By School started across the state Tuesday and Sarah called Sunday with the report from Portland — Lucy is settled in Philadelphia, the apartment turned out to be smaller than expected but functional, the program orientation began Monday and Lucy texted Sarah Tuesday evening that her cohort consisted of fourteen women and two men ranging in age from twenty-three to forty-seven, all of whom seemed serious in the way nurse-midwives need to be serious. Lucy is the youngest in the cohort by two years, which is the kind of distinction that flatters her without her acknowledging it. Sarah was a little wistful on the phone — the empty-nest feeling settling in on her in a way that the years of Lucy traveling had postponed — and I told her: she will text. She always texts. Sarah said: I know. She said: I just have to get used to her being gone in this new way. I said: yes. You do.
The weather has been the perfect early-September weather — high seventies days, low fifties nights, the garden putting on a final push of tomatoes and beans before the first frost which is still about three weeks off. I made a large batch of basil pesto Saturday — the basil from the herb bed which is at the height of its production right before the cold knocks it down, the pine nuts (which are absurdly expensive now and which I bought anyway because the pesto is worth it), the parmesan, the garlic, the olive oil, all blended into the bright-green paste that I divide into half-cup portions and freeze for the winter. The pesto is one of the small reliable ways summer is preserved into February — a tablespoon of the frozen pesto added to a winter soup brings the August basil bed back into the kitchen for thirty seconds, which is enough.
The Friday vets coffee — Tom Albany asked me about the writing this week, the way newcomers to the gathering eventually ask about whatever it is each of us does that makes us recognizably ourselves. I told him about the blog briefly — what it was, who read it, why I had started — and he said his wife had been on the blog for years and read me weekly and that she had told him about the post on the giblets some time ago. I had not put it together that Tom's wife was one of my readers. The room is small. The connections show up. Tom said: she'll be tickled to know I see you on Fridays. I said: tell her hello. The exchange was brief and pleasant and added another small thread to the local network of which I am increasingly aware.
Made a roast chicken Sunday — the simple roast — and ate it with potatoes and the last of the green beans. The chicken came out the way it always comes out when I pay attention. I have been roasting chickens in this kitchen for fifty years and I have arrived at the conclusion that the chicken does not require improvement. The chicken requires only that the cook do the same things in the same order with sufficient patience. The cook is the variable. The chicken is the constant.
The basil pesto is frozen now, divided into half-cup portions and stacked in the back of the freezer where it will wait out the winter with quiet reliability — but before I put the last of the herb bed to that use, I wanted one more dish that let the basil be itself, raw and bright and unhurried. This salad does that. The vinaigrette is essentially pesto thinking out loud in a thinner register: the same basil, the same olive oil and garlic, pulled into something you can pour. It felt right for a Sunday when Lucy was settling into Philadelphia and the garden was still giving, and I wanted to make something that honored the season without pretending it would last.
Strawberry Burrata Salad with Basil Vinaigrette
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 15 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 lb fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 2 balls (4 oz each) fresh burrata cheese
- 4 cups baby arugula
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts, lightly toasted
- Flaky sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon good olive oil, for finishing
- For the basil vinaigrette:
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves, packed
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 small clove garlic, roughly chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- Pinch of black pepper
Instructions
- Make the vinaigrette. Combine the basil, olive oil, white wine vinegar, honey, garlic, salt, and pepper in a blender or small food processor. Blend until smooth and bright green, about 30 seconds. Taste and adjust seasoning. Set aside.
- Toast the pine nuts. In a small dry skillet over medium-low heat, toast the pine nuts, stirring occasionally, until golden and fragrant, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
- Arrange the greens. Spread the arugula across a wide serving platter or divide among four plates.
- Add the strawberries. Scatter the sliced strawberries evenly over the arugula.
- Add the burrata. Tear each ball of burrata in half and nestle the pieces among the strawberries, letting the cream spill out naturally.
- Finish and dress. Drizzle the basil vinaigrette generously over the salad. Follow with a light drizzle of finishing olive oil, scatter the toasted pine nuts over the top, and season with flaky sea salt and cracked black pepper.
- Serve immediately. Bring to the table at once — burrata does not wait well, and neither does the basil.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 290 | Protein: 10g | Fat: 23g | Carbs: 13g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 230mg