Make the Al Fresco Meal of Your Dreams Before Summer Ends

How is it suddenly mid-August? Wasn't it mere seconds ago that we were casting off our puffy jackets and touchscreen gloves and budding welcome to the return of sunshine and rooftop beers? What happened to the days between the summer solstice and the drugstore aisles filling with school supplies?

The summer ends, eventually. It's a sad truth, but it means we're a step closer to next summer—think of it that way.

Thankfully there are still a few weeks left to indulge in all of the season's greatest offerings. Barbecue. Tiki drinks. And of course, fresh produce.

Julie Ziegler-Haynes, host of our series The Dinner Bell, is a connoisseur who also has the extraordinary gift of drumming up recipes that are as doable as they are impressive. (That's to say, very and very.) In our latest episode, she ventures to Worlds End Farm in upstate New York to prepare an extremely enviable lunch for the staff of Saipua, a Red Hook, Brooklyn-based floral design studio.

On the menu: lamb koftas, made with handfuls of fresh herbs and grilled to perfection. They're ready in just a few minutes, and are imbued with Mediterranean flavor that will whisk you away on an edible European vacation that you could probably never afford.

Alongside these fatty, bite-sized little footballs of heaven, you'll find spiced chickpeas that are so tasty, your guests will have no idea that they can be made using garbanzo beans from the most dented and forlorn of Goya cans. It's all in the seasoning, friends.

And finally, the true star of the show is the sheep's milk ricotta cheesecake. If you want to be a jolly overachiever, yes, there are instructions for making your own ricotta. But if you want to hit the store instead and save your energy for the baking, that's perfectly fine too.

There's a pistachio crust. There's a painterly topping of perfectly ripe fresh fruit. And there's a strong likelihood that this cheesecake is going to change your life—or at least make your summer.

So, we implore you, don't let the summer sunshine fade away without a fight. And this is the best kind of fight, because it involves freshly made cheesecake.