Happy Time
Jul. 20th, 2004 04:40 pmAs far as I can tell right now, nothing in the world is better than the first week or so of garden-harvest. The rest of the season is still good, and the quest for new recipes is always fun, but the shiny novelty wears off after a month or so.
This week, though, is full of rediscovering the joy of eating food that you harvested the same morning. It's hard to remember the taste of truly fresh vegetables when you've spent the whole winter eating flavorless vegetable-shaped cardboard wedges, and the first garden meals are always a blissful surprise. The tomatoes haven't started to ripen yet, and the cucumbers are still tiny finger-sized promises, but the rest of the garden has gone into overdrive. I've already picked a gallon of green beans, which will go into tonight's dinner, half a dozen each of zucchini and yellow squash, and a bell pepper or two.
This is the time of year when my diet always becomes immeasurably more healthy than any other season. Last week started the trend, with stuffed zucchini and sauteed zucchini, which can be a dinner by itself when it's fresh and tasty enough. Last night was zucchini pie, and zucchini bread for breakfast this morning, and steamed green beans tonight. Tomorrow will probably be quesadillas with fresh veggies. And somehow it all tastes good enough that I don't get tired of it.
Next month I'll probably be pushing vegetables into the arms of anyone reckless enough to get close to me. But for now, I'm enjoying them as thoroughly as possible....
This week, though, is full of rediscovering the joy of eating food that you harvested the same morning. It's hard to remember the taste of truly fresh vegetables when you've spent the whole winter eating flavorless vegetable-shaped cardboard wedges, and the first garden meals are always a blissful surprise. The tomatoes haven't started to ripen yet, and the cucumbers are still tiny finger-sized promises, but the rest of the garden has gone into overdrive. I've already picked a gallon of green beans, which will go into tonight's dinner, half a dozen each of zucchini and yellow squash, and a bell pepper or two.
This is the time of year when my diet always becomes immeasurably more healthy than any other season. Last week started the trend, with stuffed zucchini and sauteed zucchini, which can be a dinner by itself when it's fresh and tasty enough. Last night was zucchini pie, and zucchini bread for breakfast this morning, and steamed green beans tonight. Tomorrow will probably be quesadillas with fresh veggies. And somehow it all tastes good enough that I don't get tired of it.
Next month I'll probably be pushing vegetables into the arms of anyone reckless enough to get close to me. But for now, I'm enjoying them as thoroughly as possible....