recipes & cooking

WHEN WE ARE PUSHING HARD to get the garden “open” for spring, my trusty helper and I come up with incentives—usually in the form of food. “Treats,” we call them, or “employee benefits”—whatever it takes to get to the finish line despite the to-do list that’s far too long for too-few hands. “Let’s make the Reubens tomorrow,” Susan said, after a relentless day of chores last Thursday, and last Friday we did.  Vegetarian Reuben sandwiches, specifically; hold the corned beef. [read more…]

WE WERE SCHEDULED to be gardening, but even my trusty helper Susan and I were not in the mood, thanks to 30’s and sleet. Let’s cook while we wait, we said—but what do I have to work with? Friday’s pantry lunch: crispy polenta cakes that incorporated on-hand onions, carrots, garlic and bleu cheese. Delicious, easy, yet special enough for company (not just two chilled gardeners happily avoiding their chores). [read more…]

I CRAVE A SALAD—but one with something more substantial, not just greens. I’d also love an escape (too many garden chores screaming for attention—get me out of here!), but then I remember: I hate to travel.  Thankfully, I have found comforting solutions on both scores in a book I bought last fall, “Jerusalem: A Cookbook” by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamini, an intimate journey through a cultural fusion of traditions and tastes. I’m making fattoush for lunch–the recipe is on the jump–and offering you two “tickets” to “Jerusalem,” too, in the latest cookbook giveaway. [read more…]