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Makes 4 to 6 servings. Great leftover alert!

ZESTY PINEAPPLE SALAD

INGREDIENTS

1 ripe pineapple, peeled and cut

into 1-inch chunks (How-to

details are on page 195.)

¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

⅛cup unsalted peanuts, toasted

and chopped finely

Zest of 1 lime

¼ fresh chile pepper of choice,

seeded and diced (optional)

Juice of ½ lime

1 teaspoon brown sugar

2 teaspoons soy sauce

HERE’S WHAT YOU DO:

Place the pineapple chunks in a large bowl and add the cilantro, peanuts, lime zest, and chile pepper (if using).

In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, brown sugar, and soy sauce and stir until the sugar is nearly dissolved. Pour over the pineapple; with a large spoon, stir to combine and coat the fruit with the dressing.

Can be made a day in advance.

Makes at least 4 servings

JAMAICAN-STYLE PEAS & RICE

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

¼ cup minced shallot

1 cup long- or medium-grain rice

½ (14-ounce) can unsweetened

coconut milk (you can make a

rum cocktail with the rest, or

keep in the fridge for a few

days in an airtight container)

1¼ cups water

1 (15-ounce) can small red beans

or red kidney beans, rinsed

and drained

1 sprig fresh thyme, or

½ teaspoon dried

½ teaspoon salt

½ Scotch bonnet chile pepper,

seeded and deveined, but kept

whole (optional)

HERE’S WHAT YOU DO:

In a medium-size saucepan with a lid, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until slightly softened, about 2 minutes.

Add the rice and stir to coat with the shallots, allowing it to toast for 1 minute.

Add the coconut milk, water, beans, thyme, salt, and chile pepper (if using). Bring the mixture to a lively simmer, then cover, lower the heat to low, and cook for 20 minutes. Check the rice for doneness; cook for an additional 5 minutes if necessary. Turn off the heat and keep covered; the rice will continue to cook.

Taste for salt and add more if needed. Remove the chile pepper, if using.

Makes 4 ample servings

Summer . . .

... is when the rules do not apply.

The inside moves outside; we live on our porches, stoops, and decks, in our backyards and parks, under the boardwalk and up on the roof. Our lap becomes our table and our hands become our plates.

We’re ready for a ride on an herb-stuffed zucchini boat and for a date with a sun-kissed bell pepper, roasted for romesco sauce or filled with luscious goat cheese. We break out the steak knives to cut into vine-warmed tomatoes (they don’t call them Beef Steaks and Big Boys for nothing), filled with hummus or pureed into a spritzy pitcher of gazpacho.

As much as we play with fire (tofu barbecue, grilled eggplant stacks), we embrace the raw (sesame rice noodles and melon-herb salad), an orgy of color and a heady perfume of basil, peaches, and muskmelon that is gone before you know it. Can we blame the alternative universe on midsummer night fairy dust? Absolutely. Meet you under the cherry tree!

Garlic Scape Pesto Pasta ★ Romaine & Balsamic-Gingery Strawberries

GARLIC SCAPE PESTO PASTA

I should probably have a bumper sticker made that says: I BRAKE FOR GARLIC SCAPES. As soon as June arrives, I’m champing at the bit, waiting like a concert groupie for the crazy-looking green curlicues to debut at my farmers’ market.

Here’s the botany lesson: Garlic, as well as its relatives in the Allium family (leeks, chives, onions), grows underground, where the bulb begins its journey, soft and onion-like. As the bulb gets harder (and more like the garlic we know), a chlorophyll-green shoot like a scallion pokes its way through the ground. The shoot, called a scape, is long and thin and pliable enough to curl into gorgeous tendrils. Farmers clip it to encourage the bulb to grow, and lucky for us, those scraps, once destined for the compost pile, are now market fare. Garlicky yet smoother than the full-grown bulb, scapes make the most killer pesto in the world.

Mark your calendar! Scapes stick around for a limited time.

INGREDIENTS: Pesto

1 cup garlic scapes