Summer tabletops that look like this make seasonal eating easy (emphasis on the EASY).  And for those of you following along on Snapchat (username Waiting On Martha), you’ll know I’m trying to eat cleaner and put the focus back on fresh, in season, local ingredients.  This focus on eating “clean” has in turn also highlighted my love of simple ingredients and flavors.  Case in point: grilled fresh vegetables from the garden seasoned simply with a little oil, salt and pepper.

First up: shishito peppers.  If you haven’t tried these, stop what you’re doing and go out and find some at your nearest Asian grocery market (if you’re in Atlanta you can find them at the Buford Farmers Market).  They’re a milder pepper, but be warned about 1 in 5 will be on the spicy side so be prepared for a little game of pepper roulette. You can of course grill them, though I usually throw them into a sautee pan or even a wok.  They are SO simple to make; simply drizzle organic olive oil and a dash of salt and pepper to taste.  You’ll cook them until they char and start to shrivel up about 5-7 minutes and then just eat ’em up.  

Second: grilled okra.  I’m a firm believer that okra is one of the south’s best fruits of the earth (click here for Southern Living’s 10 best okra recipes to see for yourself).   I’ve eaten them all sorts of ways, but I really might prefer simple and grilled above all else!  All you need to do is halve them and put them on skewer sticks, drizzle with organic olive oil, salt, pepper and a dash of cayenne. Grill for about 10 minutes (or until charred) and pop the entire thing in your mouth!  I’ve found that grilling them as such will also take the slime out of them entirely.

Lastly, my corn salad is quite possibly the biggest crowd pleaser of them all.  It can be served cold, warm, room temperature…your call.  I’ve enjoyed it as a salsa, as a salad and straight out of the sautee pan too.  All you’ll do: dump the fresh corn kernels (stripped easily from the cob with one of these) or frozen corn if you must to a sautee pan with (plenty of) un slated butter and salt.  When in doubt, add more butter.  To serve, simply add chopped green onions, fresh cilantro and give it a quick stir…you don’t want any of these ingredients to get mushy so definitely save them until garnish at the end.  It is seriously so easy, so fresh and SO tasty.  Enjoy!  Truly, MKR