Sunday Dinners

[Dinner a few weeks ago, July 2008.]

I haven’t been sleeping well lately. I’ll blame this on probably too much coffee consumed during the course of my waking hours, not enough fruit, and a myriad of boring things including When is that person getting back to me/ How much longer til vacation/Why do I have to get up so early/Feeeeeeelings (kidding about that part. Mostly.)/Deadlines/etc. Not fun!

Still, things could always be worse. I have gorgeous heirloom tomatoes from the farmers’ market that my favorite tomato guy told me yesterday will be marked down next week since they’ll be in even more profusion (and he knows I come, uh, a bit later than 9a, especially yesterday when I slept in to the decadent hour of 11 a.m. and yes, I’m feeling a wee bit embarrassed about that one). There is just one more week of work before a week off. There are plans with some of my favorite people coming up in about a month. There are writing opportunities that make me quite grateful even as I feel just the tiniest bit stressed. There are good potatoes and green beans and Rancho Gordo beans that make up the perfect dinner when I’m tired and don’t feel like cooking too much.

I hate to complain (though emails to certain parties might contradict this), but this recent spate of being locked into the persistent fog bank that is the Bay Area is getting a bit old. I love summer, and eagerly anticipate it each year, but I must admit this time ’round I am longing for fall: sweet, warm, Indian-Summer fall, when San Francisco’s skies are a brilliant blue and the air is balmy and enticing. Right now, though, it’s chilly and windy, and all I can do is turn on the oven and roast up some of the season’s lovely vegetables, strew them around a plate, snap a few photos, and then devour them.

[Beans ‘n things, July 2008.]

Take this meal from the other night: warm, nourishing, and very easy to throw together — just white beans tossed with roasted tomatoes and garlic; roasted potatoes; and quickly stirfried green beans, all from the Fillmore Farmers’ Market. A plate of this goodness along with a glass of red wine and a bit of Mozart’s C Minor Mass surely should tide me well over into dreamland.

For me, on a Sunday evening when I’ve been working all day, such simplicity is perfect, and appreciated. I’m hoping by the time September rolls around, bringing with it clear skies and endless sun, I’ll have time to delve back into more complicated dishes — though it must be said there is something about the simple, and sweet.