbsp of chopped herbs, whatever came in your CSA – I used savoury here, but thyme, parsley, dill, rosemary, chives, or sage would all work

### Method:

Normally I would bake these at 475°F for 7-10 minutes until golden brown and crispy, but it's summertime, and no one wants the oven on for that long. A shortcut is to use your broiler. So alternatively, you can set a rack on the top shelf of your oven and turn on the broiler.

Cut your bread into 1" cubes, or tear it, it all depends on what effort you want to put in.

In a small bowl, add 2 tbsp olive oil, zest of 1 lemon, 1 clove grated garlic, and your herbs. You want to mix this before adding to the bread so you get an even distribution of the garlic.

Pour olive oil mix onto bread and toss to coat.

Bake until golden brown. Allow to cool before adding to salad.

These don't store very well, as they'll absorb humidity in your house. If you have leftovers, re-heat them in the oven again until crisp.

## Sunset Salad Dressing

When you make this salad dressing it looks like a sunset, in the way the colours stack together before it gets shaken together and turns yellow. It’s a simple, bright salad dressing. You probably have everything you need for it.

### Ingredients:

* 6 tbsp olive oil
* 2 tbsp [chive blossom vinegar](https://probablyworthsharing.com/recipes/chive-blossom-vinegar) or red wine vinegar
* 1 tsp mustard
* 1 tsp maple syrup (or honey or sugar)
* 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced (grated/pressed for a stronger bite)
* 1 tsp salt
* Black pepper to taste

### Method:

Put everything into a jar with a lid and shake it like a Polaroid picture.

Store in the fridge for up to a week. Don’t store raw garlic in oil at room temperature.

---

![](https://probablyworthsharing.com/images/newsletter/recipes-for-summer-vacation/771b119c-833c-486e-96aa-9704ff9811d0-9def72.jpeg)## Charred Bok Choy with Bitchin’ Sauce

Bok choy can be the star of its own dish if you treat it right. I seared one side really hard on high heat in sesame oil, until it was dark and crisp – it gets very sweet when charred. I added some black sesame seeds before taking it off the heat. It's topped with chopped green onion and the [vegan Bitchin' Sauce dupe recipe from The Faux Martha](https://www.thefauxmartha.com/bitchin-sauce/).

I haven’t had the real Bitchin’ Sauce to compare, but my friend Janice promises I will get to try it this week while I’m in San Francisco. She likes the flavour with charred peppers and pumpkin seeds, so stay tuned for my attempt to re-create it.

### Ingredients:

* 2 medium bok choy
* 2 tbsp olive oil
* 1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
* 1 tbsp sesame seeds (I used black sesame)
* [Bitchin’ Sauce](https://www.thefauxmartha.com/bitchin-sauce/) (or any sauce you like)
* 1 green onion, thinly sliced

### Method:

**Prep your bok choy:** Bok choy can hold onto a lot of dirt. I cut the hard stem off the bottom, then sliced the bok choy in half, lengthwise. Some of the leaves will fall apart. It’s fine, you’re fine. Place into a large bowl of cool, clean water, swish around, and allow the dirt to fall to the bottom.

Dry the bok choy on a kitchen towel. It’s very important it’s dry.

**Sear the bok choy:** Set a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and heat until you just see a whisp of smoke. You want it very hot.

Place the bok choy cut side down in the pan and leave it. Ignore it. Pretend you got in a fight and it’s in a time-out. After 3–4 minutes it will look wilted and the side touching the pan will have some char on it.

Reduce the heat to medium, flip the bok choy, and add the garlic. After 30 seconds add the sesame seeds. Stir, cooking for another minute, until the sesame seeds are toasted and fragrant.

Serve topped with Bitchin’ Sauce and green onions.

---

## Peach Caprese Salad

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAl9lOeOZJY

Peaches and tomatoes are ripe at the same time – and their flavours pair perfectly. This dish is bright, tangy, sweet, creamy, and herby. It comes together in minutes with no cooking, which is perfect for summer. You can make a single plate for lunch or a large platter for a summer BBQ. It’s a great, savoury way to enjoy peach season before its gone.

Watch the video for my pro-tips on how to slice peaches (spoiler: slice around the equator first, then twist apart like an Oreo.)

### Ingredients:

* 500g stone fruit, such as peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines, or cherries, cut into 1/4” thick slices
* 500g tomatoes, cut into 1/4” thick slices
* 250g fresh cheese, such as fresh mozzarella or bocconcini (sliced), burrata or ricotta (in bite size dollops)
* 25g basil, mint, or parsley, cut into ribbons
* 45ml olive oil (3 tbsp)
* 15ml balsamic vinegar (1 tbsp)

### Method:

**Slice the peaches:** For peaches, using a paring knife, slice around the equator of the peach, then twist in half like an Oreo to separate the two halves from the pit. For the half with the pit, follow the natural line in the peach to slice in half again. Twist again, then remove the peach pit. Slice into 1/4” thick slices. See YouTube video for demonstration.

For smaller stone fruit, like cherries and plums, cut in half and remove the pit

**Slice the tomatoes:** For medium and large tomatoes, use a serrated knife to slice into 1/4” thick slices. For cherry tomatoes, use a serrated knife to cut in half.

**Assemble the salad:**

Use as 12” plate for serving platter for assembly, or assembly on individual plates.

* Reserve a few very nice tomatoes and peaches for the final presentation
* Using half your tomatoes, create an even layer on your serving dish
* Using half your peaches, create an even layer on top of the tomatoes
* Using half your burrata, add dollops of cheese between the tomatoes and peaches
* Sprinkle with salt
* Sprinkle with basil
* Repeat for a second layer
* Top with olive oil and balsamic
* Add a few very nice tomatoes and peaches on top

---

## Herby Bruschetta

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MChgL7Xu0vU

Tomatoes and garlic are about to show up everywhere and take over your life, your heart, and your Instagram feed. Please participate in Hot Tomato Summer with this recipe I published last year for herby bruschetta.

It’s bright, it’s fun, it’s easy. Please watch my YouTube video to learn how to slice tomatoes without cutting off your hands (spoiler: use a bread knife).

### Ingredients:

* 1 baguette, ciabatta, or half a loaf of sourdough
* 1kg tomatoes, I prefer heirlooms, but this works with any kind of tomato
* 1-3 cloves of garlic, look for low heat heirloom varieties like Music garlic
* 50g fresh tender herbs, weighed with stems on, such as basil, mint, parsley, thyme, oregano, or tarragon (1/2 cup after chopping)
* 60g good olive oil (4 tbsp) for tomato mix and 30g (2 tbsp) for baguette
* 30g lemon juice or white wine vinegar  (1 lemon / 2 tbsp)
* 5g salt (0.5% of the tomato weight, about 1 teaspoon)
* Pepper to taste

### Method:

**Make the bruschetta**

In a medium bowl, mix all of the ingredients (except the bread):

* Cut the tomatoes in 1/4” pieces, if your tomatoes are very watery inside you can either remove the insides or allow the juice to strain before proceeding
* Grate the garlic with a microplane or finely chop it; if you’re using a microplane you don’t even need to peel it
* Finely chop the herbs, you want the pieces smaller than the tomatoes
* Add the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste

Taste and adjust seasoning

* Bland or bitter: more lemon or salt
* Sour: more olive oil
* Salty: more olive oil or a pinch of sugar
* Heat: more lemon or let it sit

Allow this to sit at room temperature for up to 3 hours. Please don’t put tomatoes in the fridge, it changes the texture.

**Turn the baguette into crostini**

Cut the baguette into 3” long segments

Cut each segment lengthwise in half, like you are making a sandwich

If you plan to make the bruschetta in advance, such as taking it to a BBQ, I would recommend following the instructions for olive oil toast – the bread will stay crispy while in storage or after sitting in the bruschetta juices

Alternatively, pre-heat your oven to 475°F. Place the baguette pieces cut side up on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and bake for 5 minutes or until the pieces are toasted with a bit of char at the edges.

**Assemble**

Place the crostini on your serving platter.

Add around 2 spoons of bruschetta mix onto each piece, it really depends on the size of your bread.

**Notes:**

If you don’t like the heat from raw garlic you can briefly cook it in the olive oil to reduce the bite.

If you like the heat and want more of it, you can add in a finely diced shallot to add heat without overpowering the dish with garlic flavour.

The olive oil is almost 10% of the recipe by weight, so if you are saving a good olive oil, this is a great application of it.

---

## Any Green Mac and Cheese

![](https://probablyworthsharing.com/images/newsletter/recipes-for-summer-vacation/80c88af8-d57b-44f1-927b-9ebec47b17e7-9903db.jpeg)\*I promise there are green vegetables in here, they’re just buried underneath a creamy, cheesy surface. This is a great way to trick children into eating vegetables. If they pick them out, blend the vegetables to make a green cheese sauce!\*

With my Invisalign\* (\*Spark Aligners), I have to change to a new tray every week – the equivalent of having your braces tightened. Each new tray moves your teeth slightly more. It doesn’t hurt, per se, it feels like a bit of pressure when you put the new tray in.

I describe it as a bunch of tiny elves pulling on your teeth, screaming the whole time.

The problem is that I don’t know how to eat on Tuesdays.

I change my trays on Monday night, and on Tuesday I can’t eat anything that requires any force. Steamed broccoli is too much pressure for my sensitive little teeth, so I’m building up my repertoire of soft foods. Jin Sol made me soups, but I ate all of those.

This week I had too many vegetables and no ability to chew them. So I did what any responsible adult would do and I put them into mac and cheese. This is a really great way to use up extra herbs and greens and a way to feel good about eating mac and cheese.

**Béchamel**

* 45g | 3 tbsp butter
* 60g | 1/2 cup flour
* 6 cups milk (whole milk is ideal)
* 115g | 4oz parmesan cheese
* 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
* 1 tsp sweet paprika
* Salt and pepper

**Greens – choose one:**

* 1 head of broccoli or cauliflower

*OR*

* 1 bunch of spinach, chard, kale, or beet greens
* 1 clove of garlic thinly sliced
* 2 tbsp olive oil

*OR*

* 1 cup of frozen peas or edamame

*AND/OR*

* 1 bunch of tender herbs, like garlic chives
* 1 clove of garlic, thinly sliced

**Cheese sauce & assembly**

* Béchamel (1,500ml | 6 cups)
* 600g | 21oz  cheese (6 cups grated)
* Salt and pepper to taste
* Box of shell pasta
* **Toppings**
* Grated Parmesan cheese
* Black pepper
* Breadcrumbs
* Thinly sliced green onions

### Method:

**Make roux**

In a 3-quart or larger pot, on medium heat, melt the butter until it foams. Add in the flour and using a whisk mix it together. Cook for 2-3 minutes, whisking constantly, until it smells nutty.

**Add the milk slowly:**

Add in the milk in batches. If you add all of the milk it will be lumpy and difficult to work with. Start with 2–3 tablespoons of milk. Instantly you’ll see it become a very thick paste. Keep adding a few tablespoons of milk at a time and whisking until incorporated before adding more milk. It will take adding at least 2 cups of milk this way to get a thin enough consistency, then you can add the rest all at once.

Increase heat to medium-high, whisking constantly. You may want to use a spatula to scrape the bottom/sides. Be careful that the milk doesn’t scald to the bottom of the pot, if it does do not scrape it. You must cook this until you see bubbles, that indicates the mixture has reached 212°F and the flour will be cooked. If you don’t get to bubbles it will taste starchy.

Remove from the heat, add the nutmeg, paprika, and cheese. Taste, then add salt and pepper to taste.

**Choose your green adventure:**

* Broccoli or cauliflower: Break into bit-sized florets, then steam or boil until tender. Drain and add to the cheese sauce.
* Spinach, kale, chard, or beet greens: Tear into bite sized pieces. Heat a pan on medium-high heat. Add 2tbsp olive oil or butter. Add 1 clove of garlic, sliced, and cook until lightly golden – around 1 minute. Add the greens and cook for 1–2 minutes more until wilted. Add to the cheese sauce.
* Peas and edamame: I always have peas or edamame in my freezer, they’re very high protein and great in any pasta. Boil for 1 minute until warm, then drain and add to the cheese sauce.
* Herbs: Chop a bunch of parsley or dill, use the leaves from savoury or thyme, fry sage in brown butter and crumble it in, or cut a bunch of garlic chives in with scissors.

Keep the cheese sauce warm on the stove.

**Boil your pasta:** Use a large pot to boil the pasta in heavily salted water (1/4 cup!). Follow the cook time on the box. When the pasta is al dente, drain it and then add both the pasta and cheese sauce into the larger pot. Fold to combine.

**Serve:** Ladle into bowls and  top with some fresh grated parmesan and black pepper.

---

## Chickpea Pasta with Feta & Dill

![](https://probablyworthsharing.com/images/newsletter/recipes-for-summer-vacation/1e8fec45-f7da-4f46-8728-c7cce023f836-bc9dc6.jpeg)Last week, to use up my Lucky Bug CSA kale, I made this variation of my [Fresh out of Fucks Pasta](https://probablyworthsharing.com/newsletter/crispy-chickpea-prosciutto-and-parm/) with garlic, kale, feta, dill, and crispy chickpeas.

You can make this with any green that wilts – like spinach, kale, chard, or beet greens. If you don’t like dill, use parsley. If you don’t like feta, use burrata. Recipes are ideas, so take what you like and ignore the rest.

This was extremely delicious and I’m still thinking about it.

### Ingredients:

**Crispy Chickpeas**

* 1 can of chickpeas
* 2 tbsp olive oil
* 2 tsp sweet paprika (hot or smoked paprika work great too)
* 1 tbsp garlic powder (not garlic salt! not fresh garlic! (it will burn!))
* 1 tsp salt
* Freshly ground black pepper
* Optional chili flakes for heat

**Pasta**

* 1 bunch of kale, stems removed, ripped into bite size pieces
* 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
* 2 tbsp olive oil
* 100g feta cheese, crumbled
* 50g dill, finely chopped
* 300g dried pasta
* Salt
* Pepper
* Freshly squeezed lemon juice (optional)

### Method:

Make the crispy chickpeas. Pre-heat your oven to 425°F. Drain the chickpeas and add them to a medium bowl. Add the olive oil, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Use a spoon to toss everything to combine and pour onto a baking sheet. Bake for 25–30 minutes until browned and crispy. Shake the baking sheet halfway through.

Bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil and start cooking your pasta per the directions on the box. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water.

Heat a 10" or 12" frying pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil, then add the garlic, cooking for 2 minutes, stirring often, until golden. Add the kale and cook until wilted, 1–2 minutes. Add half the feta and stir until melted and combined into the greens. Add half the chickpeas and stir to combine.

Add the pasta to the greens and chickpeas. Add the pasta water to help thin and emulsify the sauce. Add the dill and remove from the heat.

Serve topped with the remaining crispy chickpeas and crumbled feta.

---

What are you making with your CSA? Leave a note in the comments. And if you liked the post, put a heart on it.

*If you liked it then you should’ve put a heart on it…*

*Oh Oh Oh… Oh Oh Oh Oh…*