Tomato season is nearly over! Good thing the pumpkins and apples are in full force. (Yesterday’s trip to the cider mill was a treat even though it was rainy and chilly.) But while there are still a few tomatoes clinging to the vines, we might as well use ‘em. Better yet, we might as well [...]
What the heck — tomatoes and watermelons are both pink and round summer fruits, so why not put them together? I admit, I had to be prodded into the idea by a tomato-watermelon gazpacho recipe I spotted in this month’s edition of Food & Wine, but once I started thinking about pairing the two, I [...]
Traditional fats are one of the building blocks of food: they carry flavor, they provide a creamy taste and texture, and they have more nutrients per gram than their cousins carbohydrates and proteins. (When I say “traditional” fats, I mean fats from whole foods — both plant and animal — not man-made, refined fats that [...]
Continue reading about Of Macadamia Nuts, Salad Dressings & Oil Labels
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 [...]
