There are so many ways to get access to some of the spectacular foods in season at the peak of summer, which is right now. Maybe you're lucky enough to be able to walk into your garden and pick what you need for dinner. Maybe tonight's the night you pick up your CSA share to bring home and unpack. Or maybe you'll visit a local farmer's market this week or weekend (see photo above).
If there ever was a season to change up the shopping routine, this is definitely it. I cook and eat seasonally - it's how I was raised - so this time of year I skip the usual suspects that are "year round" foods - the bananas, the spinach, the celery and the waxy cucumbers. This is the season when I do the bulk of my "shopping" from my CSA share, the farmer's market and my little herb garden.
That means right now I am eating Colorado peaches, loving the white nectarines and the apricots, and making a weekly splurge on a carton of fresh blueberries. I can't get enough of the perfectly ripe tomatoes - my latest favorites are Sungold cherry tomatoes - and I love the thin skinned "pickling" cucumbers, which taste so much more like a cucumber than those boomerangs from Mexico ever will. I get the freshest sweet corn I can find at the Saturday market - picked that same morning - and I eat it until I'm totally sick of it. But I'm not there yet.
The best of the season is still rolling in and I'll happily avoid the grocery store as long as possible, only stopping for fruit and extras when needed. While I can, I'll be grilling eggplant and peppers; throwing kale, chard, cukes, cabbage and mint into my green juices, and eating fruit so good I'll want to cry. I'm freezing sweet corn and soup stock for winter, and brining pickles to eat daily from the crock. In a few weeks it will be time to can tomato sauce, make pesto and dry herbs. (I'll be teaching a two-part Preserving, Canning and Freezing class next month if you've been wanting to try any of this).

So how will you enjoy these wonderful foods?


Summer Scramble
2 teaspoons coconut oil, butter or olive oil
3 organic eggs
1/2 small red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1-2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
big handful kale, stems removed and roughly chopped
1 little yellow summer squash, halved lengthwise and sliced into half-moons
8 cherry tomatoes, halved
several leaves of fresh basil, roughly chopped
small handful fresh parsley, roughly chopped
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 oz chevre, crumbled into large (1/2") pieces (preferably from Singing Hills Goat Dairy)
Heat a large, heavy skillet or cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add oil, onions, garlic, kale and squash when warm and sauté until golden, about 4 minutes. Crack eggs over kale mixture and let cook for a few minutes, then toss to scramble. Season with salt and turn eggs one more time. Remove to two plates, season with pepper, sprinkle with chopped tomatoes and herbs and dot with chevre. (Cheese is optional - there is really a ton of flavor in here already). Serve immediately.

Serves 2