Good morning! Today we have for you:
Drink your greens
At some point in the past year or so, I made it a habit to always bring home a bunch of kale, turning it into a grocery run staple along with milk, eggs and yogurt. In the fall and winter, it’s a snap to use it up; a search for the term “greens” in our recipe database turns up plenty of robust meals that call for kale or other sturdy, leafy greens. But in the summer, when I’m less inclined to spend time with a hot skillet, that bunch of kale has one of two destinations: a salad or this smoothie. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made Ali Slagle’s green smoothie, her adaptation of the “Stew” from Veggies Natural Juice Bar & Cafe in Brooklyn. You might already have everything you need: unsweetened nondairy milk, agave or honey, spinach, kale, ginger, banana, ice cubes and vanilla extract. As written, it’s perfectly balanced — not too sweet, not too spicy, not too vegetal — but I’ve taken liberties and have been pleased with the results each time. In my last go-round, I skipped the spinach and added extra ginger (I love ginger), half an apple and some mint leaves that needed using up. And the reader comments are full of great ideas: Add a few raw cashews for creaminess! A squeeze of lemon or lime! If anyone has made these green smoothies into frozen pops (and forgive me if one of you commented just that and I missed it), please let us know how that worked out in the comments. I’d love to turn my kale into dessert. Featured Recipe Green SmoothieSome of my summer staplesChicken and herb salad with nuoc cham: The adjectives really pile up for Yewande Komolafe’s no-cook recipe. A sample: refreshing, crunchy, salty, funky, sustaining, herbaceous, fresh, easy, fast, five-star. It’s not uncommon for me to roast a whole chicken simply so I can make this recipe with the leftovers. Zucchini pasta with tuna and chile paste: A bold statement, but this Melissa Clark banger might just be my favorite zucchini pasta. The sweetness that the summer squash adds to the spicy gochujang (or harissa, aji amarillo, sambal oelek or Sriracha; whatever you’ve got) and the briny tuna is so satisfying. Make this once, fall in love and make it over and over all summer. Simplest grilled salmon: This is the first summer I am in possession of a grill, and I’m eager to make this ultrabasic Sam Sifton recipe. I know that, like most of his recipes (ahem, oven-roasted chicken shawarma), it will become a go-to, and I’ll use this salt-and-peppered salmon to accompany any number of juicy summer salads. Cold brew coffee: Do you have a big jar and a coffee filter or a fine-mesh sieve? Then you’re all set to turn your favorite ground coffee into cold brew concentrate. All that money you’ll save by making your own daily iced coffee? Put it toward some soft serve. Soft and chewy sugar cookies: You can’t compete with summer’s stone fruit pies and ice cream sundaes and berry-topped cakes, and I don’t try to. But I will say, I’ve never once brought these perfect cookies from Samantha Seneviratne to a gathering and not received wide-eyed raves, from both the kids and their parents. 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.
And before you goIt’s time for summer reading! Right now I’m about halfway through “To Paradise,” a 2022 novel by Hanya Yanagihara. I try to alternate newer titles with older ones, so my next read will come from The New York Times Book Staff’s list of the best books of 2026 (so far). Maybe I’ll stick with the “sweeping family epic” theme and pick up “This Is Where the Serpent Lives” next. (And for more reading recommendations, make sure you’re tuning into Melissa’s Sunday editions of the Cooking newsletter — little surprise that our cooking queen is also a ravenous reader.) Thanks for reading!
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