Summer eating: raw vegetable salad

You know when it was so hot last week?  Out came the first of what I am sure will be many of my favorite to make cold, cold, raw vegetable summer salads.  I stopped at the Fruit Basket on my way into town: a Sunday barbecue was scheduled on the back deck of my girlfriend’s house and we were all desperate to grill, desperate to see each other, but terrified of the predicted temperature.

The group constantly clamors for my now-famous kale salad, but on this day, this excruciatingly hot day, all I could think of was a summer-filled platter of produce.  I dragged my painfully sweaty body through the market choosing a few crisp looking zucchinis, fat ears of white corn, and a massive bunch of wonderfully smelly dill.

There would certainly be no cooking today, It was a chore to muster the energy to even cut corn off the cob in the frightful heat.  The zucchini was sliced into slivers as thin as I could manage with the dull knife I always find when not cooking at home.  Corn was shaved off the cob right onto the platter already layered with the thin rings of tender zucchini.  Fronds of fragrant dill were then scattered over the platter and a few grindings of black pepper, a generous dusting of really good, crunchy salt.  This was the most I could manage in the insane, blazing heat of that Sunday, but here would have been the ideal opportunity to add teeny slices of spring onion, fine pieces of green bean, chunks of drippy Early Girl tomatoes, fatty pieces of crispy bacon, or really any raw veggie or delicate herb.

My raw vegetable salads are almost never the same twice, for the exception of the must-have finale, a creamy dressing.  This scorching Sunday, I did a quick, languid whisking of sour cream, more fresh dill, tons of crunchy pepper, all thinned out with tangy white vinegar.  I managed to squeeze the whole pretty platter of veggies in the fridge, super cold being a necessity.  My dressing was placed in the freezer until it was borderline frozen, then stirred just before we blobbed it onto our plates.

The effect of the cold, cold veggies, tart — almost frozen — dressing, was simply sublime.  We sat on the patio, trying not to move much as the heat quietly began to dissipate, the sun lowering behind Sonoma Mountain, a happy breeze amazingly beginning to slip through the trees.

Kristin’s Summer Salad

Any combination of raw veggies work in this easy-to-make, perfect  summer dish.  Choose any beautiful selection of farmer’s market vegetables and fine, soft herbs and slice or chop finely and layer on a pretty platter.  Serve with vinaigrette or better yet, a creamy yogurt or sour cream based dressing.

Serves 6

• 2 medium zucchini, sliced into thin rings
• 3 large ears of corn, kernels sliced off the cob
• Large handful of green beans, sliced into thin slivers
• 1 bunch of fresh dill, fronds torn from stems
• Good, coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
• Soft feta or ricotta cheese (optional, but yummy)

Layer all the vegetables on a pretty platter and top generously with salt and pepper.  Plop cheese in small pieces on top.  Serve with dressing on the side.

Goodness found: Sausalito

I will drive hours for a mind-blowing meal.  I will drive even further for mind-blowing pizza.  I find myself often doing the drive over the Golden Gate Bridge heading north towards the tawny hills of Sonoma, each time having a hard time not exiting towards Sausalito, towards the insanely perfect sushi at Sausalito’s Sushi Ran.  My eyes gaze longingly at the road that leads down the hill towards the charming sushi bar, just one quick exit to a meal that guarantees a belly filled with more joy than seems possible from one meal.  I could never have imagined that my Mini would practically take the Sausalito exit on her own, me fighting with the steering wheel to continue on my northern journey towards home, for a meal other than that sushi.  Although, after I recently tucked into one of the most perfect pizzas my teeth have ever sunk themselves into, Mini now has even more reason to practically jump from the freeway at Sausalito.

Bar Bocce is Sausalito’s sun-shiney hangout for what seems like every hipster from this and that side of the Golden Gate.  Marin yoga pant-clad chicks and their Ray Ban wearing boyfriends are all there too, waiting their turn to play a sangria-filled game of bocce on the mostly open to the bay bar and eatery.  It always feels like a backyard barbecue here, groups all loudly chatting and laughing around the big fire pit and perched on every random spot available to perch oneself and a glass of rose.  The smallish menu is loaded with pizzas cranked out of a blazing hot wood-burning oven, hitting your table mere minutes after ordering it.

This is pizza perfection. And that’s a sentence I take very seriously, a compliment I do not dole out freely.

The dough is chewy, elastic, but crisp, the edges all puffy and beautifully golden with bits of black char from the intense heat of the oven.  The dough has the same gorgeous qualities as the best baguette, a heavenly NYC bagel.  Toppings are all thoughtful and placed on top with restraint.  Our pie had tender, teeny slices of purple potato, crisp wonderfully greasy bits of bacon, gooey Fontina cheese, and handfuls of woodsy smelling fresh thyme.  Had I not been on a date, I would have easily eaten the whole thing and still wanted more.  I am craving a return trip to horde one all to myself.  I am already dreaming of the crab and Meyer lemon cream fraiche or the ham, Burrata, and fried caper pies.  I think next time I’m heading north, I will have to allow myself to be pulled off the highway towards a mind blowing meal in Sausalito.

What I am drinking: beer

If you drink anything this summer, it should be beer.  I am. Beer is the new wine, haven’t you heard?  There are days when the sun feels heavy and the breeze feels as if someone in the sky left the oven door open and nothing quenches your thirst quite like a freezing cold, super crisp beer.  I prefer a little beer straight from the tap or a bottle stuck in a foam coozie.  I even adore sharing a beer, pouring little chilly bits into a teeny glass, sipping while it is still crazy cold.  Summertime: so many optimal opportunities for beer drinking. Cheers!

Thirty second rant

I am for sitting in a coffee shop all day, computer open, tapping away at the keys, writing and people watching.  I’ll begin with a morning of frothy lattes and, as the day progresses, I may switch to something more festive; a mimosa, a glass of wine, nibbles to fuel all of this writing, or browsing Pinterest, all the while people watching over the top of the screen.  But I simply cannot tolerate the inundation of people who think it is okay to perch themselves on a barstool, elbows on the bar at a nice restaurant, staring into their computer screens. A fine restaurant is not the place for work. It is not acceptable for your cords to be tripping others, for the light of your screen to be glowing obnoxiously.  Restaurant bars are for sipping cocktails, laughing with friends, for appreciating food and for chatting up the interesting person sitting next to you. How about we leave the laptops in the coffee shops or at home, people?