YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Spicy Roasted Cabbage

This is the story of a recipe that begins with the simplest, most humble of vegetables, a single whole cabbage. Cabbages tend to be underrated when in fact they are quite remarkable. They remind me of chameleons, with the ability to camouflage themselves in all kinds of surroundings. Fermented pickled sauerkraut, sweet acidic cole slaw, toothy grilled cabbage “steaks,” comforting colcannon (potatoes & cabbage), fried with eggs, braised, roasted. I think I’ll stop here. 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


The Best Gift My Mom Ever Received

There is more, of course, to my mom than what I posted last week, so I ask for your forbearance as I continue to share our stories. This is my way of preserving her legacy and keeping her nearby as we (by which I mean my “immediate extended family,” as my sister put it) figure out how to move forward on our own. Today’s post is the story of what I think may have been the best gift my mother ever received. Continue reading


YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Nearly Magical Tomato Sauce

Thanks (and I really mean that!) to my daughter and her friend, among whose many talents I would definitely include garden building, we now have so many tomatoes it’s hard to know what to do with all of them. It’s a wonderful problem to have. I’ve actually been dreaming about dehydrated tomatoes, pickled tomatoes, marinated tomatoes, skewered tomatoes, roasted tomatoes, sliced tomatoes, and … sauced tomatoes. Continue reading