Your Next Summertime Meal Idea

With summer just around the corner, it’s time to put those cooking skills you learned during quarantine to good use! When the mercury starts to rise, we love trying out new recipes using seasonal produce that is often shipped from far away during the cooler months. 

Luckily, San Diego is home to a beautiful agricultural community, built on more small farms than any other county. Choosing to eat seasonal produce not only supports these farmers, but also expands your palate to include new and interesting flavors! To see what local food is in season each month, the San Diego Farm Bureau has created a harvest calendar that you can reference.

To celebrate San Diego’s reopening, we’ve put together a delicious meal and cocktail using fresh, local ingredients that are sure to impress — and you don’t need to be a grillmaster or mixologist to make them!

Summertime Jumble

Ingredients

• 1 eggplant
• 1 summer squash
• 1 zucchini
• 6 oz. grape tomatoes
• 1 oz. scallions
• ½ c. avocado oil
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Crushed red pepper
• Optional: 6 oz. deveined jumbo shrimp
• Optional: 2 garlic cloves — minced
• Avocado vinaigrette
  • 1 avocado
  • 1 lemon
  • ½ c. avocado oil
  • 3 tbsp. white wine vinegar
  • Salt
  • Black pepper

Directions

• Preheat grill to medium-high heat (around 400°F)
• Wash eggplant, then slice into ½ inch rounds, discarding the ends
• Wash squash and quarter each lengthwise, discarding the ends
• Toss veggies in ½ cup of avocado oil, then place evenly across grill top
• Turn every 3-5 minutes until your veggies are tender, and you see nice grill marks on each side
• Remove veggies from grill, and set aside for 10 minutes to settle 
• Optional: toss shrimp in oil and minced garlic, grill for 3 minutes per side
• In the meantime, wash tomatoes and scallions, then halve tomatoes and slice scallions, separating whites from greens
• Chop veggies into ½ inch cubes and toss with salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper to taste
• Toss veggies, tomatoes and scallion whites with avocado vinaigrette and top with scallion greens
• Optional: top with grilled shrimp

Avocado Vinaigrette

• • Halve, pit and scoop avocado, juice lemon, add vinegar, salt and pepper into a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth
  • Turn blender to low, slowly add avocado oil until the texture is creamy and smooth — be sure not to over blend!

Blackberry Smash

Ingredients

• 4 large blackberries
• ½ lemon
• 6 large mint leaves — plus 1 sprig to garnish
• ½ oz. turbinado simple syrup
• 1 ½ oz. bourbon — substitute rye for a spicy twist

Directions

• Lightly muddle blackberries, lemon and mint in a shaker with simple syrup
• Add bourbon and a scoop of ice — shake like crazy until ice is broken up
• Pour directly into a glass and add mint sprig

**For a non-alcoholic version, leave out the whiskey and add 6 oz. of club soda after shaking**