Even though green salads are more of a summer dish, sometimes I find myself hankering for salads even more in the winter months, when the days are chilly and overcast. Thank goodness for greenhouse greens! In the winter, I’ll happily devour greens from someone else’s gardens. Markets often stock pre-washed organic greens of all types: [...]
Bunnies may be cute and fluffy and great starring characters in children’s books, but they are pests when it comes to the garden. Especially when lettuce is involved (although they seem to avail themselves of darn near everything). Your best bet to keep the bunnies at bay is to have a fully clawed and voracious [...]
Continue reading about Keeping Long-Eared Varmints Out of Your Garden
It’s a shame that spinach steals so much of the dark-greens spotlight, because lots of other greens are just as tasty. Don’t get me wrong — I love spinach! But I also adore collards (especially when made Ethiopian style) and mustard greens (perfect when you want naturally sharp and spicy greens) and turnip greens (a [...]
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
Compared to fish, clams, scallops, mussels — even lobster — shrimp strikes me as the richest, smoothest morsel of the sea. Wild shrimp are especially sweet and creamy. The only trick is not to overcook them into tough rubberiness. Seeing as everyone loves a speedy and delicious dinner, though, the fact that they cook so [...]
Carbonara is a classic Italian dish that’s surprisingly easy to make … assuming, that is, that you start with top-notch bacon and eggs. There are several pluses to top-notch bacon: it tastes savory and rich rather than greasy and tough, you only need one strip per person, and top-notch bacon won’t splatter all over your [...]
There’s a new crust in town, and her name is Polenta. She’s an oldie-but-goodie — although polenta dates back to Roman times, it’s still on market shelves today. It’s basically a cooked cornmeal mash. Originally, it was served as more of a porridge; nowadays, it can be cut into slices and then grilled, or it [...]
Hey, we’re all hanging onto our pocketbooks for dear life nowadays, so why not make the most of your groceries? Fresh beets are the perfect example of a food that has hidden potential — namely, two ingredients for the price of one. No sense in throwing away the tasty greens when you can use them [...]
When I give my health talks/presentations, people often ask me about supplements: Do I take them? Can I recommend any in particular? My answer is that I’d rather have a lush meal than take a pill. (“Lush,” by the way, refers to the quality of the ingredients, not the mode of preparation. “Lush” is [...]
Popeye was a forward-thinking guy–he recognized the value of a fresh head of spinach! While it’s a bit much to think you’ll have biceps bigger than Arnold’s if you eat like Popeye, it’s true that you’ll feel better and have more control over your weight when greens take up more of your plate. The feeling-better [...]
