I've been following this month's Eat Local Challenge with interest. While the ideal is to eat organically, locally, and seasonally...it's definitely a challenge to put into practice. Especially at certain times of year in northern Iowa. And when you can't have all three, what priority do you use? Does locally grown trump organically grown, or the other way around? And how does a busy family today find time to grow (or buy locally) and put up enough food so that they can eat year round?

This time of year it becomes easier to eat locally as the farmers market opens up and our own garden swings into production. But at the same time, this is the time of year that I hate to cook. I'd rather head out to the garden after work than head to the kitchen. And if I'm in the midst of canning and freezing, I usually don't feel like fixing a meal on top of that. So I find myself turning to fastfood and convenience foods more often than in the fall, winter and early spring when I love nothing better than cooking up a big batch of hot comfort food from scratch.

So...what do you, dear readers, cook in the summer that's healthy, uses fresh local ingredients, and is QUICK! And satisfies the appetite of a hard working, meat-and-potatoes man (who does also love salads and vegetables).