Sweet Pea Crunch Salad
A crunchy green salad to celebrate the arrival of spring! Serve it with protein if you like, but it's a fresh meal all on its own!
Hoo boy, here it is, September 5. I know there are many folks out there who are all about fall. Scarves, boots, leaves, pumpkin lattes, etc.
…
I am not one of them. I am dreading the arrival of fall in Oregon like I do every year. In Portland we don’t have a nice fall season like they do in the Midwest or on the East Coast. It just starts raining right away, and then we all stop spending time outside. We have two seasons. Rain, and not rain. You can barely wear your nice leather boots anyway, because there’s rain pretty much every day (can you tell I have a gorgeous pair in my closet that doesn’t get enough daylight? 🙂 ) Perhaps if we had more of a dry fall, and more deciduous trees, I would feel differently.
Now, when you live in Portland for a while, you learn to like the rainy season. And while I do, it’s like 8 months out of the year. I have no desire for our precious four months of warmth and sunshine to go any faster than it needs to.
That’s why I am making stuff like this grilled succotash, to hold on to the summer as long as I possibly can. We’ve spent the last two weeks traveling and hosting friends and family, and we are getting in all the outdoor watersports we can. I have literally zero interest in this gorgeous summer moving on.
We grew a lot of the stuff that’s in it, too! Just not the green beans and the corn – but I did grow the edible flowers, haha. I especially loved topping this with pesto. You can make your own or keep it easy with a prepared version – I won’t judge! 🙂
Anyway, as I write this, I already have a much more fall-oriented salad in the blog queue, so I know my summer runway is short. But in the meantime, I will be stretching it out as long as I can.
Grilled Succotash with Pesto
Ingredients
- 2 ears corn
- 2 Japanese eggplants, halved lengthwise
- 1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise
- 1/2 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup pesto
- 1/4 cup torn basil leaves
- Optional:
Instructions
- Lightly brush with oil and grill the corn, eggplants, zucchini and green beans.
- Carefully remove the corn from the cob and chop the eggplant and zucchini into rounds or half moons.
- Toss with cherry tomatoes and drizzle with pesto. Salt and pepper to taste.
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I’m right there with you – I am SO not ready for fall. I think that in Oregon we should have half summer and sunshine and half of all the rest… That’s only fair, right? This succotash looks amazing and I love the burst of color that the edible flowers give. Yum!
Comment by Anonymous — September 6, 2017 at 8:49 pm
Hahaha I must say it sounded like I wrote this whole post. I hate hate hate any season but summer. I live for summer and hold onto it until the very last moment. Though I’m not gonna lie, we do have some pretty majestic fall colors and experiences here. After living in New England for a few years they really don’t have it “that” much better than we can get here… you just have to go a little outside of the city limits to see some of the fall beauty.
Gahhh look at me, I’m starting to sound like I like fall, which I don’t. I like one and only one season — summer!
Comment by Mary @ Vindulge — September 6, 2017 at 9:30 pm
Such a beautiful salad! I AM totally all about fall because it’s actually normally gorgeous here. September through mid-October we usually have beautiful sunshine and nice warm to mild temps, and then the rains come mid-October and that’s always when our soccer games start to become outdoor showers. Not as fun. I always feel like Halloween marks the beginning of what I call our true Drizzle Season…or Hibernation Season. Until then: this salad is a gorgeous way to celebrate summer!
Comment by Marlynn @ UrbanBlissLife — September 7, 2017 at 6:03 pm
Drizzle season is a great way to put it 🙂
Comment by bekky — September 7, 2017 at 6:13 pm
What a great late summer veg combo! Personally, I’m over the heat but I’m doing my best to not get too aggravated about it. Despite the heat, it’s one of the best times of the year for vegetables!
Comment by Meg — September 7, 2017 at 10:48 pm
This dish looks stunning and so delicious – thanks for sharing!
Comment by meg — September 12, 2017 at 3:44 pm