Chile-rubbed shrimp with avocado, corn, and black bean salsa

Summer: one of my three favorite food seasons. Central Market has sweet corn four ears for a dollar, avocados are only 69 cents apiece and I've got cherry tomatoes a-plenty from my garden. Unfortunately that's about the only garden success I can speak to at the moment, but that's beside the point.

Tilapia over mashed potatoes in stewed tomato, olive, and artichoke broth

Big news, y'all: As of yesterday, Pure Land Organic has officially filed with the Secretary of State of Texas as a real live actual company. We have officers and lawyers and stuff! Woooooo!! And we've got a team of people working on finding our land, getting a website together, etc... Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?

Anyway, back to food. Still gotta eat.

An organized and well-stocked pantry is essential for last minute meals. This one is created almost entirely from the pantry - canned artichoke hearts, stewed tomatoes, and jarred kalamata olives.

Add a little onion, garlic, a potato, and some fish, and you've got dinner. Even better, it makes double the broth required for serving for two people, so I freeze the other half for an even quicker repeat performance one day.

I'm a white wine fiend. Actually, I'm a bubbly white wine fiend (Cava from Spain and Prosecco from Italy are my favorite wines), but I do appreciate a nice flat white and the occasional dry rose. During the year my parents spent in New Zealand they discovered Sauvingon Blancs from the Marlborough region, which are a serious punch in the face compared to the wimpy whites of California. Like all the chefs say, I cook with what I drink. This is either because I only drink delicious wine and am too lazy to seek out a "cooking" variety to keep on hand, or because I find crappy wine pretty tasty. At any rate, it works for me. [I also put ice in it. Shun me.]

New potato, Swiss chard, fresh green pea and cherry tomato frittata

One of my favorite weeknight meals is a frittata. I don't think there's an easier, healthier, more delicious dinner out there. The formula is simple: eggs, cheese, a starchy vegetable, and then whatever other vegetables you've got languishing in the fridge. Or, better yet, in the garden.

Our bounty is upon us. Well, a mini-bounty, anyway. Over the last week our giant potato plants began to weaken and droop, indicating they were ripe for the pickin'. So pick them we did - how cute are those little baby new potatoes! Allan ate them raw right from the dirt, after shaking the roly-polys off. He's hardcore. The Swiss chard is incredible, I picked them way back to make a lasagna last weekend (that was awesome) and they are back to full again. Also, our little English peas are finally ready for some eating.

Hot smoked salmon with accoutrements, goat cheeses and toasted baguette

Please excuse the brief hiatus. My quiet life of mealplanning and forging the frontiers of science was briefly interrupted to attend to my Pop's heart, which it turns out is pretty darn tough. Speaking of things I love more than all the stars in the sky:

Hurray, a celebratory excuse to use my new stovetop smoker! And when I think of smoking something (food, people, food), I think of salmon. To be fair, I also did a trout fillet, which turned out great too but was not nearly as gorgeous to photograph.

Grilled shrimp, zucchini, and leeks over Israeli couscous

Mmm. Feta. Salty, crumbly yet creamy, distinctively tangy, I love a good feta. This particular variety is a sheep's milk feta called "Valbreso". It was good but not great, perhaps because it's subtle for me - I like to be punched in the face by my cheese. I'll try another variety next time.

This is Allan's Favorite Meal. And I agree, it's very very good, simple, and healthy. It's a glorified pasta salad, really. I use my grill pan, but you could certainly use your grill or just a heavy skillet. The recipe calls for fresh herbs, but I've made this many times using dried and it turns out just fine so don't run out and buy fresh oregano and thyme at $1.99 a pop (and have no idea what to do with the other 90% of the package). Do go plant some in your garden, though.