summer food

Even though we are able to buy all of the summer harvest fruits and vegetables, it rarely feels like summer in San Francisco. On those odd days, when it's warm enough not to think soup is a good idea, I like to make all sorts of salads. Lately I have been using sugar snap peas as the center vegetable and adding in an assortment of other ingredients to keep it interesting. A favorite is brown rice, diced carrots, green olives and goat cheese dressed up with a red wine vinaigrette. Then too, I like it with sesame oil, marinated tofu and julienned red peppers. Last night I had an ear of corn and some slices of watermelon leftover from our camping (more on that soon) so I added a particularly tasty local feta and a handful of fresh herbs including mint, basil and parsley. It was extremely refreshing.