We usually ease up on our salad consumption during the winter months, so when spring comes around it’s a pleasure to tuck into a refreshing salad with our meals. The farmers at my local market are beginning to arrive with spring green offerings, and many…
Any trip to Napa for me includes a stop at the Rancho Gordo retail store. A recent trip with friends resulted in a stop to the shop that includes many other products in addition to their vast variety of beans. I came away with six…
By now you’ve rightly noticed I am a huge fan of Spanish food. It started in the late-90’s when I had a two-week work assignment based in Madrid and environs. I was an immediate admirer of the foods after feasting on all manner of dishes,…
Autumn in the Bay Area brings delightfully mild, sunny days. While autumn produce has made an appearance at markets, I’m not ready to fully dive into hearty fare just yet. This brown rice salad uses autumn produce but is welcomed on lunch and dinner plates…
Every summer we are gifted with a generous quantity of plums from our neighbors’ tree. It was planted by previous owners, so we’re not sure of the variety. We only know the tree is older and the plums are abundant, delicious, and juicy! So for…
Spring green is the theme for this quick salad that announces much-awaited spring vegetables. After so . many . months of kale, collards and broccoli, sugar snap peas at the farmers market signal a big shift in what we’ll have on our plates for the…
If zesty, tangy, and salty flavors please your palate, this salad is an excellent accompaniment to a summer lunch or dinner. Our Piedmont summer days are relatively mild, but plenty of my family and friends live where daytime temps soar above 100°F and a cold,…
Every spring I eagerly anticipate the arrival of strawberries at my favorite farmers market vendors. It takes a lot of restraint to skip them the first couple of weeks when they look under ripe with white shoulders and ruby tips. Perhaps the farmers are as…
The cool and rainy California spring has delayed the arrival of summer fruits and vegetables. Finally, we are seeing local summer squashes, which are a welcome sight after long months of winter’s harvest. I may tire of summer squash come October, but for now I’m…
It’s nearly spring and time to welcome local, young greens back to our farmers’ markets! I look forward to the changing of the seasons as it brings new varieties of produce into our markets and onto our plates. Soon after purchasing these tender, baby collard…