A Crunchy Late-Summer Salad

I’m off next week — my wonderful colleague Margaux Laskey will be writing to you instead — and as I chose recipes for you below, I realized that this was my last newsletter of the summer, and that there are so many more recipes I wanted to share before it’s over. (Yes, summer technically ends in late September, but emotionally it ends on Labor Day.)

It’s not like these recipes expire next month, but to me, they sing of summer — dishes like this sassy green dip, which I made for a barbecue and then ate the leftovers with carrot sticks and cherry tomatoes until the last of it had been scrounged from the jar; and spaghetti with clams, which I was inspired to cook two weekends ago after I saw littlenecks at the market. (The weeknight version, which does not require a same-day trip to a fish vendor, is this delicious linguine with clam sauce made with canned clams.) Have we even talked about spritzes yet? Esquites? Smashed cucumbers? Icebox cake?

Well, we still have this week together, and I hope you like the five dishes below. I also want to call your attention to this new article by Ali Slagle, a fount of good ideas, in which she talks you through the basic formula for assembling superb no-cook meals. What do you think? Write to me anytime at [email protected], and enjoy these twilight days of summer.

1. Chicken and Herb Salad With Nuoc Cham

Speaking of no-cook recipes: Yewande Komolafe shreds store-bought rotisserie chicken to toss with crunchy vegetables, greens, herbs and the Vietnamese sauce nuoc cham for a cool and filling salad with plenty of texture. Serve with rice or rice vermicelli on the side if you like. Leftover chicken works in place of the rotisserie chicken.

3. Jalapeño Grilled Pork Chops

Eric Kim’s five-star recipe embraces jalapeño, using it two ways: in a marinade for thin chops, and in a spiky relish that tops those chops once they’re off the grill (or out of the pan — you can easily make this indoors instead).

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4. Zucchini Pancakes

I make these savory pancakes with feta and scallions at least once every summer, and I think they’re the strongest use of zucchini. Adapted from the chef Aytekin Yar, they’re a version of mucver, the Turkish fritters, and they are delectable for dinner with yogurt sauce and a big salad. If you have a food processor, use the shredding disc to grate the zucchini. (If you do that, you may as well grate extra zucchini to store in the fridge and use in zucchini bread, or in this new caramelized zucchini pasta, which is what I did.)

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