Recipes for Roasted Vegetables with Za’tar and Spring Vegetables with Fresh Herbs A mezze platter would not be complete without breads, dipping sauces or spreads, and small dishes of either vegetables, meats, or cheeses. My family prefers some small plates of different vegetables and olives to accompany our mezze platter. Last week we had an…
The Fruit of Immortality… A Bit of History: Six thousand years is a long time to wait! According to Chinese mythology, the immortals gathered once every 6000 years to partake of the Feast of Peaches. They consumed peaches from a sacred tree that blossomed only once every 1,000 years and took 3,000 years to ripen….
Locals Only…Charleston Edition Vol. 2 Introduction: Eating local, seasonly available items always has a special appeal to me, partly because it is how my ancestors in Italy and Greece ate. Before the days of globalization and widespread availability of speciality food items in many countries, people only had access to what was grown seasonally from…
A Recipe for Fattoush Salad featuring fresh local produce & toasted bread over mixed greens. Fattoush is a type of bread salad native to the Levant region and said to have originated in Northern Lebanon. It typically consists of tomatoes and in season vegetables, fried leftover bread, and fresh herbs and spices. Not only is…
A Recipe for Kamut, Sugar Snap Peas, Asparagus, & Cherry Tomatoes tossed in a Lemon-Miso Mustard Galangal (Ginger) Vinaigrette While I was researching facts for this post, I stumbled across a story about the rediscovery of an ancient grain that is probably the stuff of legend, but still a great tale. Khorasan wheat, or available…
A Recipe for Portabella Mushroom Burgers with Sun Dried Tomato Miso Spread and a Side of Mustard Potatoes Did you know that the name Portabella is believed to be a marketing scheme? These mushrooms were once so unpopular due to their gargantuan size and unappealing color that they were almost unsellable. In the 1980s, the…
That’s a Wrap… Introduction: My latest CSA box contained a few heads of broccoli that I promptly stuffed in the back of my refrigerator. Broccoli is not one of the most sought after vegetables in my house. Pretty soon, ideas for the unused broccoli began percolating in the back of my mind. However, after I…
A Recipe for Fusion Tacos with Tomatillo Salsa, Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Sunchokes, and Kimchi. Taco night is always a huge hit at my house. My husband and I like spicy, flavorful food, while my children’s palates tend to prefer milder flavors. Tacos are a fun way to get creative with seasonal vegetables and everyone can…
A Recipe for Dill, Mint, Pistachio Pesto served over a medley of spring vegetables; raw fennel, roasted cauliflower, baby beets, and asparagus topped with pea shoot tendrils. I love making pesto because it is so versatile. Pesto can be made with any herb, nut, or green leafy thing you can think of. The variations don’t…
A Hot Mess… A Bit of History: In Italian, the word puttana literally means whore. The origins of puttanesca sauce are debatable. Historians cannot quite agree if the sauce had its spicy beginnings in the Spanish brothels (due to its name) or accidentally invented one night at Ischia restaurant in the 1950s. Either way, I…