A Milder All-Purpose Pesto: Spinach-Walnut Pesto

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I actually made this pesto last fall with the last of the basil, but I froze it in ice cube trays and have found many uses for it since. Since this recipe replaces half the basil with spinach, it has a milder taste and can be used in greater quantities than classic pesto. [...]

What’s Cooking in October

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It may be 85 degrees here today, but fall has arrived. With the humidity dissipating, the air has that wonderful fresh crispness I love about fall, and the sky is a clear, scrubbed blue. The garden is looking very sad, indeed, and needs to be dug under after we salvage the last few [...]

A Simple Asian Menu for Autumn

First, you may notice that I have done some reorganizing. I’m trying out a new theme, which offers a little more screen real estate, a cleaner look and spreading out of the sidebar elements. I hope you like it. I’ve also separated out the meta-categories from tags. Look in the tag cloud for specific ingredients, [...]

Carrot & Apple Salad

Even though I made up this salad this week, I think it would be best for fall, when both apples and carrots are in season. But I happened to have an apple on hand, plus some grated carrots, and the dish naturally came together. Perhaps you might recognize that the classic Waldorf Salad is in [...]

What’s in Season? Sweet Potatoes

Of course it’s no secret that sweet potatoes are in their prime right now. Why else would they be ubiquitous on the Thanksgiving table? But sweet potatoes should come to visit more often than once a year in a sweet and sticky casserole. They can do anything that potatoes can do, and they can do [...]

Hearty Three-Bean Soup

A Nor’easter is blowing through our area, just in time for Thanksgiving travel. It’s cold, windy and rainy — a perfect night for soup.
As you may have noticed, I make a lot of soups and pasta dishes at home. We go out to eat one to three times a week, and we really enjoy discovering [...]

Thanksgiving Menu

It is that time when thoughts turn to what to eat on the major feasting day of the year. So I thought I’d share with you my planned Thanksgiving menu. For the most part, it’s pretty traditional — with one exception that I’m sure you’ll notice immediately.
So let me explain. Every year, I have two [...]

Mmm-mmm Mushroom Soup

First of all, I’m not even going to review last night’s Top Chef. I thought it was a really boring episode altogether. The challenges were boring, the food was boring and the results were boring. Even the great cheating “scandal” was boring. I understand why they couldn’t kick anyone off, but that doesn’t make for [...]

Sausage, Beans & Greens Stew

Sausage and beans, beans and greens — both are classic combinations. This simple, one-pot, weeknight supper combines them all. This dish took less than 30 minutes to make and was a big hit at the table.
Sausage, Beans and Greens Stew
Serves: 2
Time to make: ~30 minutes

1 tbsp. olive oil
½ medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Italian [...]

Classic Pear & Blue Cheese Salad

There’s a reason why certain combinations are “classics”–you never get tired of them. This salad just says to me, “Fall is here.” I think it goes great with the Autumnal Butternut Squash Soup.

Pear & Blue Cheese Salad
Serves: 2
Time to make: ~15 minutes
For the salad, layer on a plate:

1 head leaf lettuce, torn
2 pears, peeled, cored [...]