CSA Harvest! And, it's July already?

Today's harvest:

1 head lettuce

1 bunch beets

1 bunch kale

1/2 lb. onion scapes

1/2 lb. snap peas

1 lb. shelling peas

a petite summer squash

Recent weather has been balmy and overcast.  I must continually remind myself that we are almost halfway through July.  This time last year I was eating tomatoes, with the first Early Girl picked on the 4th.  Now, however, I am just entering into full-swing of my pea harvest (usually considered a spring/early summer crop) while tomatoes sit stubbornly hard and green on short, bushy vines.  I am just starting to pick zucchini and yellow summer squash, so today's bag includes a taste of what will be more to come.  For dinner tonight I sliced a handful of the tender little squash on the diagonal, heated butter in a cast iron pan, and tossed the rounds in.  Cooking them over medium-high heat and flipping them just once with a spatula means a little browning without mushy squash.  I shelled a basket of peas and threw everything together in a bowl with salad greens and grated carrot.  I love summer salads!

As for beets, they also make a lovely addition when grated fresh into salads.  Or one could try my mom's roasted beet salad, which is how I first remember eating these deep, earthy vegetables.  Trim and cube each beet, and oven-roast until easily pierced with a fork.  Dress with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt.  Sprinkle with toasted walnuts and chevre.  I could eat mountains of beets prepared this way.  Mountains.

Enjoy!