Pasta Puttanesca

I have to admit, I make a mean pasta puttanesca!  If it weren't for the unfortunate name - which translates into "whore's spaghetti" - I'd probably advertise that more often ;)

The name originated in the 1950s when brothels were owned by the Italian government.  In an effort to protect the "good" Italian women, ladies of the night were only allowed to go grocery shopping at the local markets during short windows of time so they had to grab whatever they could.  They also needed meals that they could cook quickly between clients.  This pasta is easily cooked in less than 30 mins and tastes fantastic!

Ingredients

• Pasta (any kind)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 yellow onion, minced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp anchovy paste
• 1/2 tsp hot red pepper
• 1/2 cup pitted, minced kalamata olives
• 2 Tbsp drained capers
• 1 jar marinated artichokes (optional)
• 28-ounce can of whole tomatoes (with juices)
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp dried basil
• Handful of fresh parsley, minced

Directions

1. Boil water for pasta.  
2. In a sauce pan, sautee olive oil, garlic, and anchovy paste over medium heat until fragrant and golden-brown, about 3 minutes.  Add onions and continue to sautee until translucent.  
3. Stir in tomato paste, tomatoes, olives, and capers.  Simmer about 20 minutes until lightly thickened, stirring occasionally and breaking up the whole tomatoes.
4. Meanwhile, salt the boiling water and cook pasta.  TIP: commonly people rinse their pasta after cooking it. But this will remove all the starch that serves as the "glue" that makes the sauce stick.  So never rinse your pasta after cooking it unless you want your sauce to act like a slip-and-slide.
5. Top pasta with sauce and serve.

Serves 4
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 20 mins

3-Onion Soup

We had a TON of onions this week through my CSA program, and they were absolutely delicious in this onion soup.

Ingredients

• 4 medium or 2 large onions, diced
• French shallots or a leek, white parts diced
• 1 bunch scallions
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 c sherry
• 2 qts beef broth
• Salt and pepper
• Crispy bread
• fontina cheese (swiss or provolone would also work), grated

Directions

1. In a large soup pot over low medium heat, sauté onions, french shallots, scallions and garlic in butter. Slowly heat until onion mix begins to brown. Watch closely so you don’t burn.
2. Add sherry, and raise heat to reduce.  Cook for 5 minutes. 
3. Add beef stock. Bring to boil, then reduce to simmer for 20 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Pour soup into oven-safe bowls, top with thin slices of crispy bread, and cover with cheese. Broil until cheese melts. 
5. Garnish with chopped shallot and garlic greens.

Prep time 15 minutes
Cook time 30 minutes
Serves 4

Cool Cucumber Salad

This simple salad is one of the many reasons to love summer.  Eat it straight out of the mixing bowl, or serve with a warm entree like a heartwarming yellow squash soup.  Fresh mint is the secret ingredient here that will make all the flavors pop.

Ingredients

• 1 large cucumber (or 2 small to medium cucumbers)
• 1/2 red onion
• Handful of fresh mint, finely chopped
• Olive oil and red wine vinegar, to taste
• Salt & pepper

Directions
Combine all ingredients. If desired, refrigerate to cool.

Serves 2-3
Can be made ahead.

Yellow Squash Soup

A variation of Nigella Lawson's Happiness Soup, this one has curry and saffron instead of tumeric.  With it's sunny color and warm flavors, how could you not love it?

Ingredients

• 18 oz yellow squash (2 large)
• Zest and juice of 1 small lemon
• 3 Tbl olive oil
• 1 Tbl curry powder
• 1 tsp spanish saffron
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup jasmine or basmati rice, cooked
• salt & pepper

Directions

1. Wash and dice squash (don't bother peeling) and place them in a pot with olive oil, and lemon juice and zest.  Cook on low heat for about 5 minutes until softened, stirring occasionally. 
2. Stir in curry, saffron, chicken broth.  Simmer 10-20 minutes and add rice at the end.

Serves 4-6
The warm flavors of this soup go beautifully with a cool cucumber salad.

Lemon Macaroon Tartlets (Cooking Light, 1994)

My mother had such a difficult time finding this recipe, that she finally wrote to Cooking Light and asked them if they could send it to her.  Here is the original recipe for Lemon Macaroon Tartlets from the 1994 issue of Cooking Light.  They were delicious this Easter!

Ingredients for Macaroon Tart Shells 

• 2 cups flaked sweetened coconut 
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 egg whites
• Vegetable cooking spray

Ingredients for Lemon Filling

• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp plus 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 drops yellow food coloring (optional)
• Whipped cream topping
• 2 Tbsp flaked sweetened coconut, toasted

Directions for Macaroon Tart Shells

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a bowl, combine first 5 ingredients (coconut, sugar, flour, vanilla, egg whites) and stir well. 
3. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray, then divide mixture evenly among them, pressing the mixture into the bottom and sides of the muffin cups.
4. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes until edges are browned.  Cool 2 minutes in pan on a wire rack, then remove from pan, and cool completely on the wire rack.

Directions for Lemon Filling

1. Place egg in mixing bowl; set aside. 
2. Combine sugar, cornstarch, and lemon rind in a saucepan and stir well. Gradually add lemon juice; stir with a wire whisk until blended.  Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.  
3. Gradually stir one-fourth of hot lemon mixture into the bowl with the egg, then add the egg mixture in the mixing bowl back to remaining lemon mixture, stirring constantly.  Cook over medium heat 1 minute or until thickened, stirring constantly.  
4. Pour mixture into a bowl, and stir in food coloring if desired.
5. Place plastic wrap on surface and chill.
6. Stir 1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp of lemon mixture into each macaroon shell.  Top each with 2 tsp whipped topping, and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp toasted coconut.

Yield: 1 dozen tartlets

Nutrition info for tart filling - Calories 204 (32% from fat) / Protein 2.1g / Fat 7.2g / Carb 34.1g / Fiber 1.1g / Chol 18mg / Iron 0.6mg / Sodium 66mg / Calcium 9mg

Nutrition info for macaroon crust - Calories 133 (40% from fat) / Protein 1.4g / Fat 6g / Carb 19.2g / Fiber 1g / Chol 0mg / Iron 0.5mg / Sodium 53mg / Calcium 3mg

Raspberry-Peacherine Green Smoothie

A splash of summer in the middle of winter!

Ingredients

• 1 cup frozen raspberries
• 1 cup frozen or canned peaches, sliced
• 1 tangerine, peeled
• 2 big handfulls fresh spinach

Directions

• Blend all ingredients together

Makes 2 servings

Cornbread

My friend Brandi made a fabulous cabbage soup for game night on Saturday, and said that cornbread was a must when eating it.  I tried out this butter-free cornbread recipe and it was great!

Ingredients

• 1 cup yellow corn meal
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1-1/4 cup milk (I used skim)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease 8" square baking pan.
2. Combine dry ingredients (cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt) together in a bowl
3. In the KitchenAid mixer, beat wet ingredients (milk, oil, egg) together.  Add dry ingredients and continue to beat until just blended. Pour into the baking pan.
4. Bake 20 - 25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Serves 12
Prep time 10 minutes
Cook time 20 - 25 minutes

Nutrition per serving: 170 calories, 8 g fat, 5 g sugar, 3 g protein

Gazpacho

Ok, fine.  I'll admit it.  I'll even shout it to the world... I'm having a love affair with heirloom tomatoes!  This gazpacho brings out the best in those beautiful heirloom tomatoes, full of flavor and beautiful to look at.

Ingredients

• 28 oz tomatoes
• 1 cucumber
• 1/2 cup red onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• Handful of cilantro, plus more for garnish
• Salt and pepper
• avocado for topping (optional)
• chicken for topping (optional)

Directions

1. Cook the chicken if using it as topping
2. Pulse all ingredients in food processor
3. Chill in freezer for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes
4. Pour soup into bowls, and add shredded chicken, avocado and/or cilantro for topping

Prep time 10 minutes
Cook time (if chicken topping) 15 minutes

Mom's Maryland Crab Cakes

I made these crab cakes while at the beach this weekend.  Absolutely delicious, and surprisingly easy. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 lb backfin or jumbo lump crab
• 1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 onion, diced very small
• 1 tsp French's mustard
• 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 heaping Tbsp mayonnaise
• handful of fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp old bay, more to top
• salt and pepper
• butter for frying

 Directions

1. Rinse crab and pick out any remaining shell
2. In a mixing bowl, combine first 10 ingredients and mix thoroughly with your hands. 
3. Form the patties and fry over butter, about 5 minutes per side (will be golden brown).  While cooking, sprinkle a bit more old bay on top of the crab cakes.

Serve immediately
Serves 4
Prep time 15 minutes
Cook time 10 minutes

Arugula, Mushroom, Fontina Frittata

Breakfast of champions!

















Ingredients

• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 large (2" diameter) white mushrooms, diced
• 3 cups arugula
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/8 lb fontina cheese, shredded or thinly sliced

Directions

1. Preheat broiler.
2. In an ovenproof skillet, sautee garlic in olive oil until golden, 2 minutes. Discard garlic.
3. Add mushrooms and cook 1 minute.  Add arugula and cook for another 2 minutes with lid on the pan until wilted.
4. Whisk together eggs, salt, and pepper, then pour over arugula in skillet and cook, undisturbed, over moderate heat until almost set, 5 to 6 minutes. Sprinkle cheese evenly on top and broil 4 to 5 inches from heat until eggs are set and cheese is melted, 3 minutes. 

Prep time 5 minutes
Cook time 10 minutes
Serves 2
Adapted from March 2005 Gourmet

Creamy Potato-Choy Soup

A clever take on a potato-leek soup, this recipe was given to me by Lei-Kei Farm as a great way to enjoy the season's bok choy.

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp peanut oil
• 3 c vegetable broth or water
• 1/2 c scallions
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp hot pepper flakes
• 1 inch piece of ginger, grated (tip: save time grating with a mini food processor)
• 3/4 lb bok choy, chopped
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 large potato, peeled and diced
• 2 Tbsp sour cream

Directions

1. Heat peanut oil in medium pot over medium heat. Add scallions, garlic, and ginger to pot. Cook stirring until fragrant, 1 minute.
2. Add choy and potatoes. Pour in stock or water and add salt, pepper and hot pepper flakes to taste. Increase heat and bring to boil; cover, reduce heat, simmer until the potato is tender, 20 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in toasted sesame oil.
3. Puree soup with an immersion blender, or transfer to food processor or blender. Ladle to bowls, garnish with chopped scallions and a dollop of sour cream. Serve immediately.

Prep time 10 minutes
Cook time 25 minutes
Serves 4

Fresh Herb Vinaigrette (made creamy with a milk frother)

Inspired by the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, I joined a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.  With a CSA, you purchase a "share" in a local farm in the Spring, then every week through the fall (normally about 18 weeks), you get a bag of produce from the farm - whatever is in season.  So this spring and summer, most of my recipes will involve local produce.

If you're interested in CSA programs, a great place to find information is the Local Harvest website.  You can enter your zip code to find farms near you with these type of programs.

This week marked the first week of my CSA through Lei-Kei Farm.  We received a TON of vegetables, including heads of lettuce in multiple different varieties, arugula, bok choy, french shallots, spring garlic, asparagus, herbs, and ramps (wild leeks native to the Appalachian mountain region that taste like spring onions with a garlic aroma).

I love with the new varieties of lettuce I've never tried before, and I've been eating salads non-stop.  Here's a classic vinaigrette recipe that really lets you enjoy the season's fresh herbs and doesn't overpower the lettuce flavors:

Ingredients

• 1/2 c vegetable oil
• 1/2 c olive oil
• 1 cup cider vinegar or red wine vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste
• mixture of herbs, minced
• 1 tsp shallot greens, minced

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients and whisk.
2. For a creamier vinaigrette, I use a milk frother ($1.99 at Ikea) instead of a whisk.  Look at the difference.  Check out the photos to see the difference in consistency.

   

Clever Way to Peel a Potato

Today I came across a really clever way to peel a potato.  I'm looking forward to trying this technique soon.  Enjoy!

Chicken Satay

This is one of my go-to recipes for an extremely quick chicken dish.  10 minutes from start to finish.  Gotta love it!

Ingredients

• 3 chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2/3 cup bottled Thai peanut sauce 
• 2 Tbsp lime juice
• (optional) scallions
• (optional) handful of unsalted peanuts, crushed

Directions

1. Pound chicken breasts thinly, then slice into strips.  Pour breadcrumbs into a shallow bowl.
2. Heat olive oil in a grill pan or sautee pan.  Dredge chicken strips through breadcrumbs, then place onto pan.  Cook until chicken is done, 2 - 3 minutes per side.
3. In a small serving bowl, mix together peanut sauce and lime juice.  Top with scallions and peanuts.  This is your dipping sauce.

Serve with grilled bok choy and a salad.

Serves 3 - 4
Prep time 5 minutes
Cook time 5 minutes

Sweet Potato Chips

Second batch came out much sweete

Special Ingredient: Visit from the Fire Department

So I watched Giada de Laurentiis making sweet potato chips on the food network and thought "Wow, these look so easy!"

Little did I know that 15 minutes and a house full of smoke later, I'd be apologizing profusely and promising a fireman that I would never again fry anything without a thermometer.  While there was no fire, the burning spuds not only set off the smoke detectors in my apartment, but the smoke the trickled down the halls set off the alarms throughout the entire building!

Chips made in the first batch when the oil was too hot!

But you live and you learn... after the fire department cleared out, I decided to bake - not fry - the rest of my potato slices.  Much better...










Ingredients

• 1 sweet potato, washed and sliced thinly with a mandolin slicer (ends removed)
• 1 - 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp rosemary

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine spuds and oil in a plastic bag to coat, then place them on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.
3. Sprinkle with garlic, salt and rosemary.  
4. Bake 20 minutes, then flip and bake 10 more minutes.

Ooey Gooey Chocolate Cakes

These decadent little cakes are a snap to whip up and are oh-so-delicious.  They only take 15 minutes to bake and are meant to be served fresh out of the oven so that the inside is runny and warm.

Although you must pop them into the oven immediately before serving, you can put the batter into the tins earlier in the day and refrigerate until you're near the end of your meal. 

Ingredients

• 4 oz semisweet baking chocolate
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 c sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 Tbsp flour
• (optional, for serving) berries or raspberry jam

Directions

1. In a small sauce pan, melt chocolate and butter together.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg, sugar and salt until light and yellow.  Fold in the melted chocolate, then slowly mix in the flour.
3. Lightly butter or spray pam on the inside of 4 cupcake tins.  Pour the batter into the tins and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, until the tops crack.
4. Remove the cupcake tins, and flip cakes onto aluminum foil.  Bang the bottom of the tins with a wooden spoon to make sure they fully slide out.  Carefully invert the cakes back onto plates.  Serve with fresh berries drizzled with grand marnier, or topped with raspberry sauce (nothing more than raspberry jam thinned with a bit of water and stirred)

Serves 2 (batter makes enough for 4, just in case a couple break when flipping)
Prep time 10 minutes
Bake time 15 minutes
Adapted from Dave Liberman's Young & Hungry

Swiss Chard, Cucumber, Grape Smoothie

I've been drinking raw smoothies for 3 days now (2 smoothies per day) and I can't believe how healthy and energetic I feel.  It's really made a difference.  I challenge anyone out there to give it a go too... just two green smoothies a day for 3 days, and see how you feel.  I'm amazed.

I really enjoyed this one... the cucumber brought such a refreshing taste!

Ingredients

• 1-2 large swiss chard leaves
• 3/4 cucumber
• 4 strawberries (next time I'd leave out the berries)
• 10 grapes
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 celery stick

Directions

• Blend the first 5 ingredients together while pushing them down with a celery stick until smooth.  Throw in the celery stick at the end.  Who needs a spoon anyway?  ;)

Serves 2

Kale Mango Carrot Smoothie

Yesterday's experimental spinach-ginger-cilantro-banana smoothie didn't quite come out as well as I had hoped. 

But today's made up for it!  Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 3 kale leaves
• 1 ripe mango
• 3 carrots
• honey
• water

Directions

• Liquefy in blender

Serves 2

Garlic Stuffed Mushrooms

This adaptation of my mother's recipe makes mouth watering stuffed mushrooms that are always the first to be scarfed down at a party.

Ingredients

• 2 containers of medium-sized mushrooms (not the small ones - they are difficult to stuff)
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 - 2 handfuls of parsley
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• juice from 1 lemon
• salt and pepper 
• extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash mushrooms, then cut out stems.  Place caps on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Place stems in a food processor.
2. Add garlic, parsley, lemon juice, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper to the food processor.  Blend while drizzling in olive oil until smooth but still sticky.  Don't be worried if this tastes very garlicy at this point - the garlic has not yet cooked.
3. Stuff mushroom caps and bake for 20 minutes or until done.

Prep time 20 minutes
Cook time 20 minutes

Red Curry Haddock with Bok Choy and Mushrooms

Ok, I am officially addicted to red curry paste.  I think this is my third dinner this week with red curry as an ingredient, but there have been no complaints from the peanut gallery!  This spicy dish is wonderful served with either rice or a cooling cucumber salad.

Ingredients

• 2 haddock fillets (this would also be great with snapper, sea bass, or salmon)
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 Tbl red curry paste
• 1/2 Tbs brown sugar
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms (I recommend cremini or shitake)
• 8 baby bok choy, roughly chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 2 Tbs canola oil

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, combine coconut milk, curry paste, and brown sugar.  Cook over low heat until mixture slightly thickens, about 10 minutes.
2. Boil water then add bok choy until slightly tender but still firm, 5 minutes. Drain and plate.
3. In a sautee pan, heat oil on medium.  Salt and pepper the fish, then add it skin-side down in the pan.  Cook 4-5 minutes, then flip and cook about 3 minutes or until the fish flakes when proded with a fork.  Remove fish, and plate on top of the bok choy.
4. Immediately add the mushrooms to the sautee pan, with lime juice if desired.  Cook about 4 minutes, then place them atop the fish. 
5. Drizzle curry sauce over fish.

Prep time 5 mins
Cook time  15 mins
Serves 2

The Green Smoothie Experiment & SpinBerryNanna Smoothie Recipe

A friend recently urged me to go to the Green Smoothie Queen website and sign up for the free 3-day green smoothie "mini-course" they offer.  Never in my life had I tried a green smoothie, but I'll try anything once...

To my surprise and delight, the green smoothies were FANTASTIC!  I may never make a smoothie without some sort of leafy green in it again.  The basic ingredients to any green smoothie are:

• Leafy greens (e.g., spinach, kale, swiss chard)
• Fruit (e.g., bananas, strawberries, mangoes)
• Liquid (usually water but can be juice like orange or carrot)

I know what you're thinking... a spinach smoothie?  Come on.  But try it, I kid you not.  It's still sweet, but with an added flavor profile you've probably never experienced.  No need for supplements and powders... just one green smoothie a day adds a ton of extra phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals and omega 3 fatty acids to your diet.

You might think that since you eat salads regularly, you're getting these nutrients anyway.  Yet studies show that blending raw ingredients actually lets your body absorb more of the good elements that they have to offer.  Plants have cellular walls that have to be broken down in order for the body to assimilate the nutrients. This is usually done by chewing. With smoothies, the blender does this for you, and breaks up the greens much better than your teeth could. Studies show that chewing allows 40% nutrient absorption, while blending allows 95%!

So here goes the recipe for my first smoothie experiment.  I call it...

SpinBerryNanna Smoothie

Blend together:

• 1 banana
• 6 - 8 strawberries
• 24 grapes
• 3/4 c water
• 2 - 3 handfuls of spinach

And a tip from the Green Smoothie Queen herself... Instead of pushing veggies into your blender with a spoon, use a celery stick.  It saves cleaning a spoon, and you can just toss it into the blender when you're done!

Not-Yo-Mama's Fish Tacos

When my husband returned from a recent trip to San Diego, he couldn't stop raving about the incredible fish tacos he ate by the ocean.  I've been craving them ever since, and wouldn't you know that this month, a recipe for fish tacos with cabbage and lime would make its debut on the cover of Everyday Food (the only cooking magazine I really don't think I could live without). 

While I had never even considered adding cabbage to my tacos, it was phenomenal.  This recipe is a cross between Everyday Food's and my own creation.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb tilapia fillets
• 1 Tbl olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 c sour cream
• zest from 1/2 lime
• juice from 1 lime
• several dashes of hot sauce (tabasco)
• corn tortillas
• 1/4 small head red cabbage, thinly sliced
• 1/2 c fresh cilantro
• 1/4 red onion, minced
• 1 avocado, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 tomato, chopped

Directions

1. Pre-heat broiler with rack in the highest position.  Pat fish dry with paper towels and gently brush with olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper, then broil on a foil-lined baking sheet until fish is browned on the top and the flesh is opaque throughout, 7 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix sour cream, lime zest, lime juice, hot sauce, salt and pepper.
3. Place tortillas on another baking sheet and broil until slightly browned, 2-4 minutes on each side.
4. Spoon 1-2 Tbl of sour cream mixture into each tortilla.  Add fish, cabbage, cilantro, onion, avacado, and tomato.

Prep time 10 minutes
Cook time 10 minutes
Serves 2

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

"If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country's oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week.  That's not gallons, but barrels... Becoming a less energy-dependent nation may just need to start with a good breakfast."

 - Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Last week I started reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and I am completely enthralled.  I don't think I've ever read a non-fiction book that I just couldn't put down.  Most of us don't have any idea about the travels that off-season food takes to get to our grocery stores.  This eye opening book, filled with touching family stories as well as yummy recipes, will inspire you to eat organically grown local products, support nearby farms, and maybe even start growing food yourself.

Best-selling novelist Barbara Kingsolver, along with her scientist husband and college-age daughter who is studying nutrition, chronicles her family's adventures month-by-month as they move to a farm in rural Virginia and vow to eat only locally grown produce for one year. Although each member of the family is given a few "cheats" (olive oil, flour and spices for Barbara; coffee for her husband; hot chocolate for her kids), the family grows its own produce and poultry, and gets the rest of their food from neighboring farms and farmer's markets.  The family's stories will melt your heart, but at the same time you'll get some serious food for thought: the economic, social and health benefits of putting local foods at the center of your diet. 

I will issue a warning though... you may never look at the food in your grocery store the same way again.  I was appalled to find out that the store up the street sells asparagus from Peru when it's asparagus season right now here, locally.  

As the growing season begins, I'm extremely excited about the glorious, local food I'll be eating in the coming months as I start a container garden on my balcony (yes, you can grow vegetables and herbs even without a yard) and participate in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program that starts mid-May.  I'm sure I'll be posting more about these topics over the next few months, so stay tuned...

Nothing says spring like asparagus!

Last weekend as I strolled through the farmer's market and saw rows and rows of neatly bundled local asparagus, I was suddenly stuck with a hopeful feeling that winter was finally over.  A pretense of sweet spring hung in the air.  Asparagus is in season, so the summer months are coming!

Asparagus is really an amazing plant. In the winter, it resembles a fuzzy little Christmas tree.  But every spring, little shoots arise from the ground.  Once they begin to rise, they grow very quickly and usually have to be cut that day.  They only produce asparagus shoots once per year, although some farms in California have figured out how to get two harvests per year (one in spring and one in fall).  Although they take about 3 years to mature once planted, they can come back year after year, up to 20 - 30 years if the plant and soil is properly maintained.

There are many ways to prepare asparagus (sauteed, steamed, boiled, baked...) and it's delicious topped with a simple drizzle of butter or olive oil, salt and pepper.

If you want to try something new, asparagus with pine nuts is a great simple side.

Or throw it into a stir fry for a main dish!







However you cook it, it's best this time a year so eat up and enjoy!