summer defiance
plus: a snow pea salad from smitten kitchen keepers
Monday, August 29, 2022
Good afternoon!
I think I’ve watched this 8 times. I’ve watched this at least 4. (TikTok)
‘If You Can Make a Salad, You Can Make Kimchi’ (NYTimes, unlocked article)
At least three times in the last week, I’ve seen captions along the lines of “summer is almost over” and I welled with righteous indignation. Is it? Isn’t summer three months? Weren’t we just two months in? It’s two-thirds now considered “almost”? Put the pumpkin spice down! Get that foliage outta here! I know it seems impossible to believe that we will miss schvitzing on the sidewalk (how NYC feels in the summer), but I know that we absolutely do every winter. It happens like clockwork when we roll into another week of freezing temperatures and feel we might never thaw. So here is my plea: Don’t cancel summer before it’s over, not when the ocean temperature is finally bliss. Don’t wish for pounds of parkas, gloves, and hats just to get out the door while we can still do it in flip-flops and tshirts. Don’t pumpkin anything, not while there are still mountains of peaches, plums, and eggplants. Below, a few more dishes I insist you don’t miss before summer’s over. Consider it cooking agenda for the long holiday weekend ahead. I can’t wait.
Cheers,
Deb
A back-to-school side project: In the US, a tremendous amount of teachers don't get the funding they need to set their classrooms up for success. Most will end up paying out of their own pockets to buy educational materials, which feels all wrong. Many will make wishlists to ask for helping purchasing what they cannot. I asked teachers to send me their wishlists so I could share as many as possible to a wider audience that might be able to help clear them. Help out if you feel you're able; I’ll keep this list up until the end of September -- you will unquestionably make a teacher's (and their students) day. Note: A few people have told me that the items they selected from a wishlist were sent to their own home instead of the teacher’s or school’s. When you check out, make sure you have unselected your usual shipping address and selected instead (it will be a few lines down) the name/town you do not recognize (i.e. the teacher’s information) that says “Full address hidden for privacy.” [Smitten Kitchen Teacher Wishlists, or click the screenshot below]
Smitten Kitchen Keepers comes on in less than three months — 11/22/22 — and the very first copy of the book arrived from the printer this past week and I got a little verklempt, seeing it on full-color paper for the first time. The Snow Peas with Pecorino and Walnuts are so much of what this book is about -- an easy-to-tackle recipe that I hope becomes an immediate addition to your repertoire. A soak in ice water turns even the floppiest snow peas into crisp, juicy perfection. Cutting them thin makes them especially spearable on a fork. A quick mix of olive oil, white wine vinegar, pecorino, toasted walnuts, salt and pepper makes a vibrant dressing.
snow peas with pecorino and walnuts from smitten kitchen keepers
serves 2, but only if you share
½ pound (225 grams) snow peas
3 tablespoons (40 grams) olive oil, plus more if needed
1 tablespoon (15 grams) white-wine vinegar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons (15 grams) finely grated Pecorino cheese, plus more for garnish
¼ cup (30 grams) chopped walnuts, lightly toasted
green beans with almond pesto
My favorite way to prepare green beans takes longer to eat (which says a lot, given that I usually inhale them) than it does to make. Don’t have green beans? Don’t miss the almond pesto, which tastes good on basically every vegetable.
corn chowder salad
Corn chowder, reimagined as a salad, from only six ingredients and cooked in a single pan. Obviously, this is exactly what we have to cook next.
pasta salad with roasted tomatoes
Stop swearing off pasta salad -- just the gloopy ones. This one is all texture and zip: al dente noodles, slow-roasted tomatoes, crunchy nuts, salty cheese and a garlic-oregano vinaigrette. I wish I always had some in the fridge.
chicken gyro salad
Grilled chicken, tzatziki, pitas, and a salad in a great big help-yourself platter is one of my favorite recipes on Smitten Kitchen, and exactly what I want every summer weekend meal to taste like.
linguine and clams
A forever summer favorite, you do not need one fancy thing to make this, save the freshest clams you can find. You can pick them up on the way home from wherever you’ve been today, knowing that cooking dinner will be the easiest part of it.
crispy peach cobbler
Chunky wedges of peach, dressed only with lemon, are baked until slumped under a crisp lid that is as fun to impatiently tap your way through as the best crème brûlée. Resistance is futile.
chocolate pudding pie
Don't let anyone tell you that only fruit pies are welcome in the summer. The cold, richness of homemade chocolate pudding in a crisp, buttery pie shell with a raft of whipped cream and confetti of chocolate shavings on top will make a commotion heretofore unseen since strawberry met rhubarb.
one year ago: baked farro with summer vegetables
two years ago: corn coconut soup
three years ago: salted caramel pretzel blondies
four years ago: layered mocha cheesecake
five years ago: corn chowder with chile, lime and cotija
shop my favorites
Ever wonder where I get my cutting boards, paring knives, offset spatulas and more than you see when I cook? I've created a page on Smitten Kitchen with links to some of my favorite kitchen items, the ones I'm asked about the most. For each item, I've attempted to provide a range of shopping links so we're not just focusing on one giant retailer. Let me know if there’s anything I’ve left off that you need!
See you next week!
