Good morning! Today we have for you:
An ideal August mealIt hit me the other day, that feeling you get when you realize that all your summer vacationing is done, and now there’s an unbroken line of workweeks running straight through to Labor Day. The fall is gaining on us! But for now, there’s summer weather and summer produce and summer vibes to these last days of August, and I want to make the most of them, especially in the kitchen. My plan is to zero in on the low- to no-cook end of the spectrum: easy, breezy dishes that feel buoyant and light. Ashley Lonsdale’s shrimp and avocado salad with peanut dressing is a perfect example. The chopping is as minimal as the cooking — just some shallots and garlic to mince and avocado and lettuce to slice. These get tossed with quickly seared shrimp and toasted peanuts and sesame seeds, along with a honey and vinegar dressing seasoned gently with fennel seeds. This dish is both speedy and highly sophisticated, an ideal meal to savor in August. Featured Recipe Shrimp and Avocado Salad With Peanut DressingMore food for thoughtWatermelon with whipped feta: Here’s a no-cook recipe from Ali Slagle, starring juicy, sweet watermelon strewn over a bed of creamy, feta-spiked yogurt. It’s a lovely, pretty thing to enjoy on the steamiest summer nights. Garlic-scallion chicken sandwiches: Christian Reynoso was inspired by the wood-oven-roasted chicken and bread salad from Zuni Café in San Francisco, transforming that beloved restaurant dish into a sandwich starring store-bought rotisserie chicken. He adds layers of sautéed scallions and garlic and vinegar-spiked currants (or raisins) for a complexly flavored dish that’s simple to put together. One-pot tuna orzo with zucchini: Made with canned tuna and quick-cooking orzo, Samantha Seneviratne’s economical, comforting meal is a fine place to use all the zucchini that’s abundant right now. Paneer fried rice: Zainab Shah merges Chinese and Indian flavors in her satisfying take on fried rice. The paneer, caramelized in soy sauce, makes a creamy counterpart to the bite of grated ginger and green chiles, while cilantro and scallions add freshness and color. Blackberry fool: I think berry fools are some of the smartest summer desserts. Vallery Lomas’s recipe calls for only a few ingredients — just sugar-macerated berries folded into a bowl of vanilla whipped cream. Serve this purple-streaked fluff with shortbread or other crisp cookies on the side. That’s all for now. If you have any questions of a technical bent, send an email to cookingcare@nytimes.com. And I’m at hellomelissa@nytimes.com if you want to say hi. I’ll see you on Wednesday. For a limited time, you can enjoy free access to the recipes in this newsletter in our app. Download it on your iOS or Android device and create a free account to get started.
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