How does your summer garden grow? We want to know

The Voice & Herald wants to applaud the fruits (and vegetables) of your labors.

Please send us photos of your tempting tomatoes, superior squash, perfect peppers, rosy radishes and other products of your gardens, or a photo of your garden. (Note: we do not accept photos from your local farmer’s market.) We would also love to have a recipe for a dish made from your fruit or veggie.

In the meantime, here are a few to get you started.

Zucchini bread

(They’ll never know there’s a vegetable in there. It’s more like a cake.)

Grease and flour two 5x9 inch loaf pans, three foil loaf pans 4x8, or a bundt pan. Heat oven to 350 F.

Ingredients:

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups coarsely grated raw zucchini (just wash well, don’t bother to peel)

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp allspice

1 cup coarsely chopped nuts

Method:

Beat eggs and beat in sugar until light in color. Stir in oil, zucchini and vanilla. Sift dry ingredients together and blend into egg mixture. Stir in nuts.

Divide into pans and bake 1 to 1 1/4 hours, depending on size of pans and your oven, until a tester or toothpick comes out clean. Cool for about five minutes and turn out onto a rack.

When cool, sift some confectioner’s sugar over top or make a cream-cheese frosting.

Bruschetta

(Italians pronounce it Brus-ketta.) This is a delicious lunch or appetizer; it tastes like summer.

Ingredients:

Quantities are up to the cook, depending on number of people to be served.

A loaf of very crusty Tuscan bread, sliced about 5/8 inch thick. (I much prefer bread sliced by hand with a knife, not machine-sliced.)

Ripe red tomatoes

Fresh basil leaves

Extra-virgin olive oil

Well-aged balsamic vinegar

Whole garlic cloves, peeled

Method:

Slice the bread and toast it light to medium brown. (If doing a lot you can toast it in the oven.) Let it sit in turned-off oven or toaster for 10 or 15 minutes to become crisp.

Cut tomatoes into approximately 1/2-inch dice. Put into a bowl. Salt and pepper lightly if desired.

Shred and chop basil leaves.

Rub one side of each piece of toast with a garlic clove and brush lightly with olive oil.

Place toast slices on plates or a platter. Pile each with diced tomatoes, sprinkle with basil, drizzle with olive oil and a little balsamic vinegar. Serve at once.

Note: You can make this fancier by adding well-rinsed capers or chopped olives to the tomatoes, in which case do not salt.

Roasted red pepper pesto

This delectable recipe came, years ago, from the Blue Strawberry restaurant in Portsmouth, N.H. via a Channel 2 cookbook. It freezes nicely.

Ingredients:

4 medium to large sweet red peppers, roasted with blackened skins left on for a smoky flavor (See below)

4 cloves garlic, peeled and cut-up

1/4 cup (or a little more as needed) extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Method:

Cut red peppers in half the long way, remove seeds and membrane, cut off ends so you can flatten them. Place on a cookie sheet, skin side up, flatten with the heel of your hand, and place under a broiler until well-blackened. You can also roast them on a grill, skin side down. Put peppers, garlic and oil in a food processor. Pulse until finely ground. Transfer to a bowl and stir in cheese.

Makes about 2 cups.

Wonderful on pasta or as an alternate bruschetta topping. Without the cheese it’s great on fish or chicken.