If it’s spring, it’s asparagus time. Unless your hens got into the asparagus bed at the end of last summer and dug it all up, like happy pigs. In which case it is still asparagus time, but — this year — at the supermarket. And it is back to the drawing board for your own asparagus bed, which took the requisite three years to mature and was started in 2012. Which would have made this year number four. Just saying. Continue reading
Tag Archives: garlic
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Spring Greens & Grains
This is one of those recipes that gives you a chance to feature whatever grain you feel like eating today, whatever greens are in season, and whatever other vegetables you are in the mood to sautè. Take a deep breath, saunter through the kitchen to see what’s there, and then gather your goodies and start to chop. If you get everything ready early in the day, you can throw this together pretty quickly. And if you make the grains ahead of time, you’ll feel like a real pro when everything comes together in just minutes! Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Pignolas (Pine Nuts) & Greens
This is a perfect, perfect recipe for this time of year: Celebrate your greens! Celebrate your family! Okay, just celebrate! Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Quinoa, Squash and Bean Soup
Here’s a great, simple recipe from my friend’s friend’s daughter-in-law. We’re practically family! Check out Marci’s blog at veggingattheshore.com. You can say that YHIOYP sent you.
P.S. Note the regionalism in her blog title: that kind of talk is something you’ll hear only in Philadelphia and South Jersey. If you live in that part of the country, you would never say that you’re going to the beach. It’s “down the shore” for you! I have so many great memories of the Jersey shore, where the food is great and the living is easy. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Rice & Collards Soup
Last year I was asked to give a talk on vitamins and minerals. For lack of a more inspired approach, I decided to go in alphabetical order, plodding through all these micronutrients like an elementary school teacher. As part of the talk I shared ideas for good sources of the various vitamins and minerals. To my delight and surprise, I discovered that greens were a source of almost every vitamin I mentioned! Who knew? Greens even have tons of orange and yellow nutrients, like beta-carotene. The dark green pigment hides the lighter ones, but they’re still there. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Pasta, Pignola, and Butternut Squash
One of my favorite things is a one-pot meal, placed right in the middle of the table. This gorgeous dish, with its range of deep colors, is good enough for company, but don’t feel the need to wait for such an occasion. It also makes a wonderful dinner for two, or three, or four. If you need to get organized, you can roast the squash and toast the pine nuts one day prior, like I did. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Lentils & Collards Soup
I’ve posted this recipe on these pages once before, but I thought it was worth repeating. I love how the aromatic cumin and cinnamon and lemon flavors in this soup are so different from the spice combinations I usually use.
The box of vegetables I picked up a couple of days ago contained two huge bunches of collard greens, and I could see that they were just aching to be made into this warm, aromatic soup. It took a day or two, but I finally gathered up all my ingredients, and started chopping. Well almost all. Because most unexpectedly, after I’d rinsed and chopped all the greens, I discovered, for the first time in probably decades, that we were completely out of onions. So I did the only thing I could think of, which was to increase the garlic to 10 cloves. Or maybe 15. There were a lot. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Cauliflower-Pumpkin Swirl Dip
Nothing like recipes for the season! I’ve got 3 perfectly beautiful pumpkins on the table outside just waiting to be turned into something yummy and Octobery. This recipe goes together very nicely, but I do recommend that you measure out all your ingredients in advance. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Fresh Corn Minestrone with Butternut Squash
If you’re looking at a bunch of corn, a ton of green beans, a pile of tomatoes, a few bell peppers, a couple of squashes, and all the mint and sage your heart could possibly desire, then you have come to the right place! Continue reading