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HOT WEATHER, COLD FOOD Summer food is a category all its own, a marriage of the ripe flavors and bounty of summer with honest laziness. In the heat of a summer afternoon, we often don't want to cook, and sometimes we don't even want to eat a big meal. Yet it is the time of year when food is at its best. Abundant and beautiful, fruits and vegetables are piled up in the markets and roadside stands, and probably appearing on your doorstep in baskets from gardening neighbors who don't know what to do with it all. But you can't live on lemonade and watermelon forever. One of the keys to summer food is putting a little distance between the cooking and the eating. Cool food becomes much more important in July and August. Foods that are best at room temperature or chilled - salads, cold soups, the simple, big-flavored dishes of the Italian antipasto or the Spanish tapa bar - make the most pleasant summer eating, and they can be made ahead, which makes all the difference. I'm always happy doing some cooking in the morning, even in a heat wave. Substantial salads are the big players: marinated bean salads, cold grilled vegetables, rice or bulgur salads, a classic caprese, cold pasta dishes. They're all nice summer meals, and many keep well in the refrigerator for a few days, so plan leftovers. In the summertime, a cool, hearty salad in the fridge is money in the bank. Grilled vegetables should always be made in quantity. A great salad can be made by slicing the kernels off of grilled or roasted corn, cutting up grilled zucchini, peppers and onions, and mixing them all up with a few olives, a little oil and vinegar, and some fresh herbs. Serve this with some goat cheese, a loaf of peasant bread, and a glass of cold wine, and enjoy the hot weather. Beans and lentils also make great salads, and sprouted legumes are the secret weapon. Sprouted beans or lentils can be cooked in just a few minutes, so you eliminate the dreaded long-simmering pot, and they keep their shape and texture much better than cooked dry beans. Marinated garbanzo beans are wonderful with mixed salad greens, and also good piled into a pita sandwich. Lentils can be mixed with chopped parsley, sweet onions, and steamed spinach or chard, and tossed with a light lemon vinaigrette, for a declicious and filling salad. Add crumbled feta cheese and some oregano or mint and it's even better. And I like black beans with that reliable combination of zucchini, corn and peppers, either steamed or grilled; I add a minced jalapeño and a dusting of ground cumin for a little excitement. Grain based salads are also ideal. Bulgur and couscous are familiar and go well with bright flavored herbs and marinades. I like barley, too, and combine it with fresh sweet corn for one of my favorite summer salads. And don't forget cold pasta. I don't want to say pasta salad, because that conjures up an image of something in a deli case with too much mayonnaise - but think of cold farfalle with the elements of a caprese salad: sweet cherry tomatoes, fresh white mozarella, lots of sliced fresh basil, some virgin olive oil, and maybe a few cured black olives just for fun - what could be nicer? (Pasta will absorb water from the tomatoes, but you can prepare everything in advance, and stir the pasta into the salad just before serving so that it remains al dente.) Or try big, fat rigatoni tossed with a great ratatouille, and topped with shavings of Parmesan. Have an ice-cold rosé from Tavel, or an Italian white like Vernaccia di San Gimignano, and relax, because it's summer. |