This week’s blog post is actually a re-post from May, 2018. It’s my birthday week and I’ve got a big platter of work projects, as well as, an overwhelming desire to play hooky from my kitchen! So I decided to give renewed love to a dish that’s not only tasty, but also, perfect for…
Vegetable
A Big GREEN Salad
Sunday, April 22 is Earth Day. It’s also my wedding anniversary! Yup, it was 13 years ago that I married a wonderful guy in a lovely beach ceremony, surrounded by dear friends and family. When we set our date, we weren’t thinking about Earth Day, but we’ve been glad to share our special day with…
Cooking with Friends
Sharing time with friends in a kitchen is special. It’s even better when one is teaching you how to cook something you’ve never cooked before, and it’s ideal when one of the folks is one gal’s mother. And that’s exactly what happened over the summer, when my mom and I were invited by her friend…
Maple-Cinnamon Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Everything comes to an end, which is just what happened in June when my 2016-2017 garden, from which I harvested arugula, beets, kale, tomatoes, peppers and squash, finally gave up the ghost. . . That’s when high temps and humidity moved in on us in southwest Florida so, sadly, I pulled out of my raised…
Nopales Salad & Fried Plantains
I recently visited the Sarasota Swap Meet to do some research for an article I’m writing for Visit Sarasota. There weren’t many vendors, but that’s probably because it was Sunday, off season, and a scorcher of a day. I saw lots of gently-used treasures, but the best stuff was at the Latin produce vendor tent…
Zucchini Pancakes with Blistered Tomatoes & Basil
Zucchini is being grown right now at local farms like Geraldson Community Farm and Honeyside Farms, so you should be able to find it at the farmer’s market, but it’s also available year-round from growing zones outside of Florida. This squash is great because it can be used in a variety of dishes like bread,…
Roasted Carrots with Orange-Cumin Butter
Spring is a great time to pick up fresh carrots, ideally the little ones with their greens still attached, which is usually a sign of freshness. Since I had no luck growing carrots in my own garden this year (they simply gave up), I got my hands on these beauties, lovingly grown at Geraldson Community…
Roasted Beet & Basil Salad
Late last Fall, my husband and I built our first raised beds for our new garden. Let me just say that we are NOT experienced gardeners, and whatever knowledge I retained from my childhood vegetable gardening in New England is pretty much irrelevant when it comes to Florida gardening. . .But as Canadian farmer Brian…
Spicy Beef with Green Papaya Slaw
If you read my recent Field Trip Friday about Mustang Flea Market, you know that this long-time market in Florida is a treasure trove of produce, mostly Asian. As you know by now, I love to try new foods (well, fish eyes and feet of any kind might be off my list), but pretty much…
Orzo Risotto with Broccoli & Roasted Salmon
Risotto. . .tender, creamy arborio rice, slow simmered in a flavorful broth, with lots of butter and cheese. It’s so good I could eat just that for dinner and call it a day. My favorite risotto was served to me many years ago at a small, family-run restaurant in Kansas City. I can’t even remember…
Korean Style Radish Salad
In my quest to find new inspiration for my share of vegetables each week from my favorite CSA farm, I’ve been digging through recipe books and sites to find out how folks are using radishes, and I found lots of references to Japanese Daikon radish (those huge purple or white varieties). One of the more…
Herb & Citrus Roasted Potatoes
I simply adore potatoes. Mashed, roasted, smashed, boiled, grilled, fried, baked – you name it, I won’t turn it away. As I write this post, I recall something I read from Mark Bittman about potatoes. . .it may have been one of his blog posts a while back, maybe referencing content in his How to…