Ginger Sesame Dressing

It’s a rare bottled salad dressing that makes it into our house. But we certainly eat our share of lettuce — and spinach and carrots and sprouts. So variety is key. This dressing has an Asian flair; I love it atop salads served alongside fish and chicken. It’s especially good with a base of greens and rawContinue reading “Ginger Sesame Dressing”

Slow Cooker Shredded Pork With Cilantro-Ginger Sauce

Most years, we buy a local half hog in the spring and another in the fall. We place the butchered, vacuum-packed cuts — thick, uncured bacon, flavorful sausage, tender pork chops — in our deep freeze and we plan our meals around this meat until it runs out. Which means we sometimes have to getContinue reading “Slow Cooker Shredded Pork With Cilantro-Ginger Sauce”

Carrot Ginger Soup

  This soup couldn’t be easier to make. Sauté a few veggies, then purée it all. But it’s so delicious. And who can’t use a major shot of vitamin A in January? It’s very easy to make a vegan version of this. It’s naturally gluten-free. This was the soup that my cooking class really gobbled up.Continue reading “Carrot Ginger Soup”

Carrot and Cranberry Stuffed Acorn Squash

All fall long and well into the winter, produce from the amazing squash family is abundant in gardens and grocery stores, food stands and farmers markets. Beside the best-known pumpkins and butternut squash, there are cushaws and delicatas, acorn squash and spaghetti squash, Hubbard and Kabocha — all slightly different in taste and texture andContinue reading “Carrot and Cranberry Stuffed Acorn Squash”

Ginger Crinkles

Looking back through my mother’s cookbooks, I can find at least three dog-eared Ginger Cookie recipes plus one for Gingerbread Cake, oh and there’s a Spice Cake recipe as well. I distinctly recall each of these desserts and I remember loving them all. So this year, as winter set in and I began craving the homey, holiday tastes ofContinue reading “Ginger Crinkles”

Thai Butternut Squash Soup

I’ve tried many butternut soups over the years. There’s a three-sisters version, a Mexican variety, those that pair winter squash and apples. But my favorite, the recipe I’m searching for every fall, is one that heightens the sweetness of the squash and pairs it with the Trinity of Thai cooking — fish sauce (made of anchovies andContinue reading “Thai Butternut Squash Soup”

Asian Rice Noodle Salad

This is the salad that I’m always ogling when I head to potlucks. But I’ve never tried making it on my own for fear that I couldn’t pull off a real food version that would satisfy. Thankfully, Lisa Leake, author of the 100 Days of Real Food blog and cookbook, has crafted one for me. ThisContinue reading “Asian Rice Noodle Salad”

Cucumber Heaven

It’s been a few weeks now, since my husband stepped outside to our verdant, twining cucumber vine, covered with sunshiny yellow petals and a healthy dose of meandering bees, and proclaimed that it wouldn’t be long till we were in Cucumber Heaven. By that, he meant that we’d soon be reaching the height of our cucumber harvest,Continue reading “Cucumber Heaven”

Spring Stir Fry (with Scapes)

  In early summer, our garlic bulbs send up flowers that must be picked if the plants are to grow into fat, tasty bulbs. The best part is the flowers (scapes) are edible  — and delicious at that. I experimented and found I liked the stem of the scapes best. They have a starring role in this simple, yummyContinue reading “Spring Stir Fry (with Scapes)”