The preoccupation with dreaming up wonderful and easy summer dishes started very early this year for me. Recently I found myself listening, rather incredulously, to the weather report on the news, one Thursday morning, and the forecast was: Temperature in the high eighties. We were in the last Shabbos of April, and I thought to myself, what’s up with that? What happened to spring? (PS: That was last year: it was topped by this year’s aberrant 90 degree heat in the first year of April!) Sure enough, the odd prediction turned out to be accurate, and then some. My children and grandchildren were spending that Shabbos with us, and I was determined to serve food that would lend itself to the scorching temperatures, easily and effortlessly, and as always (you know me!) nutritiously, while leaving us ample time, both after Friday’s cooking and after Shabbos lunch, to find refuge in the balmy shadow of the beautiful blooming trees in Riverside Park.

The following menu is a great hit, with everyone big and small, which is so often the best part: Is it any wonder then that my grandchildren love to come to Bubbie? When in doubt just start with the stomach, everything else will follow!

Cold foods do not in the least suffer from being served cold, provided they are prepared with beautifully seasonal ingredients, and highlighted with the most assertive flavors: Simply put, they gloriously stand on their own!

To say that this menu is easy is an understatement: A couple short hours will suffice to prepare this whole meal for a dozen guests: how could you go wrong?

'Yogurt' Fruit Soup

Seared Tuna with Black Bean Corn Salsa

Farfalle with Garlic, Spinach, and Basil

Blackened Chicken Breasts over Mixed Greens

Chocolate Espresso Mousse

For more great recipes check out my cookbook, The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen (you can purchase it using this link)

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