Last night, around nine in the evening, a tiny prop plane touched down on the runway in Charlottesville. We’d taken off in Charlotte, swinging east around a big storm. As we cleared the towering thunderheads, a magnificent pink and orange sunset set up over the Blue Ridge mountains. In New York, it was the sight of the massive city rising straight out of the water that would bring me the feeling of homecoming. But, as Brian and I became disenchanted with NYC, that sight stopped bringing the same comfort. “Where is nature in all this?” I’d think as I took in all that concrete and glass from above. Now, whether flying or driving, it’s the sight of the Blue Ridge Mountains, stretching out just west of my small city, that lets me know I’m close to home. [Read more…]
fish tacos with heirloom tomato and peach salsa
Savory pacific cod fish tacos topped with a sweet and spicy heirloom tomato and peach salsa, created in partnership with SmartyPants Vitamins.
rainbow carrot salad with mâche & toasted pepitas
Over on Instagram, I like to share a lot of our family meals that don’t make it to the blog. As we’ve said before, not every meal we eat is picture perfect, but it’s real and tasty, and mostly, our girls eat it too. A few weeks ago, I posted this salad with carrots, endive, and lettuce, and people seemed to like it so much, I regretted that I didn’t have a recipe to share. So yesterday, I set out to make another version with the same horseradish and mustard dressing (I’ve been loving horseradish lately) and lovely shaved carrots. The result of my experiment is this rainbow carrot salad with mâche and salty toasted pepitas. [Read more…]
savory strawberry salad with buttermilk dressing
I’ve always been a bit dubious about savory strawberry preparations. With such subtle flavor, it seems the sweetness could easily be leached out of the delicate berries. But the other day, for whatever reason (chalk it up to a pregnancy craving) I needed some strawberries in my salad. Also, two eggs and buttermilk. Lucky for me, it was really simple to put this satisfying salad together. [Read more…]
green salad with pomegranates and persimmons
Let’s face it, Thanksgiving is really orange. It’s the color of seasonal squash, the golden hue of the turkey, and all those sweet potatoes. The Thanksgiving table is filled with orange food, pale food, and pale green food, with lonely old cranberry sauce left to represent the rest of the color spectrum. But this year, we’re going to have a big, bright, jewel-toned salad too. A salad filled with healthy greens and fruit.
Hello pomegranate and persimmon, nice to meet you. You see, I am averse to trying new foods. It stems from my laundry list of food allergies (nuts, legumes, rhubarb, eggplant…you get the idea), and I just never think to try new things. A few weeks ago I saw this lovely kale salad over at The Year in Food and it got me thinking that I should try persimmons, and while I was at it pomegranates too.
So, dear reader, I offer you this lovely salad just in time to brighten your Thanksgiving table. [Read more…]