EdHart.me
There’s something about roasted red beets that feels grounding this time of year: earthy, slightly sweet, and deeply satisfying. Paired with creamy goat cheese, toasted pecans, and crisp halved little gem lettuce heads, this salad strikes the perfect balance between rustic and refined.
Traditional falafel relies on dried chickpeas soaked overnight, ground raw, and fried hot and fast. When time doesn’t allow for soaking, canned chickpeas can still deliver satisfying falafel if the recipe is adjusted for their higher moisture and softer structure.
There’s something deeply satisfying about pulling a homemade pizza from a blistering hot oven, especially when it’s topped with ingredients from your own garden. This Margherita pizza is what summer cooking is all about—simple, rustic, and wildly flavorful. I used fresh San Marzano tomatoes, just picked, for the sauce. If you’ve never made your own pizza sauce with sun-ripened tomatoes, you’re in for a treat.
Of course, you don’t have to have a tomato garden to make this work. Canned San Marzanos are a fine (and frankly, excellent) option—just don’t skip the step where you crush them by hand or with a quick pulse in a food processor. More on that below.
I ran across this amazing stonefruit salad in the July 2025 issue of Food & Wine, which used plums for the salad, but I’ve made it now many times with plums, plumcots, and peaches and it’s amazing.