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

1. Lightly brush with oil and grill the corn, eggplants, zucchini and green beans.
2. Carefully remove the corn from the cob and chop the eggplant and zucchini into rounds or half moons.
3. Toss with cherry tomatoes and drizzle with pesto. Salt and pepper to taste.