Strawberry & Radish Salad with Balsamic Vinegar

It didn’t take very much imagination to make this dish; I was admiring the bright, red berries just arrived in their teal cardboard cartons when I spied bunches of similar round objects sitting nearby at the Greenmarket. Craving something crunchy to off-set the strawberries’ sweet softness and juice, I had already picked up a bag of granola — and some yogurt, too. But radishes, in a fresh, crisp salad to surround them instead? I thought, hey, why not?

Lotus Root Chips

Presenting just one way of using this vastly versatile plant. The root of most plants are usually not the most attractive part, especially when there’s flowers on top. But sliced up, the lotus root — or the plant’s rhizome — have a unique appearance that catches the eye, as well as a crunchy texture and mild taste that lends itself well to many applications. Such as deep-frying in the manner of potato chips.

Squid & Asparagus with Ponzu-Chili-Lime Vinaigrette

This salad is so yummy it makes me want to throw up… so I can fill my belly with it again. Sorry for that unappetizing intro, but it really is something of a new phenomenon. All these weeks of waiting for spring asparagus have paid off handsomely. Not only are the asparagus crisp and slender, but it provided plenty of time to ruminate on how to make them shine.

Kimchee Roasted Potatoes

Hear me out: making kimchee at home is really easy! And the payoffs are practical in the kitchen, too. Here’s a look at my first attempt at making a true, Korean friend-approved batch of kimchee, and one way to put it to delicious use: as a seasoning for everyday, ever-versatile roasted potatoes.

Hearty Fava Bean Stew

In the summer, beans were for dressing in a gloss of olive oil, tossing with a confetti of crisp, chopped vegetables, and having as salad. In the winter, we simmer them with rich fats, sometimes with finely chopped (less colorful) vegetables, which dissolve into the resulting soup or baked casserole. While it’s definitely winter, I tried to make a compromise between these two polar opposite ways to eat beans. Starting with the king-size fava (or “broad”) bean, dried.

Carrot, Cucumber and Radish Oshinko

No, I didn’t just sneeze, it’s oshinko! A simple, no-sweat type of Japanese pickle. If you like a salty, crisp snack in the middle of the day, or something to refresh your palate with at the end of a meal, try making a big batch of these pickles to keep in the fridge. It takes just three days for them to sit at room-temperature, to their slightly fermented state.

Arugula Salad with Wisconsin Blue Cheese

I’ve been to Wisconsin a few times, whether traveling for work (involving food) or pleasure. So I’ve gotten a good taste of the dairy state, and even toured the caves of a cheesemaker once. So when I was asked to recreate a recipe from Wisconsin Cheese and Chef Michael Symon’s cooking series, Favorite Foods, I thought it’d be a good way to cook with one of my findings. But also, to maybe overcome a lifelong aversion I’ve had for Blue … Read More

Red Cabbage Salad with Quince, Pickled Carrots and Maple-Cider Vinaigrette

Question: Why do we eat coleslaw in the summer, usually? Okay, it’s crisp, sweet and cooling, and I even thought it was called “cold slaw” as a kid. But it’s made primarily of… winter cabbage. And we’ll be seeing lots of heads of those for the rest of the year.

Seaweed Salad (with the stuff washed up on the shore)

It’s a ubiquitous side on the sushi restaurant menu, but “seaweed salad” is just weeds from the sea, tossed with dressing. Often, it’s made from dried and reconstituted seaweed sheets, shred into ribbons. You can get packages of the dried stuff at any Japanese grocery. Or, if you’re at the beach, you’ll come across it, fresh, for sure.

Eggplant-Tomato Tartare

Just another fun way to serve up eggplant, fresh and simple. Because it’s got to be cooked, eggplant tends to get weighed down in heavier preparations — parm, or an Asian stir-fry with lots of gloppy brown sauce. But I love just roasting a skinny eggplant half, face down like a spear, and eating it straight-up like that afterwards, soft and gooey inside. This was more or less what I did for cooking demonstrations two weekends ago at New York … Read More

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