Good morning. Someone left a lot of zucchini on my counter when I wasn’t looking, and when it came time for dinner I thought to make Colu Henry’s lemony pasta with zucchini and fresh herbs (above). But it was hot enough in the kitchen already that I didn’t want to boil water for the pasta, so I went off the books and made a kind of no-recipe zucchini slaw instead, and served it with a loaf of Italian bread and some scallops quickly sautéed in butter.
It’s a pretty great summer salad. Thinly slice your zucchini, toss it with salt, pepper and the zest and juice of a lemon, then let that sit for a few minutes to cure. Add yogurt and stir everything to coat the vegetables, and then put some fistfuls of chopped parsley and mint on top, along with a few tablespoons of seeds or nuts, maybe a little feta if you have it. That’s it! The only issue you’ll have along the way is figuring out how much yogurt to add. The correct amount will dress the zucchini rather than cloak it — in a summer shirt rather than a winter overcoat.
I’d like to make this sheet-pan dinner of gochujang shrimp and green beans this week, though I might eschew the broiler and do it on the grill. (It might be better with the broiler, though? I’ll debate that for a few days, no doubt.)
Also, this arugula salad with peaches, goat cheese and basil. (Or these roasted chicken thighs with peaches, basil and ginger?)
I’d like to make Hunan beef with cumin. Likewise, velvet fish with mushrooms. And smashed cucumbers with sesame oil and garlic.
And, absolutely, I’d like to make watermelon sorbet. It’s a dessert to dream about, before making it and absolutely after eating it. (One of our number made the same dish with cantaloupe and a little more yogurt than the recipe calls for with the watermelon. I like that idea!)
There are many, many more recipes for you to consider cooking this week on NYT Cooking. Please, if you haven’t already done so, take out a subscription to access them.
Come visit us as well on Facebook and Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. And do get in touch directly if anything goes wrong with your experience in the kitchen or on our site and apps: cookingcare@nytimes.com. We will get back to you.
Now, it’s not home cooking, but I think you should make some time today to read John Eligon and Julia Moskin in The Times, on “16 Black Chefs Who Are Changing Food.” It’s a remarkable piece of reporting about some innovative and powerful kitchen executives who are making their voices heard in new and important ways.
Kim Severson alerted me to this fascinating story about journalism, academic credit, institutional sexism, the whole megillah. I think I’ll be getting Sarah Milov’s “The Cigarette” when it’s released this fall.
You should read, as well, Nicole Rudick on “The Future Is Female! 25 Classic Science Fiction Stories by Women,” in The New York Review of Books.
The skateboarder Lauren Mollica is back in the news, now fly-fishing in the Los Angeles River for carp. (Yeah, there’s a recipe!)
Finally, here’s Arcade Fire and David Bowie performing “Wake Up” back in 2005, and it’s really something. I’ll be back on Friday.
