It’s the peak of summer harvest here in the Pacific Northwest. Gardens are over-flowing with the bounty. Local farmers markets are saturated with the vivacious tastes, smells, and colors of the season. Co-workers bring in boxes full of produce, letting the bright colors seep into the office, laying out the summer bounty in the break room, making the donuts seem sad and desperate. Neighbors drop off baskets overflowing with greens, yellows, oranges, reds, and purples so deep and rich you can hardly believe it.
Your mind starts to race as you think of all the recipes to be explored. Your heart quickens as you dream of the canning to be done; to capture the tastes to be savored on a cold winter day as you open summer captured in a jar. You start to salivate as you think of sitting down to a meal, oh the cooking to be done! But instead of turning on the stove and tying the apron strings on, you slice a tomato and sprinkle it with salt, taking a bite of it raw. It is perfection on the tongue, so sweet and juicy; it makes you wonder what piece of plastic has been posing as a “tomato” the rest of the year in your grocery store. Yes, it’s time to enjoy the splendor of what the good earth has to offer.
Simple recipes are where these fruits of the farm perform best, giving you ovation after ovation. Let the taste of summer shine on your table tonight or make the guests at the next potluck blush with this stunning side-dish. Not only does it look like paradise on a plate, on the palate it is perfection.
I call for Ricotta Salata in this dish. It can be found in almost any store that has a cheese section. It is ricotta that has been salted and pressed and it is one of my absolute favorites. It shines on a cheese board, brining simplicity to the table; it takes your salads to another worldly level with its dry salty chew and makes Feta look like a soggy sad mess.
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To summer salads so good you don’t eat a main course.
Marcella Rose
