Summer Bounty

Even though early August can feel like the most miserable time of the whole summer - they're not called the dog days for nothing, you know - there's one reason to smile right about now: fresh produce.

I'm not the only one who's going crazy over the tumbling mountains of tomatoes and neatly stacked rows of zucchini and the wooden boxes of eggplants.  The blogs are waxing lyrical and the farmers' markets are packed to bursting; even the countrywide drought can't put a damper on our spirits.

This is the time of year when you don't even really need recipes if you're cooking with the freshest ingredients.  Everything is just begging to be eaten in the simplest way possible.  So, on Saturday night, we sat down to a delicious family dinner on the porch, one that took 20 minutes to prepare.

We drizzled cherry tomatoes and zucchini with some olive oil and salt, then threw them on the grill. Once they were charred, we tossed them together in a big bowl of angel hair pasta splashed with a bit more olive oil and added chopped black olives, crumbled feta, and lemon thyme picked straight from the garden.  At the same time, we marinated cubes of lamb in pesto and then grilled them, too.  It was a perfect meal - quick and fresh and healthy and bursting with summer flavors.

I hope you had a lovely weekend also, dear readers, full of delicious food and good company!  Onward and upward to the week ahead.