Shop for Vegetables in Season

Any seasonal vegetable, locally grown or vine ripened, is ideal for the Monday-to-Friday cook. The fanciest of dishes painstakingly prepared don’t measure up to a simple bowl of steamed spring asparagus dabbed with butter or slices of scarlet juicy tomatoes dusted with basil.

Vegetables that are in season will be at the peak of their flavor and won’t need more than the simplest and easiest cooking methods to release their good taste.

As seasonality varies from one part of the country to the other, check your local newspaper food section to find out what’s in season, cheap, and fresh that week.