Late-summer tastes are still in season

Although we have moved from late summer into fall, U.S. chef Joshua McFadden believes it isn’t too late to find perfect tomatoes, cucumbers and fresh herbs to make this sustaining salad, which is extra nutritious thanks to the chickpeas.

It’s one of 225 recipes in his beautiful and informative seasonal and local food cookbook Six Seasons: A New Way With Vegetables (Artisan/Thomas Allen, $50). The photographs by Laura Dart and A.J. Meeker are exceptional.

McFadden’s six-season count is based on dividing summer into early, middle and late periods. “Embrace the seasons and good cooking will follow,” writes the chef/owner of the Portland, Ore., restaurant Ava Gene’s.

To learn the impact of a seasonal vegetable, McFadden advises biting into it raw, then preparing it more elaborately, often with his yin (olive oil) and yang (vinegar). Season foods first, and only then add fat (usually oil), which acts as a moisturizer.

His book offers plenty of tips, such as avoiding tomatoes canned with an herb, always having anchovies available for seasoning, and using smashed capers to pep up meat.

McFadden suggests serving this mixed salad with a barbecue buffet.