I found myself burrowing my nose into a bouquet of broccoli raab the other day.
Call me crazy, but believe me, you would have, too if you had seen how vibrant the leaves were. And don’t get me started on the sweet sweet smell of fresh soil that met my nose.
Summer. Is. Here.
And it is wonderful.
It’s so wonderful, in fact, that it gives me the urge to call bunches of greens bouquets. And it gives me the urge to make light, crisp salads and lightly seasoned dishes using the bounty of fresh produce spilling out of vendors’ stalls in the open air farmers markets.
Take this classic caprese salad.
It is simple: quartered tomatoes with fresh mozzarella, basil leaves, a touch of sea salt, and a couple dashes of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. But when it is just about 15 degrees too hot outside, it is a cool, refreshing reprieve easily accessible by fork and knife.
And what happened to that broccoli raab? Well, I kept things simple by mixing it with some orechiette and spicy turkey sausage.
I served the two dishes up with a chilled bottle of wine. And I opened up the windows to let the cool breeze of a summer night spill in. And we sat and chatted and basked in it all.
And it was a perfect Sunday night ending to a perfect weekend.
Perfect.