When you cook with the seasons, it is not just the farms, the environment, your pocketbook, & the community the benefits. Your tastebuds reap the good too. This simple dish came about from walking around my local market and talking to some farmers. The squash is from Capay Organic, the sage from Phan’s Farms. The pancetta was selected as a compliment by speaking to my local butcher who makes it in house. The result? Something truly spectacular yet so easy to make- it reminds me of mac and cheese. It is sophisticated in a rustic way.
We enjoyed this as part of a harvest supper with friends and family. I hope you can enjoy it as much as we did.
- INGREDIENTS BUTTERNUT SQUASH & PANCETTA PASTA
- 1 package orichiette, cooked al dente, drained and 2 cups of cooking liquid, saved
- 1 butternut squash
- olive oil for roasting
- ¼ lb pancetta diced
- 6 leaves sage diced
- 3 oz Parmesano Reggiano cheese shredded
- Salt and pepper as needed.
- INSTRUCTIONS BUTTERNUT SQUASH & PANCETTA PASTA
- Preheat oven to 425º and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Halve and seed a medium butternut squash and rub with olive oil
- Roast on baking sheet for 35 minutes until golden brown and bubbly
- While squash is roasting, sauté pancetta in a large chef’s pan over medium-low heat and discard most of the fat – keeping 1 tablespoon in the pan (saving it should you choose)
- Scoop the butternut squash from the skin and
… get the recipe
An elegant lunch makes me feel like a lady- especially in this weather where I can take enjoy it outside on my (admittedly tiny) patio. While I love the idea of pesto, I actually don’t really love pesto. I find it’s often heavy and oily and after being struck with pine mouth last Thanksgiving, I am completely pine nut phobic.
This recipe plays up my long time obsession with kaffir lime leaves, which I always keep stocked in my freezer and my deep love of yuzu. Anyone who knows me will tell you that citrus of any kind will raise my eyebrow. Asian citrus; however; blows my skirt up in that full on Marilyn sort of way!
While I try to stay away from soy because it can trigger migraines for me, this was an experiment to see if it was only tofu that was a trigger. Unfortunately, I will not be eating this again as I got a horrid migraine shortly after having a fabulous lunch, but I will it with fresh fava beans, fresh or frozen peas, or even fresh garbanzos! This recipe is so delightful, and so incredibly easy there is no reason not to eat it. One note, the matcha green tea is not necessary, but it adds a little depth of flavor and ups the green color of the dish, but go easy, the stuff is powerful, and nobody wants Shrek pasta.
- INGREDIENTS
- 3 cups thawed frozen organic non GMO edamame
- ¼ cup grapeseed oil
… get the recipe
If this were a restaurant review blog, I’d have tons of blog posts right now. Since my injury, I have cooked exactly one meal and one batch of cupcakes. For one, it hurts to cook. Even though it is my left hand that tangled with an immersion blender and definitely lost, it is amazing how much we use our hands. Also, I can’t do any dishes, so while I like to clean as I cook, instead, I end up with a big fat disaster of a workspace.
THIS IS THE BROCCOLI SOUP I WAS MAKING WHEN THE BLENDER STRUCK!
I have had some delicious meals at vegan joints and I’ve found that some of my favorite restaurants offer pretty delicious vegan options. I am eating vegan at least six days a week. So far, in the last two months, I have tasted a couple of bites of non vegan recipes that I had committed to creating, I have had sushi twice and eaten soup that I am sure featured a healthy dose of butter even though the waitress claimed it was vegan. Since I am eating vegan for health benefits, and the pretty fantastic green consequences are just a plus, I didn’t freak out about a little butter. Other than my finger, I feel pretty great.
Right before the Online Bake Sale for Japan, I was making outstanding vegan meals. Between the bake sale and the injury, though, I never finished writing them up, so… I’ll share with you, … get the recipe
The other night we got home from band practice at 9:30- it was late, I was tired, and hungry, but I just didn’t feel like eating take out. The pantry was pretty empty, I must admit. No tortillas, no bread and olive oil, I was even out of corn to pop. (I go crazy for home made pop corn with truffle salt) Obviously, I was craving carbs!
Sometimes dinner is all about the KISS method, but that does not mean that it can’t be beautiful and divinely tasty. It turned out I had some lovely farmers market tomatoes- even one lonely green one and a bunch of thyme and some hot chilies as well as a sweet red pepper. I decided to make flavored olive oil to toss with pasta- a dressed up pomodoro if you will. It turned out so light and lovely and the hot and sweet peppers contrasted perfectly with my buttery olive oil and the fresh thyme and bitey garlic.
This whole dish should only take as long as the pasta takes to cook plus 3-5 minutes on top of that. In my case, dinner was on the table in 20 minutes since I had to take some photos, but would have been served in about 14 otherwise. I’m so lucky Joshua loves lukewarm food!
- INGREDIENTS
- 1 package bucatini (or spaghetti)
- 1 lb tomatoes
- ½ c extra virgin olive oil
- fresh spicy chilies (2 for me fewer if you like things less spicy)
- dried red chilies
… get the recipe
It is fig season and I am just mad for their sexy sweet taste. The way their leathery purple skin hides bright sweet seedy pink flesh is so alluring to me. When I was growing up, our neighbors had a fig tree, and if you climbed onto the railing of the inlaw unit in our backyard, you could just reach the ripe figs and pick them warm from the sun. I would rip them open with my hands and suck out the flesh leaving the skin to eat last.
It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized I could eat figs cooked. Of course I’d had them aside cheese or prosciutto and in newtons, but once I began experimenting with them in food, my whole world changed. After a trip to the farmers market this weekend that yielded a bunch of lovely purple food, I was down to only a few purple bell peppers, so I hit Bi-Rite market for a little inspiration.
In chatting with my favorite cheese buyer, Anthea, I got inspired by a 5 month old Spanish Goat cheese, called Queso Abrigo. I saw a basket of figs and then the whole idea for the dish just came together in my head. I told Anthea what I was thinking for dinner tonight and she said, “I think I might try that too”. We had a talk about figs and how we could just eat baskets and baskets of them- and then I went to pick … get the recipe
