The Farm Stand Dinner

"To eat is a necessity, 
but to eat intelligently is an art."
- La Rochefoucauld

Each Sunday evening, my husband and I strive to start the week with a healthy meal.  We find it gets us on the right foot for the week ahead and provides us the energy to greet another day.  

This time of year in Southern California, fresh, flavorful produce is available to us in abundance.  At our local farm stand, we can select organic strawberries straight from the field, sweet corn just plucked from the stock and tomatoes that actually taste like tomatoes (imagine that!).

Our recent favorite Sunday night meal consists of the following delicious components:

• grilled wild salmon
• grilled corn on the cob (Mexican style with lime, mayo, salt, pepper and a little dusting of chili powder..don't knock it 'til you've tried it)
• a nice baby green and spinach salad (with red onions, pistachios, plums, pears, dried cranberries, and crumbled mozzarella) 
• a slice of grilled mango (in case we hadn't yet met our fruit quota for the meal).

My goal with this fruit and veg feast was to emulate the Alice Waters (chef of Chez Panisse fame) mantra of fresh, seasonal, locally-sourced ingredients.

I've found that when we take a little extra time on Sunday evening to prepare a scrumptious yet nutritious meal, the Monday blues fade away a little easier.  Take the opportunity to fix a nice dinner, sit at the dinner table, eat slowly, converse and enjoy the bounty of goodness available to us this time of year!