This water, lightly scented with fresh mint and cucumber, is sneakily refreshing. For the full treatment, serve it in a glass icy cold from the freezer. The salt brings the flavors of the cucumber up, and the longer the water steeps, the more intense the flavors become.
We've all had those post-farmers'-market moments when, while unloading your goodies, you remember that you actually bought three pounds of zucchini in an optimistic moment and now what the heck are you going to do with it? Well, this is what.
A long with muscadine grapes, butter beans are among the farmer's market treasures of late summer in Charleston—reason to wake up with gusto to another day of stultifying heat and oxford-soaking humidity. We do all kinds of things with butter beans: we make a hummus-like spread for the cocktail hour, we simmer them with seasoning meats of all sorts, and we compose marinated salads aplenty. But this may be our most simple treatment yet, and one of the most satisfying.
When this roll comes together, it's almost like a stained glass window. You can see the shrimp, mango, and herbs through the thin rice paper wrapper.
This sauce, without the mint, holds for 2 days in the fridge, but should be used at room temperature. The mint goes in at the last moment to keep its bright green color and fresh taste.
In Mexico, I have seen groovy little stands where the vendors poach ears of corn and then paint it with mayonnaise, dust it with chili flakes and grated queso fresco, and squeeze lime juice all over the whole thing. They do not do that in Italy, but this is what they might do. It's fantastic.
Snappy, spicy, and a perfect lift for so many dishes, this seasoning found in the city of Lecce, in southern Italy's Apulia region, is an old way of putting up the last (or first) of the tomato harvest.