Lisa on January 7th, 2011

I have a confession to make: I’m not a fan of plain-Jane, eaten-as-they-are almonds.  I like to toast sliced almonds and include them in all sorts of dishes, and I love to grind sliced almonds into flour and use them in a wide variety of baked goods, but the idea of munching on unadorned almonds [...]

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Lisa on December 31st, 2010

If salads were clothing, they’d be mix-and-match separables — nearly any combination of ingredients can become a great salad.  It’s just a matter of choosing complementing contrasts: salty/sweet, soft/crunchy, earthy/bright.  Those contrasts are what makes each ingredient a noticeable part of the whole. In this salad, for example, the lettuce is crunchy, but the papaya [...]

Continue reading about The Simple Art of Creating Salads

Lisa on November 19th, 2010

Dressings are probably the #1 Best Thing to Make Instead of Buy.  All you need is an oil, an acid, and maybe some spices or condiments.  Oils can range from extra-virgin olive oil (great with everything!) to unrefined peanut and sesame oils (fantastic with Asian dishes) to delicate nut oils like walnut and pistachio that [...]

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Lisa on September 29th, 2010

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 [...]

Continue reading about Last Call for Summer Tomatoes

Lisa on August 18th, 2010

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 [...]

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Lisa on August 6th, 2010

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

Lisa on July 26th, 2010

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 [...]

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Lisa on July 19th, 2010

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 [...]

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Lisa on May 17th, 2010

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 [...]

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Lisa on March 17th, 2010

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