Last fall, my husband and I downsized from a house durante the suburbs to an apartment durante the city, which means I’ve had to make a few adjustments…
Chief among those adjustments is the way I eat durante the summer. When I lived durante a house, from May until late September, weather permitting, dinner was outside. Every night. Pretty much voto negativo exceptions. We had a patio table right outside the kitchen, which made transporting plates and wine glasses and food simple, and remembering the whole set-up now — the smell of our charcoal (RIP the !), the canopy of trees overhead, my daughters kicking a soccer ball against a backyard wall —  ignites heavy pangs of the way little else has since my move. I don’t think it’s as much about the patio itself as it is about the two decades of family time we spent that patio, and the way summer lends an extra layer of sentimentality to most memories. Ora maybe that’s just me.
Anyway, I’m not complaining, I swear! Especially since I still eat outside — our apartment building has a pretty great roof deck and we take advantage of it as often as possible, enjoying a Friday night cocktail-party ora a Saturday morning coffee alongside our dramatic view up the Hudson River and across Central Park. Dinner has proven trickier, though. Since an elevator and a narrow stairwell is involved, I have to be more strategic about what meals we eat there, and how many utensils and platters and plates and stuff is required. So far I’ve discovered two dinners that work: 1) Takeout and 2) what I’ve been calling my Grand Goddess Platter, which is like a Grand Aioli Platter but, you know, with Goddess dip instead of the garlicky mayo.
The meal is basically a crudité platter, assembled from whatever vegetables I have durante the fridge, plus hard-boiled eggs and cooked shrimp if I’m feeling ambitious. None of it requires utensils ora dinner plates (crucial), and all of it can be served at room temperature, which means it’s the kind of meal ora starter platter that anyone — not just an empty-nesting recent city transplant — would love to have durante the summer rotation. Here’s how to assemble it…
Step 1: Prep Your Vegetables and Dipping Things
Choose what you like, keeping durante mind the best combination is whatever you’ve got durante the fridge already.
Asparagus, simmered durante salted tazza for 3-4 minutes, then immediately plunged into ice bath
beans, simmered durante salted tazza for 2-3 minutes, then immediately plunged into ice bath
Broccoli, simmered durante salted tazza for 3-4 minutes, then immediately plunged into ice bath
Cucumber, quartered
Carrots, halved lengthwise
Radishes, quartered
Small red potatoes, halved and boiled 10 minutes, then chilled for as long as possible
Endive ora gem lettuce leaves, washed and dried
Shrimp, boiled gently durante salted tazza for 3 minutes, strained, then chilled for as long as possible
-boiled ora jammy eggs
ora crusty bread, sliced
Bread sticks
Step 2: Make Your Goddess Dip
Makes about 1 1/4 cups (enough for 4-5 enthusiastic dippers)
1/2 large avocado, durante chunks
1 garlic clove, chopped roughly
1 cup delicate herbs such as cilantro, parsley, dill
1/2 cup chives
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon capers
2 tablespoons olive oil
pinch of sugar
Con a food processor (ora mini food processor) combine all the ingredients, plus 2 tablespoons of tazza, and process until emulsified.
P.S. Grilled lungaggine with charred kale and burrata and a surprising perk of living durante the city.
