Here’s the world’s easiest (and most satisfying) summer salad for when you’re short on time but need something to go with that barbecue or potluck. Use top-quality produce here for a salad that’s greater than the sum of its parts.
Ingredients:
2 large heirloom tomatoes, washed and cored
1 large avocado, halved, pit removed, and peeled
3 Persian cucumbers
1/2 small red onion
1 garlic clove, grated
1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
Quarter the heirloom tomatoes and cut them into thin slices, then place in a large bowl. Thinly slice avocado halves and gently add to the bowl. Thinly slice cucmbers and red onion and add to the salad bowl.
Top vegetables with grated garlic, vinegar, parsley, and olive oil, then gently toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.
I’m not a huge sandwich person, and I rarely seek them out, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this flavor bomb of a sandwich I made recently. Garlicy pesto, meaty mushrooms, tangy sourdough, vinegary peppers, creamy mozzarella — this sandwich has it all.
Maybe I’m a sandwich person after all.
Ingredients:
2 to 3 tablespoons prepared pesto
1 pound portobello mushrooms
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons avocado oil
Salt
1 12-inch wide sourdough baguette or boule, halved lengthwise, toasted
1 garlic clove, halved crosswise
4 ounces fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
1/4 cup sliced pickled cherry peppers
1/4 cup basil leaves
Place pesto in a large bowl. Remove stems and gills from portobello mushrooms. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium heavy skillet over medium-high. Arrange half of mushrooms in a single layer in skilled and cook until they start to sizzle, then wrap the bottom of a second heavy skillet that is small enough to nestle into the first with foil and use it to press down on mushrooms evenly. Cook, pressing down, until mushrooms shrink and are deeply browned underneath, about 3 minutes. Remove top skillet; season mushrooms with salt. Turn mushrooms over, add 1 teaspoon oil to pan, and re-cover with foil-lined skillet. Cook, pressing, until second sides of mushrooms are well-browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to bowl with pesto. Repeat process with remaining mushrooms and 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon oil. Toss mushrooms in pesto to coat.
Rub cut sides of baguette with garlic. Arrange mushrooms on bottom half of bread, then layer mozzarella on top. Top with cherry peppers and basil. Close and cut in quarters to make 4 sandwiches.
We’re continuing this summer’s basic millennial avocado toast theme with ponzu-salmon avocado toast. Adapted from Bon Appetit, this simple meal is as if sushi met avocado toast and became dinner. It’s easy, it’s delicious, it’s genius.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons chili-garlic sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon Meyer lemon juice, plus more
1 Armenian or 3 Persian cucumbers, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped pickled ginger
Salt
4 ounces cold-smoked salmon, torn into bite-size pieces
4 slices sourdough bread, toasted
Toasted sesame seeds and toasted nori seaweed snacks, for serving
Mix mayonnaise and chili-garlic sauce in a small bowl; set aside.
Mix soy sauce, lime juice, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice in another small bowl; set ponzu sauce aside.
Place cucumbers, avocado, and pickled ginger in a medium bowl; season with salt. Squeeze a little lemon juice and toss gently to combine.
Dip each piece of reserved salmon in ponzu sauce and add to bowl with cucumber mixture; toss gently until just distributed.
Spread some spicy mayonnaise over each piece of toast. Top with salmon mixture and drizzle a small amount of remaining ponzu over. Sprinkle toast with sesame seeds, then crumble seaweed snacks on top.
I make a peach-bourbon shrub that’s one of my favorite cocktails: it’s tart and sweet and summery in the best way. The thing about shrubs is that they’re endlessly riffable, so why not replace the bourbon with tequila and the peaches with pineapple? It turns out they’re a winning combination too. Make this drink in the late spring and summer, when pineapples are in season.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 pounds pineapple, peeled, cored, and chopped into medium pieces
3 tablespoons white vinegar
6 ounces blanco tequila
2 ounces lemon juice, preferably Meyer
Bring sugar and 3/4 cup water to a boil in a saucepan and add pineapple pieces to pan. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit 30 minutes. Strain syrup into a bowl (reserve a few pieces of the pineapple for using as a garnish); stir in vinegar. Cover and chill shrub.
Set out 4 ice-filled cocktail glasses. For each cocktail, shake 2 ounces shrub, 1 1/2 ounces tequila, and half an ounce of lemon juice in an ice-filled cocktail shaker until frosty. Strain into glasses and top with reserved pineapple.
If you’ve know me at all then you know okra is my favorite vegetable, and this blog is a no-okra-slander zone. This easy summer skillet pairs okra with corn and peppers for the ultimate summer side dish. Eat it with rice and chicken or even better, by itself. (I paired it with Iranian dolma here, because why not?)
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon avocado oil
2 slices turkey bacon, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
10 okra, stemmed and sliced crosswise
4 ears corn, shucked, kernels sliced off (or one 10-ounce package frozen corn, about 2 cups)
4 green onions, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the turkey bacon, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 8 minutes. Transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate; set aside. Do not wipe out the pan.
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in the skillet and add garlic, shallots, bell pepper, and jalapeno and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Increase heat to high, add okra and corn, and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, about 7 minutes. Stir in green onions, reserved turkey bacon, and remaining butter and season with salt and pepper.
