Just some foodstuffs for you today:

Cool bowls of creamy legumes: one of roasted sweet potato and borlotti with olive oil, boiled tomato, dried chile, and marjoram; another with more borlotti (such a brilliant texture!) with sweet, clean fresh mozzarella, slivered basil, garlic, a generous squeeze of lemon.

Richly sweet tomato and roasted pepper salad with basil and marjoram, capers, shaved parmesan and fresh ricotta— garnered from the Bedford Cheese Shop. The wares at the Bedford Cheese Shop include all good things in life, such as cured meats, oil and vinegar, local pickled vegetables and candies (fig and chocolate caramels, for one), strong mustard and nutella, tiny oil-packed fish. And, of course, a staggering selection of cheeses. An essential part of the package though, the brown-paper-wrapped happiness package that is little shops like these for me, was that the employees were contentedly discussing their farmer’s market purchases with one another— the heirloom carrots waiting at home for them. Then, a regular or a friend or some such popped in, and was bragging of her visit to a tortilla factory in Queens; she pulled out a package and gave them one to share, and the air was filled with the smell of steam and warmth and earth, of masa. All in about ten minutes. That, my friends, is a package.

And back at Saltie (!) I feasted on ‘The Clean Slate’, a tender—but black-crackly-edged— naan piled with earthy hummus, piquant pickled vegetables, yogurt, quinoa, and seeds (sesame, fennel). I was in love, am in love. I would go there everyday, but will of course compromise with going often and trying everything.

Absolutely everything!