Fruits and Veggies Monday {Farmers Market Haul & a Family Lunch}

Happy Monday folks!  I have been a bit absent the past few days on here, but I'm always happy to pop back up for @lenasveganliving's #fruitsandveggiesmonday (contest post here).  Last week was a fun switch to help my dear friend out in a few ways with the contest, however I am quite content to drop back into my usual role. ;)

This week I had intended to share a good meal prep post, but we ended up having both @dksart's parents and my own over for lunch yesterday.  It is actually quite rare to get both of our families together despite only an hour or so drive between them.  Every time we make it work it turns out to be a nice time for everyone.  Luckily I had gotten a little excited at the farmers market this weekend, so I was well overloaded with plenty of food to share!!

Everything looked so ridiculously good that I just couldn't edit down my purchases.  I had no idea until after getting home that we were going to have the parents over the next day, so it was a happy accident that I bought so much.  We'll never let good food go bad, but it is even nicer to be able to share with others.  His mom also brought us some beautiful fresh tomatoes from her garden.  I am not quite sure what this variety is called as she said they just grew on their own.  Gotta love those volunteers!  Some of the best tomatoes we've ever grown were from compost.

I had also gotten some lovely little Sungold cherry tomatoes from the market.  They have a nice sweet flavor to them and are so easy to just pop in your mouth for a burst of juicy summer flavor!

The corn was also abundant at a few of the stands, so I grabbed a few fresh cobs.  Shucking corn on the back porch always takes me right back to summers over at my grandmother's house when she and my grandfather would host cookouts for all of his workers.  I don't know that we actually did a very good job of it, but I suppose it was good work for little hands that couldn't help with the big cooking jobs yet.

Of course now that I am older I can not only savor the job as such a dear memory of my late grandmother, but I can also revel in the beauty of each perfectly place kernel.  I can see why food is a favorite subject of artists and photographers.  Nature is a talented artist herself.

Since I had such lovely fresh produce, I kept my contribution to our family meal quite light and simple to let all of the summer flavors shine.

The corn and tomatoes went into a succotash with fresh-cooked lima beans, a bit of red onion, basil from the garden and a drizzle of peach white balsamic vinegar.  Oh that corn was so heavenly!!

I filled another bowl with quinoa, roasted beets and Brussels, chopped pecans, dried blueberries, mint from the garden and a drizzle of tangerine balsamic vinegar.

I also made a quick batch of dip with chickpeas, avocado, lime, miso and some spices.

A simple summer meal that hit the spot to enjoy with loved ones!  I've got some meal prep to catch up on today and tomorrow, but definitely worth it to slow down and enjoy the day yesterday.  Have a great week everyone!