Five...

Be very, very quiet... I'm supposed to be packing. I have 102 hours to give some semblance of order to the piles of clothes and books that have claimed my room as their own for the past 14 years. But before I get started, I wanted to share a recipe that just screams of East Coast summers. 

It's a simple salad of cold crisp lettuce, explosive little red tomatoes, and warm, caramel-y peaches that give way with a luscious pop under your teeth and pull your mouth into a smile. It's the kind of salad that makes me think of lazy summer afternoons of my childhood, when, with my eyes red from a hyper-chlorinated town pool and hair still dripping with shampoo that I was too hungry to properly rinse out, I would sit down to dinner on the deck with my family. 

There would be hamburgers and hot dogs and condiments that would take up half the table; frozen French fries crisped and hot from the oven; grainy breads of all shapes and sizes, and simple white buns that we'd throw to the birds - and grotesquely throw at the fireflies that would float around just beyond our reach. 

And there was always salad, and cold fruit sitting in a pool of melted ice cubes that were supposed to keep the peaches and plums and nectarines cool as the hot day gave in to a humid night. 

Granted, tonight my mom and I ate dinner alone. Instead of recovering from a day of sun and swim, we tried to forget three-hour-a-day commutes and seemingly endless strings of telemarketers - they don't only call at dinner time, I've learned. There weren't the classic flavors hot off the grill. Instead of chasing fireflies, we watched TV. It wasn't even humid. 

But at least we had this salad, and it felt like summer. 

***

Salad with warm peaches and basil-lime dressing

The heart of this salad is the dressing. It started off as my default - olive oil and lime juice - but something seemed to be missing this time. So I grabbed a handful of basil and threw it into the food processor with the olive oil-lime juice mixture. The basil added just the right amount of freshness. The salad works as a light meal on its own, but my mom and I paired it with a big bowl of whole wheat pasta and tomato-basil sauce. "Light" means different things to different people.

Salad:

1 head Boston lettuce

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

2 peaches, quartered

8 slices Parmesan cheese

Spray oil

Salt

Dressing:

Juice if 3 limes and an equal part olive oil

1/4 cup basil leaves, packed

Dash of chili powder

Salt and pepper, to taste

Wash, dry and arrange lettuce "cups" on a large plate. Wash tomatoes and cut them in half; add to lettuce cups. 

Combine equal parts of lime juice (I used 3 limes) and olive oil. It's easiest to do this in a jar; the oil will rise to the top. Add dash of chili powder, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Shake well. 

Put basil in food processor, chop, and with processor on, slowly add the oil-lime mixture until the whole thing emulsifies. Put back in jar. 

Heat a pan on the stove. Cut peaches into quarters and remove pits. Spray cut sides with oil and sprinkle with salt. When pan is hot, add peaches cut side down and reduce heat to low. Don't shift them around. Let peach slices heat through until side on pan browns and begins to release juices, about three minutes. When the cut side turns a golden brown, flip and repeat on other cut side. 

Shake basil-lime dressing in jar, and spoon over lettuce and tomatoes. Arrange Parmesan slices, and add warm peaches. Could serve 4, but better if split between 2.