perfect summer meal

While at the beach, my parents and I put together this amazing dinner. I felt so healthy eating it. This photo shows our (local) cantelope, red pepper and avocado slices, strawberries, (local) tomatoes. (Plus our lemon slices.)

And yes, those tomato slices are from the delicious tomato mentioned in the previous post. We ate them sliced with a bit of oil and ground pepper. That is my absolute favorite preparation for just about anything.

I just loved the way that everything looked laid out on the table. That's actually only half our meal. We also had "Chicken Brushetta" which was basically what it sounds like. Brushetta topping on top of chicken. Yum!



My favorite part of the meal, however, was the asparagus. I love love love asparagus and my mom makes them roasted in the oven with olive oil, sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Often we'll roast them until the stalks get mushy then the tips get crispy. But these asparagus where so fresh and tasty that she just cooked them briefly and we ate them warm but still freshly crisp.

I am trying to eat more in season, but sadly this meal shows how poorly I have been doing. I keep blaming this on so many of my meals being planned by other people- by my mom or by the group house- but I know I need to be more responsible as well. For instance, my love of avocados? Yeah, not exactly grown in DC.

What are your favorite veggies and do you manage to eat them just when they are in season? What are your types for keeping up to date on local foods and growing seasons?