Grill them, stuff them, use them as hamburger toppings … portabello mushrooms are a favorite summer treat. But my favorite way to enjoy them is to slice them very thin and sautée them with extra-virgin olive oil and a pinch of sea salt so that you wind up with portabello crisps. It’s the perfect base [...]
Continue reading about Crispy Portabellos Make the Best Salads
Scandinavians do a lot with crisp, sweet vegetables and fruits. So do Russians and Pols (and anyone else who lives in cooler climates where you’re more likely to grow carrots than bananas). I drew on those sweet-and-cool traditions to make a simple summer salad featuring two of Michigan’s best crops: apples and cucumbers. Nothing beats [...]
The arugula piles up sometimes, doesn’t it? (Especially now that we’re getting into lettuce-growing season.) Even if you don’t have a lettuce garden, I bet you’ve stared down a half-full container of baby greens and wondered what to do with it. Salads are great, but no dish can tickle your gastronomic fancy 100% of the [...]
Have you ever thought about the classic burger “periodic table”? You know: your burger, your bun, your pickles, tomatoes, cheese, mustard, lettuce, and ketchup. If you deconstruct the ingredients, you wind up with the Holy Burger Trinity of tomatoes, cheese, and pickles. (Ketchup and tomatoes are redundant, especially if you have juicy, fresh tomatoes, and [...]
Continue reading about An All-American, Three-Ingredient Salad
Spaniards have some delectable culinary customs, among them “giant” beans and “giant” corn. (I found the latter — salted and roasted, no less — in a flamenco bar in Cádiz, sold in cocktail-peanut-style canisters in a mini rotating vending machine. Like most bar snacks sold in disposable canisters, they weren’t very good, but still, I [...]
Continue reading about Frijoles Gigantes and Other Spanish Oddities
If you’re looking for a quick and easy protein-packed salad, you can’t go wrong with baby spinach, hard-boiled eggs, and canned tuna fish: you get the bitterness of the greens, the smooth richness of the egg, and the toothsome brininess of the tuna all on one plate. And if you have some beans or tomato [...]
What do shrimp, salmon, avocado, and Boston lettuce have in common? They’re all smooth — in the case of avocado, downright creamy — and full-flavored, and when you put them together, you get a very tasty, quick, well-balanced meal. (And since the salad is served cold, it’s also a great way to use leftover cooked [...]
Food is like life — it’s all about balance and simplicity. And although any dish has the potential to hit that sublime yin-yang-ness, salads are probably the easiest and most versatile showcase for a blending of flavors. Sweet? Salty? Sharp? Smooth? Those elements are probably already on your shelves and ready to go.
All it takes [...]
It’s true when it comes to food and people — opposites attract. Just the thought of some dishes makes our mouths water: sweet and sour Asian marinades, creamy and spicy curries, smooth and crunchy Mexican fried ice cream. There’s something irresistible about having yin and yang all on one plate.
To get that polar effect for [...]
You can add visual appeal, flavor, and exotic flair to any dish just by topping it with an edible flower or two. (Which you probably already have growing in your backyard.) Sprinkle rose petals onto a bowl of vanilla ice cream, and suddenly you have a romantic dessert guaranteed to knock the socks off of [...]
