I think the thing that would give you the most light would be track lighting. There are some nicer looking styles out there nowadays and even the plain kind has smaller heads than they used to so is less obtrusive.

ravencajun, that is lovely and could certainly work. Looks like it is only available in Australia though, which makes Italy seem rather close. Pal, I looked at Niche and really like most of them. This one could work, but I thought it might be a bit too refined, not casual enough given our casual, wooded location? Am I over thinking this? This one pictured below looks a bit like an old lantern though. Hmm, perhaps we made a mistake and have insufficient lighting in the kitchen, probably my fault as I think that there are always too many pots and I deleted a few from the original plan. Here is the revised lighting plan, many, many recessed lights all over the DR and hall, none in the kitchen. Remember that the kitchen is very small. There is under counter lighting on the cooking run, and the three pendants over the peninsula, essentially for task lighting, which is hopefully fine given the number of lights near the kitchen. I originally planned for a hanging light in the stairwell, but once the walls and windows were up and I saw the view of the trees out the windows I changed my mind. It isn't that a light would so much block the view, but obscure or interfere unnecessarily. Ditto for over the DR table. When you walk into the main living space from the hall your eyes immediately go up and out the windows to the tree canopies. I didn't want to interfere, but your notion of using lighting to enhance the view intrigues me. My architect is all for minimalism in the extreme, so he readily agreed to no hanging lighting. The pendants over the peninsula don't interfere with major sight lines at all.

Just a few thoughts (and note that I'm neither an expert nor do I even play one on tv). Is there an exterior door that you use regularly? If so, you might want a single light over that door to welcome you home at night. Our back door, that we'll use to come and go from the parking spot, is mostly glass, and I think it may be nice to have an inside light as well as an outside one. It's also been suggested to me that people like everything dimmable, which would then include your sitting room fixture and lights over sink.

While not "gazing dreamily" out our kitchen window, I do look out quite a bit while at the sink. Mostly to come up with future landscape ideas or to watch my dog stalk squirrels and sometimes catch them. When thinking about how I use my kitchen sink, I came to the conclusion that I would hate it in my island. I would have dirty dishes on my island all the time which would drive me crazy. I clean up, and 5 minutes later a dirty dish magically appears next to the sink. Plus, I prefer an uninterrupted island workspace. Organize your kitchen however it works best for you! There is no law that says a sink has to be below the window.