Whether you’ve grown them all yourself, have been getting great bargains at your local farmers market, or your CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box is bursting at the seams with garden goodness, consider yourself lucky. This is the harvest time we’ve waited for.

Ingredients (These can vary – use what you have, but consider these as suggestions)

• 3 or 4 large mushrooms
• 2 or 3 ears of sweet corn (cut kernels off the cob for skillet recipe – leave on the cob for grilled variation.)
• 3 green bell (or 2 jalapeño) peppers
• 3 or 4 small to medium zucchini
• 2 small sweet onions
• 1 or 2 tomatoes, diced
• 1/3 cup Fresh cilantro, chopped
• Sea salt
• Fresh ground pepper
• Cumin
• Olive oil (for grilled corn)
• Freshly grated parmesan cheese (optional)
• Freshly grated Monterey Jack cheese for topping
• 2 tablespoons safflower oil (for skillet)
• Whole grain tortillas

The skillet variation.
Add 1 tablespoon of safflower oil into a non-stick skillet. Put shelled corn into the skillet first. Sauté and add fresh-ground black pepper, sea salt, and a pinch of cumin. Stir until it just starts to get some color and slightly blackened on the kernels. Then, add diced onion and mushroom, stir for about 3 minutes. Finally, add julienne peppers and zucchini strips. Stir another 3 to 5 minutes until they just heat up but still have a little ‘snap.’ Use a slotted spoon and dish up into heated whole grain tortillas. Top with diced tomatoes, fresh cilantro, a little shredded Monterey Jack cheese (if desired) and enjoy!

The grill variation.
Another variation is to get a grill basket next time you’re at your favorite hardware or discount retailer, and grill the ingredients. (Grill baskets are a low-cost investment that can really help you expand your variety of grilled foods.)

In this case, instead of smaller bites, cut the veggies into larger pieces. Keep the corn on the cob when you grill it, and just have it as a side dish, brushed with a little olive oil and maybe sprinkled with freshly-grated parmesan cheese. One way to simplify the corn grilling is to pull off the husks completely, and let it get a few grill marks right on the kernels. It has a wonderfully fresh roasted flavor, and takes less time.

Throw the cut zucchini (slightly larger strips), mushrooms, quartered onions (you can break them apart a little when you take them off the grill), sliced peppers, right in the basket and grill them until they just begin to caramelize. Scoop them out of the grill basket and put into a ceramic or glass serving dish (if you have company) or right into your tortillas if you want to keep things casual. Keep a dish of diced tomatoes and a bowl of grated cheese handy for topping and you’re all set!

Again, ingredients vary according to what you have. Play around and experiment a bit. It’s fun to use up garden goodness like this – what a great way to get those 5 (or more) servings of veggies a day!