Lisa on September 28th, 2011

You say pa-tay-to, I say pa-tah-to…or I say yuca. Or maybe ñame or taro or edo or any of the  many other tuber vegetables there are out there. (Although I would assume that Peruvians — who were the world’s original potato growers — would also say patata since they enjoy over 3,000 varieties of them.) [...]

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Lisa on August 29th, 2011

Although popular conception would have you believe that the vaunted Mediterranean diet mostly consists of olive oil and vegetables, in reality, it also involves a lot of pastured eggs and dairy. What self-respecting Greek would be without her feta cheese? Or halloumi or kasseri? Then there’s the whole extra-thick, double-strained yogurt that has caught on [...]

Continue reading about Mediterranean Meals: More Than Just Olives

Lisa on August 26th, 2011

Mesquite: it’s for more than just burning. And providing shade if you’re in the Arizona desert. Turns out that the pods the tree bears are edible (just as the wood is burnable), so if you let the pods dry out and grind them up, you have flour. A fragrant, fine flour that will make you [...]

Continue reading about Cookies Do Too Grow On Trees!

Lisa on August 19th, 2011

Yesterday, I raided my garden and pantry for what turned out to be one of the tastiest and easiest dishes I’ve made in a while. It was all the more stunningly easy because of its main flavor: bacon. Yep. Completely non-messy, completely crispy, completely delicious. If you start with bacon from pastured hogs (which has [...]

Continue reading about Bringing Home the Non-Messy Baked Bacon

Lisa on August 15th, 2011

I have a new love: capers. I’ve been on my caper honeymoon for a week now, and it doesn’t look like the affair will be over any time soon. (A week is a long time for an inquisitive foodie who rarely makes the same thing twice.) Sure, I’ve always had a passing fancy for the [...]

Continue reading about The Great Salsa Caper

Lisa on August 12th, 2011

How can you tell if someone is a professional recipe developer? If they have a freezer full of cranberries from May to September. That’s because we have to work four to five months ahead to be seasonal when magazines hit the newsstands, which means we’re always in season out of season. Hence cranberries on hand [...]

Continue reading about Crunchy, Whole Grain-y (and Quick) Breakfasts

Lisa on August 10th, 2011

Potato pancakes are good, but plantain pancakes are even better. Especially when you serve them with a matchingly tropical side like banana salsa. (Okay, I’ll admit that my main reason for including bananas in the salsa was that they had to be eaten, but necessity wound up being the mother of a tasty invention.) The [...]

Continue reading about Patty Cake, Plantain Cake (and Baby Bananas, Too!)

They call it raita in India, tzatziki in the Middle East, and tarator in Bulgaria. We call it tartar sauce, and we make it with pickles instead of cucumbers and mayonnaise instead of yogurt. Frankly, though, it’s time to revisit the original versions for some inspiration, because rich, creamy Greek yogurt kicks commercial mayonnaise to [...]

Continue reading about Adventures in Sauce (or How to Make the Dip Your Own)

About a year ago, I attended a potluck with some very unique culinary contributions. Probably the most unique of them all was a bowl of what I’d assumed were whole-wheat noodles tossed with alfredo sauce. Darn, I remember thinking. Guess I gotta avoid that — it’s definitely a mess of gluten. I proceeded to happily [...]

Continue reading about They’re Crunchy and They’re Noodle-y…and They’re Kelp!

Lisa on July 22nd, 2011

It is riDICulously hot! Unless perhaps you’re reading this in Antarctica, in which case I’m a bit jealous. (Although I admit I’d rather be grumping about heat than cold.) Then again, a happy consequence of the heat is that ice cream keeps sounding better and better! Especially when you’re talking cream from pastured cows, tastily [...]

Continue reading about Raspberries + Chocolate = Summertime Bliss