It’s easy to get great figs in California. The season is long (mid-May to January), and the state produces 98% of the nation’s fresh figs.

I’ve loved figs ever since I was a kid, and trips to my Grandmother Richmond’s house in Brookhaven, Mississippi always ended with her handing me a jar of canned figs to take home. I guarded those jars fiercely. Fortunately, my big sister was more into okra than figs, so I got to eat most of them myself. The last time I had my grandmother’s canned figs was in 1995, when my friend Wade (read the Tao of Wade) and I dug into figs and saffron rice at my apartment on Garland Ave in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

I still hanker for my grandmother’s figs, and I’ve yet to taste another canned fig that even comes close. But the glory of figs is that good ones need little to no intervention. I have a hard time passing up a basket of figs at the farmer’s market or grocery store. Being domestically challenged, I don’t do a whole lot of fancy stuff to my food, but figs, bless their hearts, don’t need fancy.

So, drum roll please, here is my super-simple, anyone-can-do it, two minute (fixin’) plus 5 minute (cookin’) recipe for figs:

Take several organic Black Mission Figs (or whatever variety you find fresh). Rinse, pat dry gently, and split each fig in half lengthwise. Some people remove the skins, but there’s really no need to do so if you’ve bought organic figs. I like the firmness of the skin, which gives the bite a bit of extra texture and bounce.

Lay the fig halves on a baking pan and squeeze each fig half gently between thumb and forefinger to open it up a bit and make a nice little pocket. Spoon a dollop of goat cheese into each fig half. Bake in an oven that has been preheated to 350 degrees. Five minutes will do the trick. Remove from oven and put them on a plate. You’re done! You can also spread the figs and goat cheese on crusty bread, which is its own special kind of delicious, but I think they’re perfect on their own.

If you prefer to put more effort into your culinary experience, here are some great fig recipes, from Caramel Fig Tartlets to Chicken with Prosciutto and Figs. And if you’re really ambitious, you might enjoy the recipes in Fig Heaven.