One of our family’s favorites, Orange Soup (mah-RAHK kah-TOME), is a recipe that I have shared in the past. I have found that no matter how large a pot you make, it is always gone within a couple of days. In other words, this recipe makes a lot of soup, but it still won’t last very long. It’s quintessential comfort food. Continue reading
Category Archives: Color
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Red Lentils & Sweet Potatoes
I think that it might be exactly the right time of year to have this recipe in the refrigerator. You can make this recipe over the weekend, and then have it ready to eat on the days between the endless holiday parties, celebrations, after-work stopovers, and other seasonal social events. It’s incredibly flavorful, it’ll give your mind and belly a well-deserved rest, and you’ll be glad not to have to think too much about what to make for dinner. Or lunch. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: A Taste of Fall — Sweet Potatoes, Sage, & Rice
More than any other time of year, I have always loved the summer’s end and early fall most of all. I love the chill in the air on late August and early September evenings, the feel of cozy scarves for the first time in months, the smells and sounds of soups and stews bubbling away on the stove. I never get tired of sweet potatoes, and I continue to love experimenting with new recipes for all kinds of squash, like butternut, delicata, acorn, and hubbard, not to mention pumpkins and spaghetti squash. The ingredients in this recipe hit all the right aromatic flavor spots, and I hope you get a chance to try it soon. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Heather’s Snazzy Salsa
A while ago, when I was still in practice, my office held a special lunchtime celebration to honor a staff member expecting her first baby. Heather contributed this salsa, and it was so GOOD. By popular demand, the recipe was distributed via e-mail the very next day. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Garlic Makes the World Go ‘Round
Many years ago I was introduced to two special recipes, both of which owe their magic to garlic. The first is a pureed vegetable soup, pure de verduras, Continue reading
The Menu from Bookclub Earlier this Week
This week we had bookclub at my house. I’ve written about bookclub before, and about the incredibly delicious dishes that people bring to share with one other. There’s never a plan, never been a plan, so once in a great while we have ended up with a couple bottles of Prosecco, salad, and two desserts. On the other hand, you are often likely to find grilled salmon, white bean salad, guacamole, green salad, grapefruit, and roasted olives with lemon rind. Everybody shares something. You just never know. Continue reading
The Zen of One Fried Egg
This is one of my favorite old posts. Last fall, my sister came to Cleveland for a visit and for the wedding of an old friend’s daughter, and I enjoyed seeing the smile on her face as she mentioned this post from years back. Ever since then, I’ve been thinking about reposting it. In honor of my sister, and in memory of the chickens we used to have before a few raccoons and other wild things destroyed our coop one miserable day a few years back, I repost it here today. We are hoping to get our coop back on line this year so that we can resume telling stories about our chickens. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Curried Lentil, Tomato, and Coconut Soup
If you are not familiar with the celebrity chef, Yotam Ottolenghi, now would be a good time to get acquainted.
Everything Yotam touches turns to gold. I am sure that his kitchen must have more than three dimensions. He mixes ingredients better than I mix metaphors.
If you don’t already have one of his cookbooks [Ottolenghi (2008), Plenty (2010), Jerusalem (2012)] in your home, prepare yourself. YO takes flavor to the next level. Look at this list of ingredients – I’ve used all of them, but never to such glorious effect. And it’s not just flavor. He takes texture to the next level, and color. You could make this and turn an ordinary dinner into a celebration, or share it with a deserving friend, or make a memorable contribution to a workplace potluck. This recipe falls into the category of “contributions from the heart.” You have to try it to believe it. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Liquid Sunshine Soup in November
Please enjoy this recipe, an earlier version of which I posted in November 2011:
This past week I found myself the proud possessor of a lovely hubbard squash. Add to that the butternut squash that came in a CSA box last month, and the bags of carrots that continue to come every week, and which are piling up in the refrigerator, and, as my dad used to say: “It’s time to get choppin’!” Continue reading
Colorful Meals (with a few recipes)
In the past few days we’ve had vegetable-bean soup made with Moro beans from Rancho Gordo, fresh tomatoes on toast made from Simple Kneads’s sourdough bread, tossed green salads with peppers and radishes, pickled red onions, fresh guacamole, orange-grapefruit salad sprinkled with pistachios, green grapes, cherry tomatoes, and fresh blueberries. And there is almost always homemade bread made from my husband’s hands with King Arthur’s whole wheat flour.
Our meals do not exactly have a theme, but they always have a lot going for them. It’s all about vegetables, and fruits, and color. On a regular basis we make our way through red, green (light, medium, and dark), white, yellow, brown, orange, purple and blue produce. That’s a lot of colors. And, as my mom taught me, the more colors at a meal, the better. Continue reading