If you invite a friend who’s a master gardener to dinner and she asks what to bring–ask back, “What’s in your garden?,” you might end up with this delicious treat–grill roasted beets and garlic!

That’s how this recipe happened. Our friends surprised us with vivid bloodshot beets, just picked, washed and trimmed. All I added was a little olive oil—and whole garlic cloves. Packaged in a big sheet of aluminum foil, onto the grill they went.

We sat on the deck enjoying our park-like yard, drinking wine and telling tales. Whenever Robbie warned me that the grill thermometer was pegged all the way to 600 degrees, I got up, opened the grill to cool it down, and moved the packet of beets and garlic to another spot on the grill. Casual. No worries. After about 45 minutes I poked into the packet and both the beets and the garlic were soft to the fork!

Save to make later >>> Click here to PIN Grill Roasted Beets and Garlic!

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Summertime… And the living is easy. Catfish are jumping, and the cotton is high. Don’t you cry. Blend up this emerald arugula and cashew pesto and serve it on little polenta bites.

How about these inviting nibbles for hot summer weather? Simple to make and stress-free to assemble, plus you don’t need to be anywhere near the oven. That keeps summertime living easy.

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Here’s a quiche that looks like a pie. It’s a rich custard with creamy cheese, wilted spinach, sautéed onion, and a few fresh herbs, sort of a savory spinach flan. With a flaky whole wheat olive oil crust baked on top, I like to call it a spinach and goat cheese upside down quiche!

Custards are easy to whip up using eggs and milk or cream. Eggs and leafy greens pair well, so when you have greens and eggs on hand, quiche is a grand idea. In this recipe, instead of baking your quiche inside a pie crust, we pour the filling into a pie pan and then randomly cover the top with whole wheat olive oil pastry. Easy!

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