One of the things I’ve missed most about living in a pandemic is going out to eat. I am a self-confessed food snob and there’s nothing I love more than a delicious meal served in a special restaurant. I also have so many friends in the restaurant industry and I hate to see them struggle.

At the same time, I do have a renewed relationship with my kitchen. Prior to the pandemic, cooking had really fallen off my to-do list. It had started to feel impossible. But with this new slow pace of life and nowhere else to go, cooking has become my renewed outlet. It’s funny, I’ve realized it’s like any habit. If you cook at home consistently it just becomes easier, quicker, and more fun. But cooking and food are also all about sharing. I’ve shared a lot of my cooking adventures during quarantine on Instagram – and you may have seen the recipe for the only cake I’m baking while we stay at home.

Today I have a deliciously easy summer salad recipe for you. You can throw it together in no time and it’s a perfect complement to virtually any other dish – grilled chicken or fish, burgers, pork chops, pasta. It’s light and fresh and delicious on hot summer nights (or foggy ones as is most typical in San Francisco this time of year). I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Sugar Snap Pea and Fava Salad with Buffalo Mozzarella
adapted from Cook Beautiful by Athena Calderone

Ingredients:
2C sugar snap peas, trimmed and blanched
1.5C fava beans shelled and blanched
Thinly sliced spring onion or shallot (I had a shallot on hand)
Fresh mint, roughly torn
Fresh basil, roughly torn
1 lemon, zest and juice
1.5T champagne or white wine vinegar
Olive Oil
1 Ball buffalo mozzarella
Flaky sea salt and pepper

Directions: Toss together the sugar snap peas, fava beans, mint, basil. Feel free to toss in any other greens you might like – arugula for spice, spinach for sweetness. Whisk together a quick dressing with thinly sliced shallot, champagne vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil and salt. Toss to coat the salad with dressing, tear mozzarella into chunks and scatter through. Sprinkle with lemon zest, a touch more flaky sea salt and pepper before serving.

If you like the look of this salad here’s a link to the cookbook it came from. In fact, here are all the cookbooks I’ve been returning to during Shelter In Place.