Blueberry Picking and a Summer Meal

A quick ode to the meals of long summer nights. I love lazing outside as the sun sets and the nights cool off to reasonably comfortable temperatures. I love throwing together the kind of meal that uses some of the plethora of summer ingredients that are ripe and then add in a little grilled meat, for good measure. 

Blueberry picking near Santa Barbara

We made a summer tomato salad with a mix of big heirloom tomatoes and sugary sun golds (my favorite, hands down) from the garden. I added some fresh basil, sea salt, pepper, a few shakes of red wine vinegar and a light drizzle of olive oil. I tossed in an entire (indulging) ball of burrata, cut into chunks. This is one of my favorite dishes of all time and I look forward to summer each year thinking specifically about getting to eat burrata with sweet, ripe tomatoes.

For my grilled meat (I didn't get a good photo because it was too dark by the time it was ready to slice) we made a tri-tip with a chipotle rub (recipe care of Bon Appetit). Some fresh white corn from the local corn-stand rounded out a perfect warm summer meal.