Late summer dining

It's really late August before we get all the great summer vegetables and even though by September fall vegetables and fruits are showing up, it's still to warm to want to eat them yet and summer vegetables always continue into early October.  All the restaurants are previewing fall menus with long heavy braises and root vegetable purees but for me summer vegetables are such a short season I want to eat them as long as they are here.  I love to make eggplant parmesan the Tuscan way with aromatic besciamel instead of ricotta or mozzarella.  A light tomato sauce made from fresh plum tomatoes, lots of Parmigiano and basil.  It seems so light and delicate even if it's not.
Sometimes I find green coriander seeds in the market from flowering cilantro.  It's a wonderful intense burst of flavor in the seed that tastes sort of like what I imagine India to taste like.  I like to sprinkle them over fresh salad tomatoes with Feta cheese and a little slivered fresh chili.  It's an exotic play on Insalata Caprese.  the idea behind it is the same though, creamy salty cheese and ripe tangy fruity tomatoes
One year I worked in a tiny hole in the wall in the East Village where the kitchen was in the tiny dining room.  It was a particularly hot summer and it was all we could do with one wheezy old air conditioner to keep the room cool.  I made a lot of cold soups that summer, variations on gazpacho with richness coming from the olive oil blended into the fruit or vegetable base.  This is one I still love to make with cantaloupe melon, a little bit of plain yogurt, some sherry vinegar and plenty of olive oil.  I garnish it with little shavings of prosciuto  or jamon serrano or just a sprinkling of  dried chili pepper.  It's refreshing and beautiful looking