In all honesty my kitchen isn’t the tiniest NYC kitchen I’ve ever seen. Technically I could probably do half a cartwheel in it. I could have a pretty good solo yoga session in it, if I ever felt the need. It is lacking quite a bit of counter space, but being a decently responsible adult I’ve been able to remedy that with the recent purchase of a shiny new stainless steel kitchen cart. I think that maybe if my boyfriend had one wish it might be that we had a bigger, deeper sink. You see, when I cook, there’s this charming little tendency I have to use every single dish/bowl/pot/pan we have in the house. But if I had a magic wand in my hand, I know what my wish would be --- a fanhood for my stove. Without one, it makes pulling out the grill pan and getting a nice sear going on some risky business.

But I took that risk of a thoroughly smoky apartment so that this dream salad could come into existence. Fresh with crispy vegetables, smoky from grilling them, herby from pesto and downright fucking sexy from burrata, this platter can do no wrong. All you people who have things like decks, and charcoal, and pools to attend to this weekend will not even have to sweat grilling up these badass veggies. And then you’re gonna top it all with burrata. Because, burrata!!

Now, I’ve waxed poetic on burrata previously. Here is yet another love letter. It’s like the best mozzarella you’ll ever eat, but better. The second it is punctured, its oozy, silky, creamy insides pour out just asking to scooped up with whatever else is on the plate for the best bite of whatever that is because, burrata. It’s not to be skipped!

Listen, I’m sorry but we’re gonna have to live with the asparagus in the pictures. Spring is obviously gone and summer has come to stay, so together we’ll have to dream of comparable summer produce to sub in instead. I think green beans are probably the answer. However, based on what I know of summer produce (which is that it is all amazing), it shouldn’t be any trouble to pick your favorite, grill it, throw it on the plate, and douse it with pesto. Nothing you pick could be bad, I’m sure of it.

Lastly, I don’t wanna say that ya shoulda made my pesto, but ya shoulda made my pesto. Recipe here! But I won’t hold it against you if you just add whatever your favorite pesto is on top of all this goodness instead.

Happy Fourth, y’all!

Grilled Vegetables with Burrata & Pesto

Ingredients:

8 ounces sugar snap peas, trimmed and stringed

1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed of woody ends (can sub 8 ounces trimmed green beans)

2 to 3 small red spring onions, sliced in thin rounds and laid out flat

olive oil

salt & pepper

8 ounces fresh burrata, removed from the water

½ cup carrot top garlic scape pesto (recipe here or other fresh pesto)

Directions:

In a large bowl toss the snap peas and asparagus with a drizzle of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Drizzle the laid out onions with olive oil also, and season with salt and pepper, set aside. Try not to break the rings apart.

Heat up a grill or grill pan over a medium to high heat. Once it’s been brought up to temp, add a small batch of the vegetables in one layer on the grill. Turn the vegetables only once they have developed a nice set of grill marks. Continue in batches until all vegetables have been grilled. The vegetables should still have a nice crunch to them.

To assemble, layer the vegetables on a big serving platter. Add the burrata to the top of the vegetables and drizzle the entire dish with a touch more olive oil. Season with a touch more salt and a heavy crank of black pepper. Add a few good dollops of pesto to the dish and serve. Alternatively, you could also toss the vegetables in the pesto before layering on plate.

Serves 6 to 8