All I Need is Bread and Cheese

 The concept of naan-va-paneer-va*... was a beloved one in our kitchen growing up, and when the weather is as sunny as it's been lately, the simplicity of this kind of meal is especially appealing.  You might recognize those foreign words from your local curry shop's menu, but they are the same in Persian as they are in Hindi:  naan is bread, and paneer is cheese.  Take those two -- typically it was lavash, sangak, or some other Persian flatbread, and salty feta cheese -- and add some things:  some sliced tomatoes, a few pistachios or walnuts, some cold cantaloupe, or maybe just some fruit preserves.  Something about this combination is deeply satisfying.

Today, recovering from maid of honor duties at an absolutely beautiful but extremely culinarily indulgent wedding last night (6 courses, catered by animal.  Need i say more?), I couldn't possibly stomach a lunch more substantial than naan-va-paneer.  Today's rendition included some special treats: for one, this insanely good goat's milk feta with sun-dried tomatoes purchased from at the Silver Lake Farmer's Market from the burnished old Greek man who once sang a song about my beauty while selling me cheese (I love the Greek).

Another was zaatar, a Middle Eastern blend of dried thyme and other herbs with toasted sesame seeds. You'll find zaatar in  Israeli and Lebanese food for sure; I've also had it in Jordan.  It's not a Persian ingredient.  I have a giant bag sitting in my fridge that I carried with me the last time I was in Israel (let's not talk about how long ago that was), but you can find it in Middle Eastern markets and spice shops here.

This doesn't really warrant a recipe, but here's the breakdown of today's naan-o-paneer lunch:

 - whole-wheat pita, perfectly toasted and spread with strained nonfat Greek yogurt, drizzled with olive oil, and sprinkled with flaky salt and zaatar
 - a few slices from a really good tomato, sprinkled with olive oil, lemon juice, and salt
 - a few slices of cool, crisp Asian pear
 - marinated feta with sun-dried tomatoes

The perfect beverage to go along?  Sharbat-e-golab, sweet icy rosewater ade.  I'm going to go make some right now!

--
* That spelling is actually based on the 'formal' way of pronouncing those words, but in conversation you'd hear something more like noon-o-paneer-o....  And spoken conversationally, these phrases roll off the tongue in a particularly pleasant way:  noon-o-paneer-o-pesteh for pistachios, noon-o-paneer-o-talebi for cantaloupe.  If you've got an Iranian friend handy, ask her to say it so you can hear how it goes.

Sage Wine and Flowers

I know I'm probably sounding like a broken record, but I love summer. Like, really, really love it. And while when I was a kid, there was nothing more summery than spending the day in the pool, these days, I can't ask for better than eating and drinking outdoors, a beautiful table set with candles and flowers, and dishes and cocktails featuring bright summery fruits.

Now, among my friends, an all-girls summer potluck is not macaroni salad out of a tub and weird casseroles. No, we really indulged ourselves: starting with heirloom tomato caprese and pancetta crisps with goat cheese and pear, onto a main course of fish baked atop zucchini and tomatoes, and topping it all off with an apricot sachertorte covered in silky ganache (and including even more delicious courses that I'm too overwhelmed to mention here). We even drank within the summer theme, with sage-infused rosé and apricot sangria.

My contribution was a crudo* of tuna and nectarines. It was inspired by that awesome amberjack and nectarine poke** I'd had recently at animal. Not only did it seem infinitely summery, it gave me an excuse to go to the Santa Monica Farmer's Market and pick up the three most perfect nectarines I could find (not to mention the best melon I've ever eaten). I was a little nervous, as this was my first time serving raw fish to anyone but myself, so, just in case, my recipe included ample amounts of ginger juice (not to disparage the ginger juice: it doesn't just cover up fishiness; it also adds awesome flavor and heat in its own right). I shouldn't have worried though: I got small packages of cubed tuna from Mitsuwa, and they were totally fresh. The dish was a huge hit: light, fruity, with enough tang from lemon and ginger juices to cut the richness of the fish. Such a hit in fact, that the first wave of guests finished off the whole dish before the second set even showed up. What can I say, for all our girliness, we eat voraciously.

So, we ate, and drank, and laughed a lot. We even danced a bit (or rather, others danced while I applauded their performance while melting into the couch). And then, on that same couch, I fell asleep. Ah, summer.

* Crudo is an Italian dish of raw fish dressed with olive oil, citrus juice, and sea salt.

** Eating LA has a photo of that pretty dish here.

Tuna Crudo with Nectarines

Freshness is the key to this recipe. Buy the best fish you can find the day you are serving it, and don't make it more than a few hours ahead. I served this dish in a large bowl, but individual servings, drizzled with a bright olive oil and sprinkled with coarse sea salt, would make a refined first course.

3 large nectarines, 1/2 inch dice

1 lb sushi-grade tuna, 1/2 inch dice

2-inch knob ginger
juice of one lemon

fruity extra-virgin olive oil

sea salt

In a large bowl, mix together nectarines and tuna. Extract juice from ginger by peeling and grating it on a ginger grater, then squeezing out the juice with your fingers. Add ginger juice to fish and fruit; mix again. At this point, you can chill the dish in a tightly covered container.

To serve, drizzle generously with olive oil and lemon juice, season with salt, and stir to combine.