It’s easy to eat seasonally when you have an all-purpose platform, whether it’s homemade sourdough or freshly griddled tortillas. On The Farm, in Bourbonnais, Illinois, we make Dutch babies.

We always seem to have the ingredients on hand: eggs from our chickens, flour and milk from our neighbors, and herbs, greens, and vegetables from our beds. With those simple ingredients, all we need is a bowl, a skillet, and half an hour.

You might think of this puffy pancake as breakfast, and it works that way, with a dusting of powdered sugar and a drizzle of maple syrup. You can also trade the syrup for fruit preserves and add a crumble of cheese to take it in a savory direction for lunch. Or try a fresh green salad, dressed with a tart vinaigrette. Make it dinner with cured ham and a fried egg, and take it to the back porch to watch the sun set.

A walk through the garden, at any time of day, will have your Dutch baby looking like a page from your favorite seed catalog—a showcase for seasonal bounty.

In early summer, we blend chopped chives into the batter. While the pancake bakes, we slice fresh green garlic and scallions. We mix those alliums with goat cheese, a splash of vinegar, salt, and pepper, and when the baby comes out of the oven, we smear it with cheese spread and layer on sliced and salted cucumbers.

In late summer, we clip basil and whisk that into the base. Gather a handful of oregano with flowers, then roughly chop it and fold it into a bowl of your favorite mayonnaise. Slice a couple of tomatoes, lay them out on a plate, and sprinkle them with salt, to draw out the juices and concentrate the tomato flavor. When your pancake comes out of the oven, dot it with oregano mayonnaise and top it with tomato slices. Whisk the tomato juices on the plate with olive oil and drizzle the impromptu vinaigrette over the top. Season it with freshly ground black pepper and oregano flowers.

In the fall and winter, shorter days call for something that tastes rich and comforting. Try a filling of roasted cubed butternut squash, sweet potatoes, or carrots. Top your pancake with tarragon and sage for an end-of-season harvest meal. Or replace the herbs with chopped chilies for heat on a cool night. This meal is endlessly adaptable, throughout the seasons, as a showcase for the homegrown flavors of the Midwest.