Note that if you purchase something via one of our links, including Amazon, we may earn a small commission.
A letter from Bluedot Living Kitchen’s founder and publisher.
The excitement of summer hasn’t left me since childhood, though in this season of my life, it’s no longer beach days and suntans I look forward to, but lunches and dinners on my deck with friends and good conversation. I remind myself that food doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive to be mouth-watering and nourishing — just fresh and local, if possible.
A ripe tomato, sliced thick, pooling its juice onto the plate. (The editors were nice enough to include one of my favorite tomato recipes — an Andalusian Gazpacho made with only the ripest tomatoes — in our latest issue). Zucchini grilled gently in olive oil with fresh herbs (check out our guide to grilled vegetables).
The kitchen is a place where my spirits hum, where memories of past meals linger and bubble up. I lose myself in cookbooks, concocting possible menus in my head. I love the camaraderie of swapping ideas with friends about new recipes and ingredients and talking about the simple joy of pleasing others with food.
Caroline Saunders, who I spoke to on our Imagine If podcast, is one of my favorite Bluedot Living Kitchen contributors; she has a rare genius for understanding ingredients, where they come from, how they’re grown, and what they cost the planet (along with being an amazing pastry chef, and just fun to talk with). She convinced me that desserts can be genuinely healthy and planet-friendly (a secret weapon: millet). And she made a passionate case for the underappreciated bean: black beans, garbanzos, butter beans, lentils, even the obscure tepary bean. Beans are delicious, wildly versatile, deeply nutritious, inexpensive, and among the most climate-friendly foods we can eat. Every conversation with Caroline leaves me with a greater understanding about the wonders of ingredients, where and how they grow. See Caroline’s Climate Cookbook column for our latest issue, and the recipe for a Three Sisters Veggie Bowl featuring tepary beans.
Wishing you bon appétit and happy summertime.
– Victoria Riskin, founder and publisher
P.S. Subscribe now and get access to all of our previous issues, plus our recipe collection!
