My Favorite Summer Dinner

Sorry I've been "off the blog" for the last week. I moved on Saturday and then went to a 3 day team offsite so there haven't been any trips to the farmers market or any cooking happening. Never fear though - I did find my pots and pans in all the boxes so the cooking will resume soon.

Recently, I was musing about how much I love summer and the variety of vegetables it brings. My favorite summer dinners include simple preparations of vegetables straight from the farmers market bag - a cucumber/tomato salad, steamed okra, sauteed squash and a pot of cooked green beans or black-eyed peas. Finished off, of course, with a fresh Hill Country peach or a slice of watermelon.

These meals aren't fancy, but they are delicious and remind me of my Dad, the first person to take me to a farmers market. In Amarillo the market season is just a few months, but every Saturday in the summer, after we had breakfast with "the boys" (Dad's friends) at the bowling alley, we would go buy peaches and vegetables.

Dad could enjoy a fancy restaurant meal with the best of them and definitely appreciated the finer things in life, but he also taught me that simple preparations with moderate spicing bring out the best in fresh foods and help you appreciate them more. Honestly, is there anything better than a fresh cooked ear of summer corn with just a little butter, salt and pepper?

So, in honor of my dad and one of his favorite holidays, my 4th of July challenge to you is to follow the Bob Willis method of summer cooking. Go to the farmers market and buy a bag load of your favorites. Forget the recipes and exotic spices and cook some lovely fresh produce. Use butter, salt, pepper, maybe even a little cayenne (go crazy!), but keep it simple and clean.

And enjoy!