Everything I want to cook this summer
summer produce is the best produce.
Every once in a while I do a newsletter edition that’s all about recipes. This is one of those! (If you don’t care about recipes, keep scrolling — there’s still a link roundup this week).
Summer is, IMO, the best season for people who love food and cooking. I am admittedly someone who is obsessive about produce — especially summer produce, with all the beautiful tomatoes, corn, peaches, cherries, zucchini, and eggplant. They all make for really great fresh, light, vegetable-forward meals. It’s too hot to use an oven, so all my favorite summer recipes make use of the abundance of great summer produce available with only a stovetop and/or a lot of chopping.
So with that, here’s a roundup of summer produce-centric recipes I’m excited to cook this summer! Some of these are favorites that I’ve made over and over again, and others are new ones that I’ve been bookmarking and adding to my to-try list for this summer. Enjoy!
Vegetables (and some fruit)
Spiced grilled halloumi and tomatoes (I don’t have a grill, but I just use my cast iron grill pan)
Grilled corn salad with hot honey-lime dressing - this is my favorite thing to bring to summer potlucks!!
Black cherry and pistachio salad with charred scallion vinaigrette
Meat / other stuff
BLT tacos - I make this at least once every summer and it is an all-time favorite
Garlic lime steak and rice noodle salad — another staple that I make at least once every summer, on the rare occasion when I feel like having steak
Pastas
Orecchiete with corn, feta, basil, and tomatoes — I think this is truly one of the best summer pasta recipes out there.
Good things to read
The richest babysitter in the world, The Atlantic. A short story from Curtis Sittenfeld!
Why people are so awful online, New York Times.
A haunting new documentary about Anthony Bourdain, The New Yorker.
The constant reinvention of no-recipe recipes, Eater.
Shein is the future of fast fashion. Is that a good thing? Vox.
Why is tinned fish ‘hot girl food’ now? Vice.
Here’s why it feels like this year is going by too quickly, Apartment Therapy.
Those were the days of our lives, The Cut. On the freedom of growing up as an 80s kid.
What deadlines do to lifetimes, The New Yorker.
Why I’m glad I’m an overthinker, The Guardian.
Good things I cooked last week
I made this cold noodle salad with spicy peanut sauce this week and let me tell you: I am obsessed!! I’d recommend adding more crunchy vegetables, whatever you have around.
Other things I made this week: this crunchy cabbage and kale slaw with dates, almonds and pecorino (keeps really well, so it’s a great recipe to make a big batch of on Sunday and eat for lunch all week), an Omsom bbq salmon bowl, and I’ve been making caprese salads to take advantage of the beautiful summer tomatoes that are starting to show up at the farmers market.
Thanks for reading! If you like this newsletter, you can click the “heart” at the top of this post on Substack or share it on social media or forward to a friend — they can subscribe at nishachittal.substack.com. You can also leave a comment on this post to tell me what you think! And you can follow me on Twitter here and Instagram here.