Best vegetable for a beginner to grow?

 I've never had a vegetable garden before.  Having an area in the yard
that is only growing weeds, I am interested in trying out a vegetable
garden.  I'm not a green thumb and so need plants that are pretty much
fool-proof.  The area gets a lot of sun for the NW (Washington).  Also
we have a lot of deer, rabbits, raccoons, squirrels and birds around.
What are some good choices especially for the summer?  Do the seeds you
buy at the local supermarket grow well or should I start with nursery
starts?  Thanks for any advice.

 Craig said:

This is an old tip that I've never had the occasion to test directly (but I
will comment more after):

Drive a small spade down in one or two spots  around one of your
plants and cut a few roots.  This might shock the plant into ripening
the tomatoes.

OK, this year one of the new varieties I was trying was not ripening any
tomatoes, not even a hint of color, even after all the others were doing
so.  It was so full of green tomatoes that the stake was leaning over
threatening to crash into the fence. (I have electric wires at the top so
this would have been a Bad Thing.)   I drove in a couple of small stakes
to tie off the larger one and stop the leaning.  And shortly after that, a
whole bunch of tomatoes on that plant started turning red.

 Now, I would think this was entirely coincidental, except for having
remembered that old advice.  So I may have unintentionally confirmed it
works.  Or, maybe not.  I doubt it would hurt to try.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)
  
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

 You might want to consider asparagus.  You have to follow the planting
instructions carefully.  But once you do, there is little maintainence
beyond trying to keep the weeds out and fertilizing a couple of times a
year.  It is great because it keeps coming year after year, is easy to
harvest, tastes great and is expensive to buy at the store (so you
actually save money).

 frdmsbst KY wrote:

We love asparagus!  Do I have to take any precautions against animals?
When is the best time to plant them? Thanks for the suggestion.

 the problem with asparagus is that it takes two or three years to
harvest the first miserable spear. We know the zone, now tell us about
soil, pH, and the type of weeds that grow in the spot. Then one can
give a more informed advice. But the first thing to grow there is a
fence topped by an electric wire. I only grow potatoes outside my fence.