It’s a sauce, a dressing, a topping, and no matter how you use it, you’ll go back for more. Sesame, ginger, scallions. A trio that often travels together around the world. We love the flavor of each separately, but combined their individuality is transformed. Add garlic, and all is right in that world. There isn’t…
Category: Main Dishes
Let’s celebrate the amazing asparagus! We might have a party, or maybe brunch.
There is probably nothing we look forward to more in the spring at our house than asparagus! My mother would not have agreed. Asparagus was one of the few vegetables she did not like, and I give her credit because she tried it every way under the sun. Luckily, I did not inherit that from…
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Don’t run away, it’s only rhubarb! With a little sweet, you’ll might even like it.
May in Vermont has been as fickle this year as it always is, despite our annual dreams of the perfect month. There’s much to look forward to – warm temperatures, but not too hot and no mugginess, trees leafing out and grass greening, spring bulbs and blossoming fruit trees, the return of the song birds…
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How about a ‘make under’ asparagus soup?
Next year, my asparagus soup will be purple! Guess what type of onion I’ll use. We wait for those tempting little spears all year. Fresh from the garden, tender, full of flavor and nutrition, asparagus tells us that the seasons really have turned and it’s time to dig out the sandals and sunblock. They were…
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The calendar says it’s time for spring cleaning, so let’s be done with all those gnarly stored vegetables. I’ve a few tricks in mind.
Spring cleaning. It was a ritual in our house growing up. Mother would choose a perfect weekend in late April or early May, and turn the house inside out, from top to bottom. No surface was spared scrubbing and polishing. Linens on the line The washing machine did not stop all day long. Curtains were…
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Scrap Happy Planet: When you say ‘leftovers tonight’ do they cheer?
Once a month, we’re looking at ways to help reduce food waste and keep our planet happier and healthier by using all those scraps that often end up in landfills and contribute to our ever-growing environmental problems. The worldwide statistics are sobering, over a third of everything we produce is tossed out, over a billion tons of…
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Welcome spring! Let’s clean up the garden and make something hearty for supper.
Happy official Spring, The Vernal Equinox arrived at 5:01 a.m.! Shh, the snow has gone. I am saying this quietly, lest I tempt the fates and end up with a surprise blizzard. It’s happened in the past if I celebrate the turning of the wheel too early. But the snowbanks finished melting over the weekend,…
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A new Irish Stew? Call them to the table.
When we make it to March, it seems like all possible ‘holidays’ are cause for celebration, and we New Englanders embrace them with glee, anything to ease cabin fever as we slide into mud season. Of course, this week was National Pi Day, March 14 (3.14) which most of us are aware of, but alas,…
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Let’s make a big pot of tasty chili, but first, we’ll break a few rules!
Beans or no beans? Meat or no meat? This four bean mushroom chili is all good, and feeds a crowd! It’s’ spring break time for many schools, and my eldest granddaughter arrived this weekend with several of her friends to celebrate their time off. It’s always such a pleasure to have them around, and my…
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Scrap Happy Planet: Can I tell you about Peppermint Pesto?
Once a month, we’re looking at ways to help reduce food waste and keep our planet happier and healthier by using all those scraps that often end up in landfills and contribute to our ever-growing environmental problems. The worldwide statistics are sobering, over a third of everything we produce is tossed out, over a billion tons of…
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Corn meal mush you ask? It sounds funny, but you can spell it ‘polenta’ if you like.
When it all catches up with you, a plate of comfort is just what the doctor ordered! Perhaps Pearl Onions and Mushrooms over Corn Meal Mush? Sometimes we had it for breakfast when I was growing up. Corn meal mush. It is really delightful, especially if drizzled with a bit of real maple syrup or…
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It’s’ a real snow day, so let’s make a pot of cream of broccoli and mushroom soup!
We’ve had snow here and there this winter, but this week’s storm saw closings called the night before for many, an invitation to sleep in a bit and linger over some home-cooked comfort food. It’s one of those days where just about everything is closed, the schools, some shops, town clerk’s offices, community college, the…
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Now let’s Roast some Jumbo Shrimp and serve it up with Spicy Red Pepper Sauce
Juicy, tender, and full of flavor. And we have a vegetarian alternative as well. Don’t you love a recipe that can be assembled well before a dinner, then finished off in minutes. Shrimp often comes to mind as both a crowd pleaser and a cook pleaser as well because we’ll have plenty of time to…
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Jan’s Baked Dijon Salmon, a little nutty!
Salmon, and tofu, are often in weeknight rotation in many of our homes. Always good to change it up, no one wants to be in a weeknight rut! My sister Jan was the least fussy person I’ve ever met when it came to food. I never served her a meal she didn’t like, in fact,…
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Need some Winter comfort? Tomato and Fennel Soup will warm you from head to feet, and is even better the next day.
Let me pour you a bowl, you deserve it. Some bread too? Grilled or toasted of course. A week ago, it was 60 degrees outside and we had lunch on the porch. Woke up two days ago to 6 degrees and a blustery snow circling everything. Vermont weather, unpredictable and ever changing, but in general…
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New England’s gems of the ocean are in season!
When they are in season, New England Bay Scallops are quite a treat, but cook them simply for the best flavor. We have a vegan alternative as well. One of the seafood delights in New England is the arrival of the season of our sweet little bay scallops. Nantucket Bay is the best of the…
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Calamari Imposter Pasta? It’s a delightful bowl of winter comfort!
We awoke this Sunday morning to a frost so heavy it looked like snow on the fields! The full moon was also hanging large and low in the sky amidst a pink daybreak, beautiful to behold. As the sun rose, everything glistened like diamonds, quite a site, but one very hard to catch with the…
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Let’s make a pot of soup! It’s time.
Snow Day Vegetable Bean Soup We finally got some snow, real snow that stuck to the trees and windows. Not that much actual accumulation, but for two days, we’ve lived in a slowly swirling snow globe, and it felt rather magical after a long November of grey, stick season. We have one dog who loves…
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Scrap Happy Planet: Frittatas and Omelets to the rescue!
Once a month, we’re going to look at ways to reduce food waste and keep our planet happier by using all those scraps that often end up in landfills and contribute to our environmental problems. The worldwide statistics are sobering, but we’ve rolled up our sleeves before to save these resources, and now’s the time…
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We often celebrate the unusual in Vermont, including our state vegetable the heirloom Gilfeather Turnip
Trumpet Pasta with Turnips and Mushrooms The official state vegetable in Vermont is the Gilfeather Turnip. A funny name for a simple root that doesn’t call attention to itself, humble in appearance, drab in color, softball sized but sweet and mild in flavor. Its ancestry is muddled, part turnip? Part rutabaga? A hybrid? Mutant? It’s…
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Scrap Happy Planet: Leftover Rice could feed the planet!
Once a month, we’re going to look at ways to reduce food waste and keep our planet happier by using all those scraps that often end up in landfills and contribute to our environmental problems. We’ve rolled up our sleeves before to save these resources, and now’s the time to do so again. Sunday or…
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Farmers Market Pasta with Mixed Autumn Vegetables
It’s here! Autumn arrived at precisely 8:43 a.m. yesterday in Vermont. It doesn’t feel like fall yet, but we’ve got some color beginning and the promise of more to come. The leaf peppers are starting to arrive to view our annual colorful foliage show, in a couple of weeks our roads will be full. The…
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Swiss Chard Wrapped Cod with Late Summer Vegetables
The garden and farmstands often tell me what to make for dinner. Sometimes, it is about using whatever is coming in fast and furious, but right now, even though prolific, I’m giving the cherry tomatoes a break. Swiss chard is abundant right now in my garden, and in all the tables at the farmers market….
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Grilled or Roasted Shrimp (or Mushrooms) and Lentils with Lemon
One thing most of my family and friends agree on (with the exception of a vegetarians or two,) is shrimp, just about any way. We like it roasted, grilled, sautéed, in soups and stews, spiced up, and even as a little cocktail appetizer dressed up in many ways. One of our daughter’s favorite dishes is…
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A week in the life of a dozen ear of corn!
Fresh corn on the cob is a ritual of summer and into fall in New England. From the first ear to the last, we are hooked whether eating it slathered in butter right off the cob, simmered in a chowder, creamed in a casserole, corn pudding, or soufflé, fried as a fritter, stuffed in a…
