tomato pie

Last night, our friends Ana Maria & Rives came over for dinner. We inaugurated the grill Mr. Mari won (that's another story to be told later) with baby back ribs, sausage and corn. But before digging into those mesquite-smoked yummies, we had tomato pie. I guess it hit all the notes Ana Maria loves since I was told mid-mouthful that I needed to put this recipe up SOON.

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thick as (chilled) pea soup

Peas are all over the farmers market these days. Good thing for me since I love them, especially sugar snap peas. Not only do you get sweet-tasting peas out of the deal but you also can eat the shell - bonus food! Since it's been so bloody hot in NYC these days, I thought a chilled pea soup was just the thing to make.

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shaved asparagus salad

Last spring, we ate at Eataly's La Pizza & La Pasta restaurant. This shaved asparagus salad is as close to their dish as I can approximate without having stepped in their kitchen. The recipe uses a mandoline so mind your fingertips!

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roasted beet salad

I don't know why I was scared to cook beets. But once I did, I realized how easy they were to make! Cook them a day before serving, let them marinate overnight - and shazam! Flavorful, colorful and oh so simple.

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pizza!

After making homemade mozzarella, I though I should make pizza. Well, you can't very well BUY dough or sauce if you've gone to the trouble of making the cheese, can you? Absolutely not. I referred to my Cook's Illustrated,The America's Test Kitchen Cookbook. They have a dough recipe for a thin crust pizza (awesome!) but have a sauce recipe using canned tomatoes (boo!). That won't do, I need to make a FRESH sauce! Thinking of the gajillion sauces I've made over the years, I went to the farmers market and loaded up on tomatoes.

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