We had planned to go up to the mountains and hike this weekend but the weather report wasn't wrong when it forecasted heavy rain and thunder. Although we had already  made reservations at a hotel we decided to cancel at last minute. It wasn't worth it to go and get soaked, maybe be sick the coming week and just sit around and watch the rain. We could watch the rain at home instead. After changing the hiking plans we decided to go on a day trip to Bern instead since there was an exhibit on Celtic Art I thought would be interesting to see and that had gotten very good reviews. It was indeed spectacular and amazing.

But if the weather isn't good and I can't enjoy summer outside, I had to at least bring in the tastes of summer. The past two weeks I've been eating cherries by the kilo as my husband knows how much I love them, and he'll bring a kilo carton of cherries home once or twice a week. But not only cherries are the taste of summer, zucchini is too. Being lucky enough to live near a small farm stand where I can buy fresh vegetables any time of day, I saw that the stand had fresh yellow and green zucchini. So I started by grilling and then marinating them. This can be served alongside fish or meat or be a part of a vegetarian meal. I served it as an appetizer.

Grilled and Marinated Zucchini

2 zucchini, sliced lengthwise

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tsp capers, chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 Tbs good quality balsamic vinegar

pinch of fleur de sel

olive oil

Lightly brush both sides of the zucchini with olive oil. Grill the slices either in a grill pan or on the grill until tender. Whisk the olive oil, capers and garlic in a small bowl. Place the hot zucchini in a large bowl and pour the olive oil mixture over the zucchini. Turn to coat. Let the zucchini marinate for 15 minutes. Add the vinegar and the pinch of salt. Mix and let it sit for at least another 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

After the zucchini, I decided stuffed peppers would be nice. But I wanted a new take on stuffed peppers. A rice and cheese filling wasn't what I wanted. So I turned to another summer vegetable: eggplant.

Stuffed Peppers

4 bell peppers

olive oil

2 small eggplants

a large pinch of dried, crushed chili

1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

2 cloves garlic, sliced

juice of half a lemon

200 g feta, crumbled

Cut the peppers in half and discard seeds and stalks. Place on a baking sheet and roast at 200°C until soft, about 45 min. Turn once.

While the peppers are roasting, make the filling. Cut the eggplant into cubes and heat some oil in a heavy skillet. Sauté until golden. You may need to add oil as you sauté, but don't add too much as eggplants absorb a lot and they can turn greasy. Turn down the heat and cook until soft. Add the chili, garlic, and walnuts. Stir and cook for a few more minutes. Add the lemon juice and stir for a minute. Remove the mixture from the heat and let it cool slightly before adding the feta. If you add the cheese at once it will start to melt. Fill the peppers with the mixture and serve.

Note: I served this as a main, giving each person one stuffed pepper. Serve with a green salad and some crusty bread. It can also be served as an appetizer, giving each person only half a pepper.

And what was dessert, you may ask. Simple and oh so good. Nectarine crumble. I like to prepare a batch of crumble topping and keep it in the freezer to use as I need it. In summer fruit can suddenly become very ripe and sometimes it's a lot at once. The best way to use it is to make a crumble. I cut one nectarine per person into ramekins and topped them with the crumble. I put the ramekins in the oven and baked then until the topping was golden and the fruit bubbling. I didn't add any sugar to the fruit.

Crumble Topping

100 g butter

80 g raw sugar

100 g flour

120 g almond flour (made by grinding almonds finely)

80 g sliced or roughly chopped almonds

Mix together until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.