Summer is here and our bar-b-que is cleaned and ready to roll. I love summer grilling. Not just the food and the luscious flavors that come off the grill, but the whole idea of being outside. The bikes get used more, the art supplies emerge from the garage, and the use of “screens” becomes almost non-existent(the key word here is, “almost”).
Last weekend I had returned from the farmers market with enough produce to feed my entire neighborhood. As the red, green, purple, yellow, and orange vegetables stared me in the face, I instantly knew what I wanted to do.
I grabbed the eggplant, zucchini, purple onion, orange pepper, and a few tomatoes, sliced them and rubbed them with a bit of olive oil and red wine vinegar. Tossed them in a bowl with Celtic sea salt and some fresh ground pepper.
The grilled ratatouille was eaten, outside, as the rest of the meal was cooking on the grill. The kids took a few bites, shot a few baskets, then came back for more.
Sweet summer strawberries at their peak flavor combine with the buttery creaminess of ripe avocados to deliver one stunning salad. Just toss it all together with a simple lemon vinaigrette for a great seasonal salad.
I’m not a big raw bell pepper fan, but the smoky sweetness of a roasted pepper always appeals to me.
Nothing celebrates summer quite like a fresh pie. It's as if we're taking the best the season has to offer — vibrantly colored produce practically bursting with flavor and nurtured to ripeness under a hot sun — and wrapping that bounty in a tender, flaky crust. Like a gift.
It is only right that during International Pickle Week we should all eat at least one pickle. You're probably thinking, "National Pickle Week?" Yep. It's true. International Pickle Week was founded more than 60 years ago by the Pickle Packers International, a trade association serving the pickling industry.