The first cauliflower of the season, and the 4th swordfish dinner of the year. Each was a treat, even before I started cooking!

I could see that the cauliflower was tinged with purple, even before I separated it into florets..

from an earlier encounter with them, I knew about the slightly curious orange-red hue of these tomatoes..

and this time the micro green was actually green.

• one halved 18 and a half ounce swordfish steak from Blue Moon Fish Company (more fish than I would prefer to take home, but it was the last steak and I didn’t want to ask the folks to cut off a piece from it), marinated for half an hour in a mixture of olive oil, part of a finely-chopped shallot from Berried Treasures, some super-pungent dried Sicilian oregano from Buon Italia, and a very small amount of crushed dried Sicilian pepperoncino from Buon Italia, the steaks then drained well, coated on both sides with some homemade dried breadcrumbs and pan-grilled over medium-high heat for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, removed to 2 plates, seasoned with sea salt, drizzled with the juice of an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market, then with a little olive oil, served on 2 plates garnished with micro fennel from Windfall Farms
• florets of a cauliflower from Eckerton Hill Farm sautéed in a pan in which 3 roughly-sliced green garlic cloves from Lani’s Farm, some crushed dried Itria-Sirissi chili, and more than a teaspoon of Italian fennel seeds had first been heated, the cauliflower braised for a few minutes until beginning to soften, at which time it was joined by 5 ounces of halved and seeded orange-red cherry tomatoes from Neversink Organic Farm, the cooking continued, gently, until the tomatoes had been heated and had become a full partner in the mix, finished by stirring in some chopped peppermint from Lani’s Farm
• the wine was an Italian (Marche) white, Sant’ Isidoro Verdicchio Matelica Pié di Colle 2015, from Chelsea Wine Vault
• the music was Mendelssohn’s Symphonies No. 1 and 3, from a recording of Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting the Chamber Orchestra of Europe