It’s impossible to cover all the recipes that can be made with the abundance of produce on offer right now, but I’m doing my best to keep up as August wanes. This time around, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, onions, spinach, watermelon, herbs and blueberries are covered.

If you don’t have a zoodle-maker (spiralizer), a simple one can be found, so don’t spend your money on anything too fancy. Alternately, just slice the zucchini thinly and proceed. Keep the focus on the veggies and just use the sausage or any other meat you add as a condiment.

This quick pickled watermelon is reminiscent of the homemade watermelon pickles I ate in my grandmother’s kitchen when I was a child. This recipe produces a treat that works as an appetizer when served on wooden skewers or can be served as a side.

The galette can be made with any fruit and, if you’re in a hurry, a store-bought crust, or puff pastry sheet dusted with flour and rolled out works just fine. Keep it simple: a galette is supposed to be free-form, not fancy.

This dessert isn’t ultra-sweet — adjust the amount of sugar to your liking, and if you want to make it for breakfast, go for it!

Italian Sausages with Zoodles

4 Italian chicken sausages, cut into rounds

1 tablespoon olive oil

3/4 cup sweet onion, diced

3/4 cup red pepper, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

5 cups zucchini zoodles, patted dry

2 cups fresh tomatoes, diced

2 cups baby spinach, julienned

1/2 (packed) cup fresh basil, chopped

Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Parmesan cheese, grated

Warm the olive oil in the skillet on medium heat and brown the sausage rounds. Remove from pan and set aside. Add more oil if needed and sauté onion, pepper and garlic until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in zoodles and tomatoes. Continue to cook another 3 minutes, until zoodles are almost cooked to al dente stage and the tomatoes’ juices have cooked down a bit.

Add spinach and basil and continue to cook until wilted, covering the pan if needed. Return sausage to pan with vegetables to warm through, season, and sprinkle with cheese. Yield: 4 servings

Quick-Pickled Watermelon with Feta

1 pound watermelon, cut in bite-sized pieces

Salt

1 tablespoon honey

2 teaspoons white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh mint

4 ounces feta cheese, rinsed and cut into cubes

In a large bowl, gently toss watermelon pieces with 2 teaspoons salt. Allow to stand at room temperature for 45 minutes, rinse, then toss again. Allow to stand for 5 more minutes.

Stir honey, vinegar and mint together and pour over melon. Add feta and gently toss one more time. Yield: 4 servings

Blueberry Cream Cheese Galette

Crust

1½ cups flour

1 teaspoon sugar

Pinch salt

8 tablespoons cold butter

3 tablespoons ice water

Egg white for glazing

Cinnamon-sugar for sprinkling

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cut butter into chunks and add to the bowl, using a pastry cutter or your hands to work it into the flour until there are just a few pea-sized pieces of butter.

Add ice water, one tablespoon at a time, until a soft dough forms. Shape it into a flattened disc, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for one hour.

Filling

12 ounces fresh blueberries

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Combine blueberries, sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch, zest and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Stir and set aside.

Cream Cheese Layer

6 ounces cream cheese at room temperature

2 teaspoons sugar

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

In a separate small bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk and lemon juice until smooth.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly flour a clean work surface and roll the chilled dough into a 14-inch circle.

Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with well-buttered parchment paper. Transfer the dough to the lined pan. Spread cream cheese mixture over the center of the dough, leaving a 2-inch border around the outside edge. With a spatula, make a slight dip in the cream cheese to hold the berries.

Stir blueberries gently and spoon them, along with their juice, over the cream cheese. Fold the edges of dough over filling, leaving the center open.

Whisk egg white with a fork and brush onto the dough. Sprinkle crust and filling with cinnamon-sugar.

Bake the galette for 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving. Yield: 4 servings

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