Today lunch was a delightful platter of roasted vegetables. I had a Spanish onion, cubanelle pepper, eggplant, grape heirloom tomatoes and a small beefsteak tomato that were cooked outside on the grill.  I placed the cooked vegetables on a platter, seasoned with sea salt and drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil. I added a ball of burrata for my husband and I. We enjoyed it on our porch where there was a light breeze and peaks of sun from behind the clouds. 

​I’m still hunting down recipes that can be cooked outside on the grill. Recently, I found on The New York Times webpage, Cooking, a recipe by Ali Slagle for Grilled Chicken with Tomatoes and Corn. This quick and easy recipe needed boneless, skinless chicken thighs, extra virgin olive oil, chili powder, kosher salt, large ripe tomatoes, a fresh ear of corn, small red onion and fresh oregano.
 
A trip to a local produce stand, Matt’s Farm Market in Belmar, yielded beautiful sweet corn and tomatoes for this meal. Instead of chicken thighs, I used boneless, skinless breasts that I butterflied open. The recipe also called for fresh oregano, which is one of the many herbs from my garden.
 
The preparation begins by coating the chicken with olive oil, chili powder and salt. I did this early in the day, but you can do it up to a day ahead. The veggies are all served in the raw state. I thinly sliced the tomatoes for a base, topped with corn kernels, red onion and oregano. The vegetables are seasoned with salt and extra virgin olive oil

​My Dreyer Farm’s CSA offerings this summer have been wonderful; a great selection of produce to try out new and varied recipes. Recently, on The New York Times website, there were several recipes that I found to go along with my vegetables. One was a recipe by Kay Chun for Eggplant Parmesan Pasta. Also, I found a recipe for Skillet Tortellini with Corn and Crispy Rosemary by Ali Slagle and Roasted Beets with Moroccan Spices by Mark Bittman.
 
Eggplant Parmesan Pasta takes just 35 minutes to prepare and packs a lot of flavors. For the recipe you’ll need extra-virgin olive oil, panko bread crumbs, kosher salt, black pepper, a yellow onion, fresh garlic, eggplant (peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes, about 8 cups), 28-ounce can of tomatoes (crushed), fresh basil spring plus chopped basil, dried oregano, pasta such as mezzo rigatoni, fusilli or shells, freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and fresh mozzarella.