This is not the dish we expected from Rosie Daykin, founder of the impossibly sweet Vancouver bakery, Butter Baked Goods and author of the cookbook of the same name. Rosie’s new cookbook, Let Me Feed You takes the author beyond buttercream and into simple daily recipes like this one — a salad as ethereal and juicy as summer solstice itself. Make it summer after summer…
Close your eyes and imagine the juice of a ripe nectarine dribbling down your chin, the faint smell of warm earth on tomatoes, the easygoing effort of shelling peas and the lingering perfume of fresh mint on your hands. Summer tastes good.
If Summer Were A Salad
Makes 6 servings
Ingredients:
6 nectarines, quartered + cut in 1⁄4-inch slices
1 cup fresh English peas
2 cups (1 pint) cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup finely sliced watermelon radishes
1 cup finely sliced mint
1⁄4 cup finely sliced basil
3 Tbsp sunflower oil
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp granulated sugar
1⁄2 tsp salt
1⁄4 tsp pepper
1 cup pea shoots (a big handful)
Directions:
In a large serving bowl, combine the nectarine slices, peas, tomatoes, radishes, mint and basil and gently toss.
In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, mustard, sugar, salt and pepper. Dress the salad and gently toss again. Season with more salt and pepper to taste. Top the salad with a big handful of pea shoots and serve.
This salad is best served the same day, but stored, covered, in the refrigerator. It’s still pretty yummy the next day (if you don’t mind the pea shoots being a little limp).
Excerpted from Let Me Feed You: Everyday Recipes Offering the Comfort of Home by Rosie Daykin. Copyright © 2019 Rosie Daykin. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
