Roasted cauliflower has long been one of my favorite winter vegetables. Tossed with a generous drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper, roasting brings out the flavor of this somewhat bland vegetable with the caramelization that occurs when it turns a…

In my perfect world, all my weeknight dinners would be one-pan friendly and as few ingredients as possible. What’s not to love about having all the components of a complete dinner in one pan, as well as the least preparation possible. You don’t even need…

Whew, my (and your) search for the best plant-based cake (burger) is over! You may never have given lentil cakes a thought until now, but I am pretty sure these will become part of your routine once you try them. Maybe you are a solid…

  Without a doubt, now is the best time to be cooking with fresh basil. Whether from your own garden or a farmer’s market, it is infinitely more flavorful than the packages available year round in the grocery store. This is one of my favorite…

Fresh spring rolls are actually way easier to make than you might think. Armed with a few fresh ingredients – quite possible already in your refrigerator – the rice wrappers and the 5 ingredients needed for the peanut sauce you are ready to go. My…

Some things are just more beautiful on the inside, like celery root.  You may have skimmed over it in the produce section thinking what is this unattractive and obscure vegetable, and how would I use it. Also known as celery knob or celeriac, it might…

Cauliflower replaced kale as the darling of trendy vegetables awhile ago, but it’s still going strong at my house. What’s not to love about a healthy vegetable that is easy to cook and can be seasoned in countless ways? Admittedly though, roasting is the only…

Tomato season is here and for me there is no greater sense of urgency then now to enjoy their sweet full flavor and plump juicy texture. It’s truly how nature intended them to be. Technology and farming techniques have made it possible to grow and…

I consider black beans the little black dress of food. Elegant and simple, they can be dressed up depending on what you put with them. Curry powder, turmeric and cinnamon create a little exoticness in this one pot soup that makes enough to enjoy more…

I have a little story to tell about the power of a good recipe, friendship and six degrees of separation. Having been distracted these past few months with projects that have taken my creative energy away from my blog, I’d been feeling a fair amount…

I don’t remember the outcome, but the images from the watermelon eating contest between my older teenage sister and her best friend, are as clear as if it was yesterday. Not the typical something two sixteen-year old girls do, so it made an impression. Hands…

Here is a soup when you want something simple and filling and with variations to keep it interesting – pureed and with the addition of Italian chicken sausage. White beans, soaked overnight, are simmered with browned sliced fennel and onions, garlic and fresh thyme leaves…

The first time I grew tomatoes I knew very little about gardening. But we had a small south facing garden spot between our walkway and house begging to be planted. So we put three Early Girls in the ground. The steady sunshine and heat thrown…

Inevitably we overate, stained our clothes and there were tears. Four siblings loaded into our Mercury Marquis station wagon, driven to the u-pick strawberry farm and unleashed to fill a flat. It wasn’t long before one of my brothers became bored with the picking and the…

My Mother’s Day wishes have changed with every stage of parenting. First it was all about sleep. When our kids were babies the best gift was an uninterrupted night and waking up at whatever time I wanted. The toddler to preschool and first few years of…

I know it’s winter and a bowl of warm bean soup or a slow simmering chunk of meat are mostly on your mind (and they’re on mine too), but I’m still craving a good, substantial leafy salad for dinner. And something healthy to increase the…

In the spirit of Thanksgiving I’m straying from posting a main dish recipe just long enough to give you a cocktail and appetizer recipe to serve before the big meal. For the Old Fashioned, I went back to my recipe files from the newspaper column…

It baffles me that archeologists can estimate when a food originated from so long ago. I know it’s based on a multitude of things but I still have to wonder with a bit of awe and question how do they really know? Like with lentils…

Kamut is one of the grains I have been experimenting with in green salads. The inspiration came from a salad I ate at the Whale Wins – Renee Erickson’s Seattle restaurant. Pronounced “kah-moot”, kamut is an ancient grain with origins in Egypt. It’s a high…

I’m sharing my obsession with two different vegetable preparations – Crispy Smashed Potatoes and Roasted Kale Chips. I’ve hesitated to post them because in my commitment to give you a main dish recipe, I hate to take a weekly post with a side dish. The…

Soup for dinner is a favorite to transition into the seasonal weather change. It’s dinner in one pot with an easy addition of bread. Smoky bacon drippings and fragrant rosemary and thyme simmered together with a variety of chopped vegetables give the soup a rich…

Things are getting challenging in my kitchen. Gone are the days when all four of us would eat most kinds of food. Instead I hear things like “I won’t eat that kind of meat” or “no dairy for me”. My kids are typical Gen Y…

For a young Mom yearning for a night out of the house it was an easy thing to leave for the baby sitter. Anyone can follow those directions and make it.  And I redeemed myself by leaving instructions for steaming fresh broccoli and where to…

Our Fourth of July dinner menu is always centered on barbecue pork back ribs (see June 27, 2011 post for the recipe). And this crazy side dish with beans, bacon and brown sugar. In the spirit of grilling and using recipes with olive oil rather…

A few years ago a good friend of mine introduced me to grilled Romaine lettuce. I’d grilled things you typically wouldn’t think of like fresh peach slices and pizza dough, but it hadn’t occurred to me to grill lettuce. After that night it became a…

I’ve streamlined the technique for making Pho simple enough to make at home during the week. Forgive me Pho purists but I do think this version is really good. The key to good pho is the broth, which authentically is made by grilling onions and…

Yaki Soba is a Japanese fried noodle dish typically made by stir-frying noodles with chicken, shrimp or beef and vegetables with a flavorful sauce. You could say it’s the Japanese equivalent of Chinese chow mein. The beauty of it is you get protein, starch and vegetables…

One of my favorite winter pasta dishes is this recipe for Spaghetti Puttanesca. All of the ingredients are available this time of year and many of them in my pantry or on the condiment shelf in my refrigerator. Those that aren’t can be easily found…

Butternut squash may not be the first ingredient that comes to mind when you think of pasta, but it works really well in this vegetarian pasta recipe. Especially when it’s roasted first and all you have to do is toss it with the pasta. If…

You can enjoy the last remnants of summer and make this warm sandwich for dinner during Labor Day weekend. It goes together quickly, can be doubled for a large group of people and is the perfect way to enjoy fresh fragrant basil, juicy ripe tomatoes…

Summer might be arriving in Seattle. We all know it is long overdue. It is possible that the long cycle of gray, wet and cold weather is over and we can finally bring out summer clothes and recipes. Fragrant fresh basil and nutty pistachios laced…