Seasonal cooking sounds precious until you realize it is mostly just shopping well and getting out of the way.
Seasonal cooking has a reputation for being fussy, but it is the opposite. When an ingredient is in season, it is cheap, abundant, and tastes so good that the best thing you can do is leave it mostly alone. A summer tomato needs salt and oil, not a recipe.
The trick is to shop with your eyes instead of a list. Walk the market, see what is piled high and glowing, and build a meal around that. A handful of techniques -- roasting, a quick saute, a bright dressing -- will carry almost anything the season throws at you.
Do this for a few weeks and your cooking starts to follow a natural rhythm. You stop fighting the calendar and start letting it set the menu, which is less work and far better eating.
