Vegetables

I love fresh produce. When the local farmer’s market is on, I try to go every week and I buy seasonal produce. I love fruits and vegetables. I really eat it all and believe eating a rainbow is the best way to stay healthy and keep it from getting old. Winter can be challenging with the lack of variety of produce in the stores but I keep it creative. My staple vegetables are:

• Salad Greens/Radicchio
• Bell Peppers, all colors
• Green Beans
• Cucumbers
• Fennel
• Ginger
• Shallots
• Green Onions
• Garlic
• Yellow/Red Onions
• Fresh herbs: Italian Parsley, Basil, Thyme, Cilantro, Mint, Dill, Sage and Tarragon

These are just staples that you would find in my refrigerator. I prefer to shop and buy seasonal vegetables and produce. When it comes to seasonal produce, these are the only vegetables I will buy when in season:

• Tomatoes
• Corn
• Little Gem lettuce
• Lemon Cucumbers
• Italian Red Sweet Peppers
• Padrones
• Zucchini
• Summer Squash
• Asparagus

In the summer we grow a lot of our own vegetables: a wide variety of sweet/hot peppers, cherry tomatoes, baby eggplant, herbs of all kinds, lemon cucumbers, and zucchini. I love the access to fresh vegetables and eating from local farms as well as my own garden.

Food tastes better when in season. I would be more apt to eat only in season produce but it can be challenging with children. My children are really good eaters and do enjoy vegetables but my daughter is not a fan of asparagus or brussels sprouts, but the rest of us love them. I do buy them occasionally and serve them.

One of my favorite all vegetable recipes is a Ratatouille. You can’t go wrong with the simplicity and the taste: bell peppers, eggplant, garlic, onions, and zucchini. I do make this spring through fall. It is a perfect side dish. It can be done on the stove or more rustic and less composed when done on the grill.