The beauty of summer cooking is that meals come together quickly. Toss your choice of meat on the grill and supper’s ready. Cook up a batch of pasta and you’ll have the base for a week of lunches. And a trip to the farmers market not only fills in the gaps, but opens the door to new culinary combinations.
These three recipes highlight the best of farmers market finds and can be adjusted to individual tastes and to what’s in season.
Lighter Brighter Classic Broccoli Salad
Serves 4 to 6.
Most Southern picnic salads are lush with creamy dressings and finished with bacon and cheese. Here, a bold vinaigrette is sparked with tart-sweet dried cranberries. Feel free to toss other green veggies in with the broccoli — spinach, kale, chard. Do make this ahead so the bold flavors have time to marry.