The last two nights have been hot as hell here in the City.  If you live here then you know that you might as well take all your clothes off and try and cook a meal if you absolutely need to cook yourself a hot meal.  Last night I was unable to bring myself to turn on the gas, but tonight I was much more brave.  I paid for it tonight and everyone was in a bad mood because of it.  Storkbite nearly expired.  She had to be excused, took a cool shower and went to bed.  I, on the other hand, was able to chill out with a crisp glass of rosé avec an ice cube.

Piyaz

This bean salad is something that I learned from our local Turkish restaurant and it suddenly became a favorite hot day food at our house.  It’s so simple, just combine one can of white beans with chopped red onion, garlic, basil, parsley, salt, pepper and olive oil.  Mix it up and you have a delicious antipasti called Piyaz that can be eaten with olives, feta, and toasted bread.  This is a perfect meal for a hot day, no heating or cooking required.

Striper Filets and Zucchini

Tonight’s dinner required the kitchen to get heated up and it was unpleasant - I’ll warn you.  However, it was well worth it to taste the fresh zucchini and butterstick squash cooked down in butter, cipollini onions and olive oil.  All of those fresh vegetables were compliments of our CSA.  I simply thawed and grilled some white striper filets on my grill pan.  Standing over the grill plan was not my most brilliant idea of the day, but fish cooks in a few seconds so it was painful for only a moment.  Delicious combination and seriously fresh.