Spring
A seasonal fruit salad made with plump strawberries, sweet cherries, lemon zest, and coriander brown sugar. Plus a few photos from QUITOKEETO.
Perhaps the best salad I've had in the past year. And, unless you absolutely loathe cilantro, you must try it. Simply cilantro leaves and stems tossed with a simple shallot-forward soy sauce dressing, plus peanuts, and asparagus. So good.
I posted a picture of my lunch the other day, and a few of you requested specifics - it was a spring soup made with a ginger & shallot coconut milk broth, spring vegetables, served over egg noodles.
Simple side - asparagus tossed with a garlicky buttermilk dressing, perky radish sprouts, lots of fresh cilantro, and a handful of cooked posole.
Cold soba noodles with a big dollop of ginger-scallion paste for the flight to Tokyo, plus pics from Japan, and a link to a few favorite spots in Tokyo.
A beauty of a carrot salad - tricked out with chickpeas, chunks of dried pluots, sliced almonds, and a toasted cumin dressing. Thank you Diane Morgan.
A fennel mushroom recipe inspired by one of my vintage cookbooks, The Seasonal Kitchen by Perla Meyers. It's a simple, brilliant twist on everyday sauteed mushrooms with dill, chives, fresh fennel, and a kiss of creme fraiche.
Tarragon oil - one of my little secret weapons. Use it as a finishing oil on soups, as a component of anything bread-centric, and as a vinaigrette base. It's vibrant green with grassy anise notes, and just the sort of thing to keep on hand.
A breezy summer-spirited lunch salad made with celery, beans, and Parmesan. And a glance at my attempt at organizing some of my pictures into albums.
There's a pizza restaurant in my neighborhood that makes amazing salads. This one, for example, had farro, kale, avocado, carrots, fennel and a creamy green garlic dressing.
Nettles in a pasta with feta, sesame, almonds, and onion sprouts & a few pics from the Golden Gate bridge birthday fireworks.
One of the best salads I've made in a long time (mung bean sprouts, avocado, arugula, yogurt, almonds) & a look at the QUITOKEETO packaging.
The green rice recipe that got away from me - lots of spring produce, finished with smoked paprika and toasted pine nuts.
A beautiful ruby-hued rhubarb rosewater syrup. Perfect on (or in) everything from yogurt, spritzers, waffles, or oatmeal.
An excellent impromptu springtime lunch tartine: avocado smeared across toasted day-old slabs of sesame bread, layered with arugula and garlicky caraway asparagus + toasted pepitas.
Big bowl of green - broccolini tossed with big croutons, tons of scallion slices, mozzarella, toasted almonds, and a hit of serrano pepper.
A simple tomato soup recipe inspired by a Melissa Clark recipe - pureed, warmly spiced, and perfect topped with everything from toasted almonds and herbs, to coconut cream or a poached egg.
The spring rolls I packed for a flight from San Francisco to Paris - ginger-onion paste, brown sugar tofu, mushrooms, and herbs.
A hot, filling, wintertime DIY four-grain breakfast cereal that you can trick out with all sorts of different toppings.
A scrambled egg recipe taught to me by the lovely Lynn from Satsuma Press - herby cream cheese is the last-second finish that make these eggs simple but special.
An off-beat pasta salad made with stuffed pasta, seasonal vegetables, and a spice-forward, golden sesame yogurt sauce.
This could very well be my favorite salad recipe from Super Natural Every Day - shaved fennel, arugula, zucchini coins, feta, toasted almonds.
A simple Indian-spiced green pea soup, and a few snapshots of things I'm bringing with me in a move up the street.
The perfect simple, spinach side dish - toast a few spices, add a pile of shredded spinach to the skillet, and finish things off with a burst of lemon juice and some shredded coconut.
We picked two new cookbooks to focus on in the 101 Cookbooks Library, and this recipe is inspired by a recipe from one of them. A refreshing chopped cucumber salad loaded with peanuts, spices, coconut, and chiles.
A few behind-the-scenes shots from the Whole Living magazine photo shoot. And a simple Farro & Millet Risotto that is easily adaptable based on what is in season.
A quick spring pasta made with leftover noodles, market vegetables, egg, and a bit of avocado.
If you're looking for a jolt something bright, invigorating, spicy and citrusy - this is just the thing. You steep grated ginger in a bit of sugared water, and then strain it into a lime & grapefruit juice blend. It's from the Rose Bakery inspired cookbook, which a number of us are cooking from in the coming weeks.
The Black Sesame Otsu recipe from Super Natural Every Day - soba noodles and tofu slathered in a thinned-out, salty-sweet black sesame paste, then topped with lots of sliced green onions.
A rustic leek soup topped with an electric green drizzle of dill oil and crunchy toasted almonds.
A simple spring crumble - rhubarb, strawberry, and a splash of port wine with a buttery black pepper, pine nut and oat crumble top. Sounds a bit fancy, but really, it couldn't be easier to make.
This particular salad came together on a whim - slender, barely-cooked asparagus and carrots alongside lots of deeply toasted almond slices, tossed with a jalapeno-cilantro drizzle.
Warm, coin-shaped slices of pan-fried carrots, white alubia beans, and chopped dill tossed with a tangy-sweet lemon shallot dressing. It tastes good the day you make it, even better the day after.
And orzo salad packed with nutritious ingredients - asparagus, almonds, feta, sprouts, broccoli, cucumber, and a zesty lemon dressing.
If you haven't tried grilled fava beans, you must! You can make them on the grill or in a grill pan. Toss them out onto a newspaper where people can dive in and make a bit of a mess with the pods and skins.
An all-natural carrot cake recipe. It is dense, rich, rustic, walnut-studded and carrot-flecked. Sweetened with dates and ripe bananas, it doesn't need any added sugar beyond that. Topped with cream cheese frosting.
A favorite stir-fry recipe. Asparagus and tofu form the base, but it has quite a lot going on beyond that. You get a bite of tang from the lime, heat from the red chiles and fresh ginger, mint and basil cool things down, and a touch hoisin sauce gives you just enough sweetness to balance it all out.
A simple, weeknight carrot soup recipe finished with a thread of toasted sesame oil. You can leave it slightly chunky, or puree it until smooth - whatever your preference.
A spring twist on a panzanella recipe. This panzanella features asparagus, spinach, and peas with hearty, garlic and time toasted bread cubes.
A stunning, delicious sweet strawberry panzanella recipe. Bread cubes are tossed with a sweet brown sugar glaze, strawberries are mashed into a dressing, and it is all served family style.
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