Summer

I don’t know if I would really call this dish a “recipe”. No need for measuring cups, measuring spoons, tons of ingredients, or chopping. I cannot tell you how many times I have thrown some fresh mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes, and some basil together to enhance a meal. A little good olive oil, some balsamic, fresh ground pepper, and coarse salt creates a fresh, tasty, savory, and sweet dish.

Sometimes I will make a bruschetta and add a piece of burrata cheese. My motto – you can’t go wrong with anything that includes burrata. Even without the burrata, there is something special about this combination.

When I read that this weeks dish for French Fridays with Dorie was a salad that included a fruit, I wasn’t exactly overwhelmed. Generally, I don’t really like fruit in my salad. I can’t get into watermelon with my lettuce and PLEASE, hold the mandarin oranges in my chinese chicken salad.

Lots of people think of pineapple as a summertime treat, however, fresh, sweet pineapple is available all year round with lots of healthy benefits.  Pineapples are good sources of vitamin C, B6, thiamine, manganese and fiber. They have zero fat and cholesterol as well.

I love using pineapples in meat marinades, they are an excellent tenderizer as they contain the enzyme bromelain that digests protein. This same enzyme is also found in kiwi and papaya and causes gelatin to break down. The canning process destroys this enzyme, which is why only canned pineapple is used in congealed desserts.

When bromelain is used as a natural supplement it is said to aid with digestion and ease inflammation.  With all the tenderizing effects of pineapple, don't soak seafood in it very long, the texture will turn mushy.

Since eating fava beans for the first time last year, I've come to love the legume as much as the bean-eating crowd. Italians love their beans and Tuscans in particular are known as mangiafagioli or bean-eaters. Among their favorites are cannelini or white beans and fava beans, which are even more popular in Puglia. Favas, or broad beans as they are also known, are prized in their raw or near-raw state, but they are an unusual bean to shell. Each bean is encased in a slip or skin and grouped together in fuzzy pods. So yes, peeling them and blanching them to remove the extra skin may be a chore, but it's really a labor of love.

Here I take my favorite fava beans and combine them with a very herbaceous salad atop a crusty slice of grilled bread lined with wedges of avocado. Texture, flavor, and aroma are very much at play: creamy avocado, granular favas, crunchy bread, and pungent herbs all enrobed in a tangy dressing. To eat this bruschetta, pick it up like an open-faced sandwich and bite right in. It's a fun and casual summer appetizer that will refresh the palate and stimulate the appetite.

Proof positive that my patience (or lack of) is worsening by the year (and my memory, too): I checked our records (record-keeping nerd that I am), and, in fact, we picked the first of this years Sungolds and Early Girls EARLIER this year than last year–and the year before! (That’s tomatoes from the garden, not the hoop house. The hoop house ones came almost a full month ahead of the field tomatoes.)

So I must officially stop complaining about the tomatoes (and everything else) being late this year, especially because now they’re officially here! Time for salsa and bruschetta. Finally.