Taste Summer

The dog days of summer are barking loudly…hot and humid air seems to slow down every step that is taken. However, your friends on the farm on busy working through these dogged days harvesting the cornucopia that is the summer basket. Corn, tomatoes, pole beans, chilies, zucchinis to name but a few of the edible possibilities seduces me. For me I am never lacking a satisfying meal given how ripe and wonderful the earth is at the moment.

The downside of cause I am not particularly willing to turn my stove on un-necessarily. Fortunately, fresh from the farm means many of the foods I might otherwise cook can be eaten raw and transformed into wonderful salads. To that end, I remember as a child loving a salad I would get at a kosher dairy restaurant chock-full of seasonal vegetables slathered in sour cream. I rarely have sour cream in my house but a pesto made from sorrel fits the bill perfectly to accommodate my daily summer haul.









Summer Salad – yields 8 to 10 servings
1 small carrot – peeled and diced
1-bunch candy stripped baby beets – trimmed and scrubbed; then diced
3 baby white turnips - diced
1-cup fresh peas
1/2-pound green beans - diced
1-bunch radishes - diced
5 scallions – roots discarded; then white and green portion diced

Place all the vegetables in a work bowl and toss with Sorrel Pesto. Let the salad sit in the refrigerator for an hour before serving.

Sorrel Pesto
1/4 to 1/2 cup extra virgin olive
2-cups washed sorrel leaves
2 to 3 garlic cloves – roughly chopped
1/2-cup packed basil, mint, or lemon verbena leaves
1/4 cup blanched almonds
Salt and pepper to taste

In a blender pour in half of the oil and add the sorrel, garlic, basil, almonds and blend to smooth. Use the remaining 1/4-cup of olive oil to thin the pesto to a thick, soupy consistency.