Summer is a glorious time to be an eater. And since we (hopefully) all eat, it’s a great time to be me and you. There’s delicious, fresh food all around, much of it so fresh and ripe and tasty that it requires very little preparation. In winter, nothing tastes that great on its own, so [...]
A lot of my CSA-member friends have been wondering (aloud, in my vicinity) recently: what are these green, twisty things in my CSA share? And then: can I eat them? How? They are garlic scapes, and they taste, well, like garlic. People also call them garlic curls or pigtails. They’re the green part of garlic [...]
After teasing us for several weeks, it looks like spring is here and it might stick around a while, this time. (We’ve had a few nice days in DC so far this year, but they’ve all been followed shortly by cold and rain.) It’s finally warm enough to comfortably go outside in a t-shirt, and [...]
If you read this blog regularly, you know that I’m a bit of a farmer’s market fanatic. During the spring, summer, and fall, I make it a point to get there nice and early, almost every single week. During the winter, I go less often, but I still try to go every couple weeks. I’m [...]
Of all the holidays, I find Thanksgiving the hardest to do as a vegetarian. That’s mostly because it’s so steeped in tradition, and in many families (certainly in mine) particular recipes are expected year after year. It’s okay, because many of the traditional side dishes are vegetarian by nature: sweet potatoes (maybe skip the marshmallows, [...]
In college, I invented a dish I called “apple tofu.” I was very proud of myself; it was the first recipe I’d ever made up on my own, and I thought it was pretty tasty. It was basically chopped-up apples, simmered with cubed tofu until they got soft and the tofu picked up the apple [...]
Summer is on its way out, but at least here in DC, fresh local tomatoes are still around for a while yet. As much as I like to be creative with my cooking, some combinations of ingredients are too easy, too delicious to pass up. My favorite combination at the moment? Tomatoes, basil, and cheese. [...]
Stuffing tomatoes isn’t an original idea, but it is a tasty one. I like stuffed tomatoes much better than stuffed peppers. They’re pretty quick and easy to make, especially if you have some leftover grains lying around. While fresh, uncooked tomatoes are one of the joys of summer, I also love what happens to tomatoes [...]
Last night, we had dinner on the outdoor patio of our local tex-mex restaurant. The food was good – black bean burrito with mole, and a really good margarita – but somehow, being outside really made the meal. We don’t eat outdoors often. That’s one disadvantage of living in a third-floor apartment with no balcony: [...]
Summer is, not surprisingly, my favorite season for farmer’s markets, but to me the very pinnacle of summer veggie goodness is the tomatoes. Tomato season is finally here, and I’m excited. If you’re accustomed to tomatoes from the grocery store, you’re missing out. Fresh local tomatoes are in a league of their own – the [...]