Good morning. When it comes to making the perfect summer salad, sometimes less is more. |
 | | Rosie Barker |
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I have spent more kitchen hours than I care to admit trying, in vain, to recreate the Caesar salad dressing of a certain Midtown Manhattan lunch spot. |
Sometimes I go all in on the Parmesan. Other times I double the lemon juice. I've made my own oven-dried anchovy powder, left out the Worcestershire, added a sprinkle of MSG. I've convinced myself that if I can just get the formula correct, I'll have a magic elixir I can dribble over any combination of vegetables and voilà, the perfect salad. |
The dressing is not the problem. Or rather, it's not the only problem with my salads. I'm a produce maximalist. I get carried away with the bounty of the season, selecting whatever looks good from the greenmarket, putting it all in one bowl, paying little mind to the salad commandments about balancing texture and acid. I have never chosen the right cheese. |
Several years ago, Julia Moskin wrote in The Times about composed salads, which are arranged on a plate rather than tossed in a bowl. The ingredients in her recipe were suggestions rather than prescriptions: something leafy, something crunchy, something rich, a combo of raw and cooked vegetables. "Tossed together, the result would be sloppy and monotonous," she cautioned. "A bit of order makes it satisfying and elegant." |
I tried it, but I always seemed to revert to excess: one big mingle-mangle, everybody in the pool. Over time I've come to realize that I need stricter recipes. |
They don't need to be overly involved: Eric Kim's greens with carrot-ginger dressing, finished with mint. Genevieve Ko's corn and tomato salad with basil and cilantro. These, and the rest of our summer salad recipes, are mostly very simple, their ingredients lists limited. (Same goes for Melissa Clark's caprese recommendation below.) Of course chefs are invited to freestyle, but I plan to stick to the ingredients provided. |
I asked a vegetable-savvy friend what separates a good salad from a great one. "Really good vinegar," he said. What do you think? Tell me your summer salad secrets. |
 | | The designer Dennis Basso and Ivana Trump in 1995.Ron Galella Collection, via Getty Images |
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- Ivana Trump's fur-forward style was a hallmark of the opulent '80s and a key part of how she helped define New York in the era. She died on Thursday.
- "Yellowstone" and "Reservation Dogs" were among the snubs at this week's Emmy nominations. (Here are the nominees.)
- Lea Michele will replace Beanie Feldstein and Tovah Feldshuh will replace Jane Lynch in the Broadway production of "Funny Girl."
- Ada Limón will be the next U.S. poet laureate.
- A Scottish museum discovered what seems to be a van Gogh self-portrait, hidden on the back of another work.
- The Ringer ranked Matt Damon's best cameos.
- Photos by the prominent photographer Tod Papageorge of Los Angeles beaches between 1975 and 1981 are being exhibited for the first time.
- Three men were charged with conspiring to sell stolen notes written by Don Henley, including lyrics to "Hotel California."
- Why is the author of the best seller "Where the Crawdads Sing" wanted for questioning in a 1995 murder? The Los Angeles Times explained.
- Kevin Spacey pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual assault.
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 | | President Biden bowed to political reality on his plan to fight the climate crisis.Doug Mills/The New York Times |
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- President Biden retreated from his ambitious climate legislation, conceding that he would not be able to secure enough votes in Congress.
- Democrats blamed Senator Joe Manchin. The bill's remaining provisions focus on health care.
- Biden met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto Saudi leader, prompting denunciations from human rights activists.
- Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has jailed critics on a vast scale by holding them in pretrial detention, a Times investigation found.
- A 4-year-old Ukrainian girl was killed in a Russian attack, encapsulating the horror of its stepped-up military assault.
- Many Americans feel dour about the economy even as their own finances have held up, a Times/Siena poll found. (Here are all the poll's key insights.)
- Heavier menstrual cycles were a temporary side effect of Covid vaccines for some, a study found.
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📺 "What We Do in the Shadows" (Out now): I'm pretty envious of anyone who has yet to see this FX show, which began its fourth season this week. A half-hour mockumentary about a group of moron vampires living in a house on Staten Island, "Shadows" is smart and dumb in equal measure. As our critic Margaret Lyons wrote in advance of Season 3, "'Shadows' thrives on clashes of majesty and mundanity, the fancy-schmancy lore contrasted with sibling-style bickering." |
🎮 "PowerWash Simulator" (Out now on Xbox Game Pass and PC): Video games contain multitudes. You have your racing games, your violent shooters, your space odysseys and your grand open-world adventures. Then there are the quirky ones that scratch an itch you didn't even know you had, like the desire to use highly pressurized streams of water to clean all manner of objects. To someone who likes to wind down his day washing the family dishes by hand, this sounds like heaven. |
🎬 "Nope" (Friday): Jordan Peele has a new movie. After you direct an instant classic like 2017's "Get Out," that's how people write about you. They simply say, "Jordan Peele has a new movie." Do I need to tell you what this movie is about, or will you go see it because Jordan Peele has a new movie? (Fine, it's about flying saucers and it stars Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer, OK?) |
 | | Bobbi Lin for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Eugene Jho. Prop Stylist: Christina Lane |
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You don't need much for a great caprese salad — just ripe tomatoes, milky mozzarella, basil and an open hand with the olive oil and salt. But Ali Slagle's stone fruit caprese tweaks the basic idea in a dazzling new way. Instead of using tomatoes, she tosses chunks of summer stone fruit — peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries, whatever's looking great at the market — with a little sugar and lemon. (Perfect if you're a produce maximalist like Melissa Kirsch.) A brief maceration coaxes out the fruit's sweet-tart juices, which mix with the olive oil to create the dressing. Make sure to take the mozzarella out of the fridge at least 20 to 30 minutes before you make this recipe, so its texture turns supple and soft. Then serve it with crusty bread or a spoon to catch every last, juicy drop. |
A selection of New York Times recipes is available to all readers. Please consider a Cooking subscription for full access. |
 | | Top two, Nauset Media for Gibson Sotheby's International Realty; bottom two, Cindy Freshwater |
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The hunt: He wanted a condo for less than $1 million. Which did he choose? Play our game. |
 | | Zeloot |
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Summer in Toronto: The live-performance scene is bouncing back in time for the city's high season. |
 | | Hayward Field at the University of Oregon is hosting the championships.Chris Pietsch for The New York Times |
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The track and field world championships: For the first time, track and field's most important non-Olympic competition is being held in the U.S. — in Eugene, Ore., sometimes referred to as TrackTown, U.S.A. The American sprinters Fred Kerley and Trayvon Bromell are among the favorites in tonight's men's 100-meter race, and Galen Rupp, who grew up in Oregon, is a contender in the men's marathon tomorrow. An international star to watch: Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, a four-time world champion in the women's 100 meters. All week on NBC and Peacock. |
The pangram from yesterday's Spelling Bee was blocked. Here is today's puzzle. |
Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — Melissa |
Matthew Cullen, Claire Moses, Ian Prasad Philbrick and Ashley Wu contributed to The Morning. You can reach the team at themorning@nytimes.com. |
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