A Blueberry Cheesecake Analog for Cancer Season

You may think: a cheesecake? At the peak of summer? Let me present you with a more palatable alternative: the blueberry goat cheese galette.

If you find yourself stuck in the paralyzing heat of summer, unsure of what you want to cook or asking yourself whether you really want to turn on your oven, may I suggest a variation of Deb Perelman’s any kind of fruit galette? Perhaps it is a weird Saturday morning, sunny but with bursts of violent, sudden downpours when you find yourself at the farmer’s market. Perhaps in between rain showers you identify in succession the following items at different tents — blueberries, basil and goat cheese — and a vision will come to you to bake something for the birthday party you’re attending that night. Like a blueberry cheesecake, but less finicky, and without so much dairy on this, a humid July weekend.

The Smitten Kitchen crust recipe is one I swear by — it comes together easily with few ingredients, just cold butter cut into salt, sugar and flour and brought together with Greek yogurt or sour cream and a little bit of ice water. You pat this into a round and put it in between sheets of parchment paper and let it chill in your fridge (or your freezer if you’re particularly crunched for time) (though you can also…