Even as the gardening season moves toward a killing frost there can be a bounty of vegetables to harvest. Today I went into the garden to ask “What’s for dinner?” and here is just part of what I found.

Today I harvested Costata Romanesco summer squash, kale, broccoli, carrots, parsley, chives and nasturtium buds…to name just a few vegetables that are still producing.

This meal is another reminder of the amount of broccoli that you can harvest after you cut the main head early in the summer. I pick a cup or more of broccoli every other day in the fall. Here’s my post about this earlier in the season.

I decided to use these for an orzo salad, since I had some orzo pasta leftover from last night.

I chopped all of the ingredients about the same size. 

I sautéed the carrots and squash cubes in a little olive oil until they were soft but still firm and just a tad crunchy. I did the same with the broccoli shoots. I added these to the chopped kale and herbs before adding the orzo and some crumbled goat cheese. Finally, I made a simple lemon vinaigrette with olive oil, some golden balsamic vinegar and lemon juice.

This salad has less orzo than many such pasta salads contain. I was going heavy on the veggies, I admit.

Season with salt and pepper and garnish with the nasturtium buds.

The same group of veggies could have been used in a pasta sauce, a stir fry with tofu, a frittata, or soup. The more you pick these veggies the more you’ll have to harvest…don’t stop going into the vegetable garden just because it’s fall.