Do you have lentils in your pantry? These easy going legumes are like the laid back surfers of the bean world. Ready to go at a moment’s notice they require hardly any preparation and take just a brief 25 minutes to cook. No overnight soaking, pre-cooking, or long slow simmers required. Packed with protein, fiber, essential minerals, and B vitamins lentils are an excellent choice for bulking up meatless meals.

Lunches at home can be challenging. I find myself craving something healthy and satisfying but don’t want to spend a lot of time putting it together. When I changed my diet, the default sandwich or quick cheese and hot sauce tortilla fell off the lunch list. In their place I have started to make large batches of whole grain salads. Hearty and full of flavor, grain salads only get better as the week goes on- the perfect solution to a fast and healthy lunch.

Early September is one of my favorite times to visit a farmer’s market. Every stand has piles of beautiful produce spilling from one end of a table to another. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, corn- gardens are pushing out the last of their produce in a final attempt to ripen before the chill of fall arrives.

For the first time in many years I am not sad to see summer go. In fact I hope that this summer packs its bags and hits the road never to be seen again. The last three months have been an agonizing blur of stress, worry, and more stress. So, goodbye summer and hello fall! For those of you who have happily spent the summer soaking up sunshine, swimming, and cooking on the grill here are a few favorites from past years when I too sent summer off with a bang instead of the boot.

Coconut Mango Swirl Ice Cream – Creamy, cold, tropical perfection. I miss my ice cream maker!

Herbed Butterflied Grilled Chicken – This just might be grilled chicken nirvana. Packed with flavor and incredibly moist, you will fight over the leftovers.

As a kid cooked carrots were on my no-fly list. Viewed with suspicion I profiled anything orange and made sure it received a full prodding with my fork before it was allowed off the plate. Chalk it up to bitter peels, varieties that sat in the supermarket for weeks without spoiling, or perhaps even mushiness, but cooked carrots were not a welcome sight at the dinner table. Then, years later when living with my grandparents while attending graduate school, I had a cooked carrot revelation.

In the frenzy of packing up everything we own Mr. B had the good judgement to insist on leaving his grill out on the deck. He figured that the deck was high above the potential water line and that a ceramic grill could survive just about anything. In what is now the strangest summer of my life I am happy for Mr. B’s foresight- because with a grill at least it still feels like summer.

When Mr. B and I were dating our favorite restaurant was a little beach cottage along Highway 101 in Encinitas, California. Owned by a Moroccan who grew up in Spain and France, the food was French in style and Mediterranean meets California in flavor. Live bands rocked the small space every weekend and despite sand between the old wooden floor boards it was impossible to get in without a reservation.

When life is totally upside down there is nothing quite like comfort food to stop the chaos for a few moments and make everything feel almost normal. This past week we moved back into our home to ‘camp out’ until the water rises or goes away. Almost all of our belongings are still scattered to the wind, boxed up and safely stored until fall. We have a few camp chairs, a card table, our bed and a crib to make the house habitable.

The annual start of the local Farmer’s Market is a source of much anticipation and excitement in our house. By the time late May rolls around it feels like an eternity since I last tasted freshly grown lettuce or experienced the joy of a ripe tomato. While I’m still waiting for the tomatoes, our market has an abundance of cold weather greens and lettuces.

Spring in the Midwest is a fickle beast. At one moment the weather is warm and soft drawing you outside with enthusiasm. Things can even heat up with 90 degree temperatures causing you to unearth your flip flops and clean off the grill. Then the next day Spring will turn a cold shoulder with biting wind and temperatures that come dangerously close to allowing the rain to freeze on your windshield. This yo-yo behavior can make meal planning a real challenge. Soup either sounds like a crazy idea when the air conditioning threatens to kick on or like a brilliant idea when you are reaching for another sweater.