cooking in the heat

Danny, Lu, and I sat at the table on our front porch, our faces hungering for the small breeze that blew through the trees. The day had left us sweltered. After weeks and months of grey clouds and 56°, we finally had some sun.

All around us, people were complaining. It’s too hot. And it probably was — our faces were soaked in sweat, as were the backs of our hands when we wiped the sweat from our noses and cheeks. The fava bean plants in the garden drooped lower as the day progressed, the bean pods raised like arms in the air, pleading for a little relief. Just a few moments in the sun and our scalps started to sting with sunburn. Normally, I would have complained too.

However, the heat felt like it was baking that long, cold spring out of us. We drove to the beach, slathered ourselves with sunscreen, then watched Lu run toward the water without fear and a big grin on her face. Her little pigtails killed us. Afterwards, Lu splashed in her her pool underneath the cherry tree. Danny and I sat beside her, drinking iced tea, laughing. Later, we all shared blueberry yogurt popsicles. Lu ate the cold treat with such seriousness, contemplating each bite so entirely, that we were happy just watching her.

Then, we ate dinner.

Danny grilled halibut on the barbecue, along with kohlrabi and leeks he had marinated in ginger, tamarai, soy, and rice wine vinegar. I made my favorite salad of the moment: cubes of watermelon, slivers of lemon balm and mint, salty feta, and a lime vinaigrette. We ate a big green salad made of lettuce and arugula from our garden. We hadn’t turned on the oven all day. There was a cold NA beer for Danny, ice water for me and Lu, plus a pile of books on the table for reading.

We piled food on the plates, hungry after a lovely afternoon together. I stood on my chair to take a photo, then I put away the blog and anything else to do with it. We said our thanks and dug our forks into the food.

I know that it’s far more sweltering in much of the country than it is in Seattle. (We’re back to the 70s here, and Danny’s cooking at the stove as I write this.) What are your favorite dishes to make in the heat? How do you feed yourself when the thermometer bulges at the top?