Sometimes, I find kale salad boring, there, I said it, but this Kale Salad with Toasted Hazelnuts and Caraway Seeds is anything but boring. I really like all of the crunchy seeds and nuts against the substantial kale. And raw kale is usually just a bit too tough for me. I like it roasted, or […]
Continue readingRed Potato Salad & Whole-grain Mustard is the side for a wine pairing I just completed for MacRostie winery’s May release. I’m posting it here, just a little out of order, but the whole meal should be up by next week. And in the meantime, enjoy. This salad can stand on its own. I couldn’t […]
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This quick and dirty, fresh from the freezer version of Succotash makes it an o-so-easy side dish. And for a Kentucky Derby Party where the main dish is some serious meat, like my Twice Glazed Brisket: Bourbon and Peaches, I recommend keeping it vegetarian, even though bacon is typically found in the dish… this is […]
Continue readingThere are probably a million incantations of this dressing. I tend to skip the traditional anchovies and make it vegetarian with the addition of capers as a briny element. I also like a lot of herbs. And an avocado. And I can’t help but add some hot sauce. I try to remember not to be […]
Continue readingApparently I forgot about some sweet potatoes from my last installment of my CSA (community supported agriculture) box. Let’s just say that the ground has been frozen here for a long time and who knows how old they were. The good news is, root vegetables seem to last forever and inspiration finally struck. I’m always […]
Continue readingI love avocado and citrus together. I routinely pair them together on salads and serve them as a side to many Mexican dishes, sometimes with black beans, corn and cotija cheese. In this case, I wanted to make the salad a little more glamorous for a dinner party. Also, recently I have seen the ingredients […]
Continue readingInstead of steaming it, this year I decided to roast the cabbage. I thought it was a nice variation that took advantage of my already hot oven. I roasted the cabbage while the shepherd’s pie was in the oven anyway. I have to admit, that steamed or boiled cabbage beats steamed or boiled brussels but […]
Continue readingThis recipe is quick, easy and satisfying assemblage cooking at its best. The fresh veggies take a couple of minutes to chop and the hearts of palm are canned. This salad can be assembled in 5 minutes. For real. While I make this salad most often in the summer for barbeques and picnics, it occurred […]
Continue readingMy dear friend Molly recently asked for this recipe. She likes to eat at Protein Bar in Chicago for quick, healthy lunches; her favorite is their Healthy Parm and she wanted advice on how to make it at home. While I’ve never been myself, next time I’m in Chicago, I hope to stop in and […]
Continue readingCaponata is a Sicilian dish that’s old enough and it’s history murky enough that I can call this dish Caponata too. Most recipes and histories of the dish agree on eggplants and capers being included in the relish. And that’s where I started. Lots of eggplants. Then I balanced it out with lots of other […]
Continue readingI roasted a lot of beets in January. And I still have some hanging around. This was intentional. One strategy that makes home cooking more relaxing in the long run is to prepare several recipes that require an overlapping labor intensive ingredient. So rather than roasting beets every week, I roasted a large quantity of […]
Continue readingLast year, I didn’t eat meat or drink alcohol (unless I was at Blue Hill in New York since I made the reservation in November) for the month of January. This wasn’t a resolution so much as a staving off death measure. For whatever reason, December 2011 was so wet it required a Dryuary. Fortunately, […]
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