Hello, loyal readers! I’m back from a long summer break with some big news to share: we’ve moved to Pennsylvania. New job, keeping the family together, blah blah. Fine. Let’s get to the tragic part of this story. My lovingly designed, light-filled kitchen with its 9’x5’ marble-topped island and rocket-powered 8-burner range. . .
Subee’s Kitchen – Before (Photo credit Katrina Mojzsez)
Well – at least I think it’s the best. Love yourself, love your salsa. This salad/salsa/dip/side is in heavy rotation in our house from Cinco de Mayo to the end of tomato season. If using as a salsa/dip, we like Tostitos Scoops for obvious “scoopability” reasons.
Looking for a Thanksgiving side dish that’s traditional yet a “little” different? These stuffed mini pumpkins deliver big autumn flavors in an adorable little package. Even better? They’re highly nutritious (thanks to the whole grain farro), easy to prepare, and can be made a few days ahead. Continue reading
My daughter Leah has been known to consume about a pound of haricots verts in a single sitting. Coincidentally (or not), she also looks like one of those skinny French beans.
Ma fille, Leah
“Proper” technique for cooking green beans (regular or haricots verts) is to blanch them in boiling water for about 2 minutes, then drain, rinse and cool in an ice bath (to stop the cooking). Then, you sauté the barely-cooked beans in butter and/or oil until just tender. This is not a bad method – especially if you want to blanch the beans a day ahead of time– but I have found that the extra steps (and dishes) are not necessary. Especially if you cook beans a lot – which we do.
So is it a curry or a chili? Exactly. This one-pot wonder can be whatever you want it to be – it’s all in the marketing. For example, if you’re serving to kids or vegetable-phobes, do not call it “Chicken Curry Chili with tons of tomatoes, garbanzo beans and winter squash”; “Chicken Chili” might be a safer bet. Or build a campaign around the secret ingredient: peanut butter.
In the heart of corn and tomato season, this is my go-to salad/side dish/topping for grilled chicken. Grilling corn (or just about anything else) in foil packets provides an extra buffer from the heat and makes for extra-easy cleanup. Continue reading
This is why we have a vegetable garden. It’s not the easiest or even most economical way to procure produce, but it sure is rewarding. Continue reading
Even though the promise of spring is only a few weeks away, my vegetable garden is still a threadbare blanket of winter’s despair.
OK – that’s a little dramatic, but month after month of cold, dark days can really bring on a case of Spring Fever in a person. The remedy? Planting a pot of pea shoots or micro salad greens indoors, to savor spring a little earlier than Mother Nature intended.
Everyone in our house grooves on crispy roasted broccoli, so it’s in heavy rotation on the dinner menu playlist.
However, no one but me will eat the stems or stalks. I’m not really sure why this is, but I’d guess it’s because the florets get so much crispier than the stalks. Whatever the reason, I end up with pounds and pounds of broccoli stalks that I can’t bring myself to throw out. (We had to stop putting food in our backyard compost pile because the rats and raccoons thought they’d stumbled upon a 24/7 gastropub.)
So now, whenever I make roasted broccoli, I chop up the underappreciated stems and store them in a gallon-size ziplock bag in the fridge. (They’ll keep for weeks.) When the bag’s full, it’s time to make Cream of Broccoli soup.
Wait – keep reading! If the idea of a kale and quinoa salad sounds less than appealing, I should also mention the crunchy toasted almonds and tangy-sweet balsamic dressing. And, that this delicious fiber-fest is also vegan, gluten-free, low-calorie, nutrient-rich, and filling. FILLING! Now do I have your attention?
