The most delicious thing in the world is an ice cold lemonade on a hot Fourth of July afternoon.
summer

Lemonade Three Ways

The most delicious thing in the world is an ice cold lemonade on a hot Fourth of July afternoon.   Do you remember that feeling? You’ve just panted triumphantly around a dusty baseball diamond, or bicycled through the shimmering heat to drop your bike on the lawn and race to the front porch, to be rewarded with an icy glass of citrus juice that glides down the throat, cooling every molecule of your body from the inside out. Here are three […]

summer

Grilled Polenta and Fried Eggs

I love a great bowl of breakfast-brunch – the kind of weekend meal that keeps you going all day because it’s filling, deeply satisfying, and delicious. This recipe makes use of leftover polenta (if you’ve never made polenta, it’s as easy as making oatmeal), and involves the frying of a couple of eggs and a quick sauté of whatever veggies and herbs you have on hand. The polenta had been part of dinner the night before, and I spread it […]

Grilled Shrimp Corn salad with Garlic Bread
summer

Grilled Shrimp Corn Salad with Garlic Bread

One bowl dinners – especially one bowl dinners that can be grilled – are about the easiest summer meal there is. I especially love this one because the corn salad can be made ahead, and then it takes less than five minutes to grill the shrimp and the garlic bread. It’s the perfect meal when you want something simple but delicious, and you don’t want to pay too much attention to the cooking – maybe you’re having friends over and […]

Grilled purple potato salad
summer

Grilled Purple Potato Salad with Cilantro Pesto

Potatoes may not be the first thing on your list to throw on a grill, but potatoes and grills belong together.   This is just the kind of salad I would have wanted for a White House Congressional Picnic menu: it’s colorful, unusual (purple basil, purple potatoes, almonds, cucumbers, and cilantro pesto), and it doesn’t have any ingredients that would spoil as it sits on a buffet in the brutal Washington heat. The annual Congressional Picnic is an enormous outdoor party […]

food

Burrata and Apple Microgreens Salad

I love this salad! It’s like an explosion of summer in your mouth: soft, sweet cheese and crispy green apples, joined with honey and balsamic vinaigrette, topped with crunchy pine nuts and strengthened by the fragrant, earthy taste of microgreens.  I wonder if it’s possible for food to affect the equilibrium, because it made me a little dizzy when I first tasted it. All flavor sensors firing in exaltation can do that to a person! I take no credit for […]