Good morning! Today we have for you:
What to make with your watermelonIt’s a banner year for melon here in the northeast, and watermelons of all shapes, colors and sizes have been arriving on the regular in our weekly C.S.A. box. Orange-fleshed, yellow or deeply pink; with or without seeds; smaller than a bowling ball or bigger than a breadbox, we’ve been making our happy way through this sweet spectrum. One of our favorite ways to use them is in a watermelon salad, which changes daily. Sometimes it’s just a bowl of watermelon tossed with lime juice, flaky salt and herbs. Sometimes I get fancy, jazzing it up with all manner of savory tidbits — olives, feta or goat cheese, anchovies, red onion — whatever the fridge offers up. But for a more elegant and thoughtful approach, there’s my tomato-watermelon salad with anchovy bread crumbs. The extra step of crisping the bread crumbs in olive oil does make it a bit involved. But the result is well worth the time, holding a delightful tension between sweetness and acidity, juiciness and crunch. Serve it with a simple protein (see suggestions below) and let this complex and colorful salad take center stage. Featured Recipe Tomato-Watermelon Salad With Anchovy Bread CrumbsAlso on the menuPepper-crusted flank steak: Salt, freshly crushed black peppercorns and a nice, thick steak are all you need to reach the apex of summer grilling. David Tanis’s recipe offers nothing more, nothing less. Salmon roasted in butter: Coral-hued salmon goes nicely with the sunset shades of my watermelon salad. Mark Bittman’s herby, easy recipe works especially well with wild salmon, which has the deepest, briniest flavor. Crispy tofu nuggets: An air fryer is the secret to Jenné Claiborne’s shaggy, crackly tofu nuggets, which are seasoned with pickle brine and smoked paprika. But fear not if you are without one; they’ll be just as alluring when baked in the oven. For a limited time, you can enjoy free access to the recipes in this newsletter in our app. Download it on your iOS or Android device and create a free account to get started. Reading and eatingI wrote about BLTs last week, which reminded me of “Harriet the Spy” by Louise Fitzhugh, and Harriet’s abiding love of tomato sandwiches. You know what else Harriet ate every day? Cake and milk, precisely at 3:45 in the afternoon, before heading out on her spy route. Louise Fitzhugh never specifies what kind of cake it is, but in my mind, it’s chocolate, maybe something comforting and homey like Mollie Katzen’s made-in-the-pan chocolate cake (adapted by Margaux Laskey). A glass of milk on the side would be just right.
What are you reading? Let me know at hellomelissa@nytimes.com. I’m always looking for my next great read. That’s all for now. I’ll be back tomorrow.
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