Summer School

Here’s to achieving comfort in the warm summer breeze

Summer is a lot of things—playing outside ‘til dark, chasing fireflies, stumbling into bed with filthy feet. But then there’s summer school. Melting behind a desk rehashing boring stuff you didn’t get the first time around while your friends are playing Beach Blanket Bingo. What could be more cruel?

Whether relearning fractions or lounging poolside, what’s clear about summertime is your brain needs a break. It’s hot, and heat has a way of making us, well, a bit slow. Why, you could sweat through your swim trunks just thinking about what’s for dinner.

So don’t overtax your brain—you may dehydrate, and overthinking is overrated. This summer, break out the cruisewear, dust off your parasol, and stroll through the farmers’ market without a plan. Shop by color—how many meals can you make with red? Shop by origin—what can you make with ingredients from just the West Side? Whatever you do, vegetables are in their prime, so don’t worry if meat isn’t on the table—who wants to cook with heat anyway?

Vegetables are plentiful now and the eating is cheap. Produce Perks will match your EBT dollars to spend on locally grown food. Eat more veggies, support your farmer, brag to your friends how healthy you are, it’s win-win, and win again. Liberate yourself from old notions of mealdom and live in the moment. Try a new vegetable. Try five.

Ethan’s Confetti Salad is made for substitutions so experiment with it all summer long. At Fond you’ll recognize this as a variation of the Spring Roller, where you’ll eat it on a bun. Give okra a try but don’t send it to jambalaya–make chutney instead. It’s surprisingly good, fascinating to prepare, and wonderful on the trout tacos—you really won’t believe it. How else do you expect a fish meet an okra?

And don’t forget to stay hydrated with a tall glass of tomato smoothie, otherwise known as Kidz-pacho, otherwise known as gazpacho. The tomato keeps things tart while the watermelon makes this version genuinely refreshing. Edible staff would like to formally apologize for overlooking the rather obvious Adultz-pacho, otherwise known as a Bloody Mary.

At the chalkboard or the boardroom or spread out on a towel, here’s to getting too hot, attempting cool, then achieving perfect comfort in the warm summer breezes.