I have this great market a few blocks from my apartment that I absolutely love for a few reasons.  The first is that they seriously promote drinking while shopping.  You actually have to walk through/past the bar with so many different beers and wines on tap to even get to the grocery section - and when there it is staring you in the face, and everyone else is enjoying a nice bev, why the heck not take a moment and 'wine down'.  Seems like the obvious choice!

I'm fairly certain easy and delicious are my two most commonly used words on this site.  As we move into fall... I have a feeling this will be less and less the case, but during the warmer months, easy is the best way, and delicious does not have to be difficult.  Weeknights are for easy, and weekends are for cooking adventures.  This is definitely one of those recipes that comes together in 2 minutes flat.  Even better, it is so unbelievably good.  The brown sugar gets all caramelized, and the little bit of chili added in rounds it out perfectly.  It feels like such a treat, but, surprise!  You are eating salmon.  Ever since I discovered this recipe, I have been making it weekly, and I don't think that will stop any time soon.

This is a recipe to take advantage of right now while the summer produce is perfection.  It was especially perfect for me last night as I had a ton of produce to eat before I head out of town for the long weekend for my sisters wedding (!!!!!!).  It looks labor intensive, but once the chopping is done, it is just a lot of simmering.  It smells incredible, and is a perfect cozy dish moving into fall.  There is something about the basil bouquet and the shallot that makes this version of a ratatouille a little bit more fresh and modern.  I loved it, you will too.

If you make one thing off of this blog, let it be this.  I am not really a picky person, especially now as an adult, but as a kid... whole different story.  My only experience with cauliflower had really been with failed cauliflower pizza crusts (failed because if I can't pick it up with my hands- it does not qualify as pizza), and what my siblings and I had named "silly potatoes" as kids.  Every couple of months, we would DIVE into our mashed potatoes at dinner, only to be sorely mistaken and tricked once again into eating mashed cauliflower.  Mom, no amount of cheese and butter can make mashed cauliflower taste like mashed potatoes.  None.  She laughed, we cried... classic.

So, when I got a head of cauliflower in my CSA, I wanted to make something that just let cauliflower be cauliflower in the most delicious way, instead of trying to make it into a filler/replacement for some other dish.  This was such a winner, and honestly one of the best things I have made yet.  I loved it so much that I hope I get another cauliflower this week.  Here's hoping!

Even with the best ingredients, variety is everything, and not just to people with restricted diets. There is nothing better than fresh tomatoes at the end of summer, but I've had more than my share of tomato basil/balsamic at this point in the season. This was such a nice and equally foolproof and simple change!

This week I am starting my first ever CSA!  If you are thinking what in the world is a CSA, I have basically bought a share of produce each week from a local farmer who will then deliver it to my door each week.  I decided this was the year to give it a shot, because I not only found an incredible deal that I couldn't pass up, but I am only out of town one weekend from now until Thanksgiving.  When that will ever happen again, I do not know. 

I've always been so curious about how they work, what the variety is like, do people get sick of not getting to choose, how much food will I really get, what if I have no freaking clue what vegetable that is, the list goes on.  I, however, think I am the most excited about making it a personal challenge to just have to get creative with whatever is in the box.  And if it's the same thing over and over again, well then I will have 1) learned my lesson, and 2) will just really have to exercise my creative juices to make the best of it.  And if it is something I have never heard of in my life, let the research begin.  What we CAN count on is lots of great fall recipes ahead. 

This recipe, on the other hand, is kind of the last of the great summer produce salads.  Tomatoes, peaches, great lettuce, and basil are still around, but won't be for much longer... but man, are they good right now.  I am enjoying it as long as I can!