Summer Food

I have done a lot of traveling to assorted relatives houses this summer, and am always interested to see the difference in how people eat. 

One thing I was able to bring with me during all of my travels thus far is one of my favorite summer dishes: grilled asparagus. Like corn, asparagus cooks up beautifully on the grill, and I was able to find fresh, good asparagus everywhere I went. 

Asparagus even looks more delicious from having been grilled.  I tend to grill it for 5-8 minutes (with some olive oil and salt) and then hit it with a bunch of lemon juice and lemon zest. But it is just as good with rice-wine vinegar and olive oil, or your favorite vinagrette.

This brings me to my pet peeve of the month: many people skimp on the veggies, I think,  because they don't know how to season them. If the main salad dressing in your life is Ranch, it is hard to think of alternatives. And if your main exposure to green beans is the canned variety, it is hard to know where to go aside from the creamed mushroom soup. Cooked veggies are so good, if they are not too overcooked AND if they have some nice seasoning.