There are many practical reasons for eating locally-grown and seasonal produce: supporting local farmers, less impact on the environment, and aiding the local economy; but, I have one very selfish reason: flavor. Every meal will be the best damn meal you’ve had all year. There is nothing like the freshness and vitality of seasonal, local, just-picked produce. When we truly eat seasonally, it means there are foods we haven’t eaten in months, and thus our bodies crave them when they come into season again (e.g. tomatoes. Enough said.)

I purchased five items at the market this week: tomatoes (my first of the season, so they won’t last long), garlic (I’ve never tried fresh garlic before and the difference is amazing), scallions and the cutest little red and brown potatoes I’ve seen (they were $2.50 a carton, but the farmer sold them to me two/$4–score!). I also bought a package of Pappardelle’s Pasta porcine mushroom linguine. Five little items that have created three of the best meals of my life. Seriously.

The minute I returned home, I boiled the pasta while combining olive oil, lemon juice, one chopped tomato, basil, garlic, scallion, salmon, cubed mozzarella and some salt and pepper. I tossed this mixture with the warm pasta so the cheese melts, but the tomato, garlic and onion are only heated through, not cooked. The taste is through-the-roof good, but I admit I felt like I had a cloud of garlic around me all night. Simple. Delicious. And lots of health properties from the raw garlic and onion.

The next day, a grilled cheese sandwich. Crusty sourdough bread, organic mozzarella and cheddar, basil, tomato. The grilled cheese sandwich in the movie, Chef, looked like the best ever, but mine tasted like the best ever.

And then for dinner, those succulent tiny potatoes, cut in half and browned, then sauteed with a whole scallion, garlic, a ton of mushrooms and snow peas and served with a skirt steak slathered in my personal rub and cooked ala Chef Ramsey style in the video going around. Tell me it gets any better than this…

Go support your local farmers. You’ll make a difference while spoiling yourself with the best foods possible. It’s a win/win arrangement.

So tell me…what seasonal foods do you crave?