All year long we take zucchini for granted; it’s something we can always find in the supermarket. But during these summer months it’s local, along with so many other varieties of summer squash. You may be fed up with getting it every week in your CSA basket, though I will never tire of those colorful farmers market displays of different kinds of summer squash – yellow and green, mottled, light green and dark, round and pattypan, long and crookneck. 

Of all the vegetables that I work with, I think I cover no wider range of cuisines or types of dishes -- stir-fries and frittatas, salads and soups, pasta and baked goods -- than I do with ideas for summer squash. My natural tendency is to make Provençal gratins, either simple ones with a mix of summer vegetables like this one, or main dish gratins bound with eggs and cheese that begin with a simple summer squash sauté, with or without the peppers in the linked recipe. Last week I posted a zucchini parmesan on Recipes for Health that was also a gratin, but Italian in nature, a lightened up zucchini version of eggplant Parmesan.

Peach Pie

1 Whole Wheat Flakey Dessert Crust

3 to 4 pounds ripe peaches

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon butter, cut into pieces

1 tablespoon milk for glaze

1 tablespoon sugar for glaze

1. Very lightly butter a 9 1/2- or 10-inch pyrex pie dish. Divide dough into 2 unequal pieces, roll out large piece and line dish, with edge of dough overhanging by about 3/4 inch. Roll out other piece of dough into a circle and place on parchment paper. Chill both doughs for 1 hour.

2. Remove dough from refrigerator. Preheat oven to 425 degrees with rack in lower third. If desired, peel peaches by blanching for 15 seconds in boiling water and transferring to a bowl of cold water. Pit and cut in thick slices. Toss with lemon juice, brown sugar, vanilla, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Scrape into pie pan. Place top dough over peaches and join edges with overhang of bottom dough. Crimp together and pinch an attractive lip around the edge of the pan. 

3. With the tip of a paring knife make several slashes in the top of the dough. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Place on a baking sheet. To protect edges from over-browning, cover with strips of foil if desired.

4. Place in the oven and bake 20 minutes. Remove strips of foil, reduce heat to 375 and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes, or until bottom and top crusts are nicely browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a rack. Serve warm or room temperature, with vanilla ice cream if desired.

Yield: 1 pie, serving 8 to 10