Summer Simple

Altthough I just finished Julia Child's My Life in France and am currentyly scanning through her French Chef Cookbook, there's something nice about simple summer meals. Last night we had a silverware-less meal - hamburgers, corn on the cob, and watermelon. The burgers we made with ground sirloin instead of ground chuck (which did seem to make it worth the extra dollar or so) and topped them with sharp cheddar cheese and sliced jalapenos. We neglected to buy any hamburger buns at the grocery store then night before so we baked some ciabatta rolls in the oven - albeit herb and garlic ciabatta rolls - but everything tasted just fine. The sweet corn came out perfect, even though neither one of us had actually made it ourselves before. I could have sworn that growing up it took much longer to boil the ears than just a few minutes. I wished the ears were a little further along but once I slathered on some butter (ok, so I did need a knife), and sprinkled on some salt and pepper, I couldn't tell the difference. The watermelon was the perfect ending, super juicy and barely any seeds.

Tonight, I again kept it simple. While Joan made a little homemade pita bread pizza in the the toaster oven, I decided to make a plate of salad caprese. I always wonder when I'm making it - "Does this really count as a salad?" I mean it's so simple. I guess a Caesar salad really isn't anything spectacular either...maybe it's the amount of roughage? Anyway, I sliced up a tomato, some fresh mozzarella, and just did the simple plate presentation. Just lay down the slices of tomato, top with the mozzarella, then leaves of basil, sprinkle with olive oil, and then finish with a few grinds of pepper. Mmm, I might go back into the kitchen in a bit and have more.