You know it’s fall by the way the clouds change shape and the air feels more crisp and cool in the evenings. Fall means pumpkins, colorful leaves, and delicious end of summer produce at the local farmers market. If you have a garden (we’ve got a modest one ourselves) you’ll be picking some of your most delicious veggies and fruits of the season. This past spring we planted a garden and we are now enjoying the final pickings. Zucchini, onions, green beans, and spinach….eventually we’ll have some pumpkin, butternut squash, and cucumbers. Nearby there are blackberry bushes and the blackberries are starting to become nice and ripe! I love gardening…it’s the one thing I miss dearly when winter sets in. No sooner the snow flies I am already anxiously waiting for spring again.
Dusty, Rowan and I enjoyed a bountiful dinner full of some delicious in-season produce. The flavors that came out in everything was amazing. I’ve been doing my best to incorporate more fruits and veggies into our diet…I didn’t realize how easy it really was to do so – there are so many delicious ways to eat vegetables. On this particular evening, we had white fish baked in a dill and butter sauce, heirloom tomatoes with greens and feta – drizzled with balsamic, roasted whole carrots, kale chips, zucchini and onions, rustic bread, and a delicious blackberry cobbler for dessert. It was very tasty!
This spring I also had planted a handful of wildflower seeds and didn’t have a whole lot to show for my efforts – I did, however, manage to pull together a few sunflowers, cosmos and some filler greens and cute wildflowers to create a nice little bouquet to adorn the middle of our table. Hoping my flower growing attempt is better next year!
Scroll down for some recipe tips on how I cooked our veggies!
Whole Roasted Carrots:
– Lay on a sheet pan, toss with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt, garlic powder, pepper and roast at 425 in your oven until you can stab them with a fork (may take 30-40 minutes)
(side note) I scored this rustic picnic table for $25 from an online Facebook classifieds group for our area – (steal!)
Simple & Fresh Heirloom Tomato and Yellow Watermelon Salad:
– Adorn plate with greens, slice an heirloom tomato, sprinkle feta cheese, drizzle balsamic, sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. Add seeded and cubed yellow watermelon. (the flavors are out of this world when paired together)
Grilled Zucchini & Onions:
This is my current favorite way to eat zucchini. The flesh of the zucchini just sucks in the flavors and juices from the frying pan. Slice zucchini, place in pan with olive oil, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and toss in diced up onion. Fry on the burner until onions are golden and the zucchini is falling apart…(that’s how you know it’s ready).
This blog post is sponsored by Wayfair, thank you for supporting the brands that I collaborate with!