Winter Salad Variations Starring Roasted Beets

I am a fan of winter salads.  In January I usually feel the need to cut down on my expenses by packing lunch from home.  I also feel the need to eat less ridiculously meat filled meals after indulging myself over the holidays.  The result is that I have a lot of good recipes for…

Smoked Salmon Hash with Fresh Herbs

Many years ago my family made a cookbook for our family reunion.  Everyone in our family cooks so it was a pretty great little cookbook.  This was the recipe from my cousin Gary and his wife Constance.  They are seriously fantastic cooks and fabulous people in general.  They recommended this dish as a Christmas morning brunch….

Salads with Pears

I am in love with fresh pears.  You have to be patient with them. I buy them hard and place them in a sealed brown bag for 4 days to ripen.  You can tell that they are ripe when they smell like pears.  If you want them to ripen faster, throw a banana in the…

Tomato Cognac Soup

I am sick.  When I am sick I really only want to eat tomato soup.  I’ll eat other food as long as tomato soup is involved in the menu.   So here is another tomato soup recipe, which I served today with grilled cheese and a spinach salad with bacon, avocado, blue cheese, chives, tomato,…

Quick Curried Tomato Soup

I adapted this recipe from a quick, low-fat microwave cookbook that my mother gave me when I went to college.  It is still terrifically quick and also low-fat but I do not own a microwave anymore.  It is good with spicy chick pea pancakes  or grilled cheese (like any tomato soup).  I find it particularly delicious…

Braised Red Cabbage with Apples

Cabbage is cheap, healthful and good even in the winter.  The local green markets in NYC hit a point at this time of year when they have only cabbage and collards and root vegetables and the last few squashes and apples from the autumn. My cousins took me to a green market in Los Angeles…

Sauerkraut, Sprout & Avocado Salad

This recipe comes from Valerie, and old family friend who always seems to be at least three years ahead of everyone else when it comes to health-related food crazes. And I write this coming from one of the hotbeds of health foods. It’s true that there is a lot of flakiness when it comes to…

Rima’s Indian Inspired Green Beans

This recipe is from the lovely and talented Rima Fand.   I served them recently with the goose braised in port, but they would be very good in any menu.  They are simple, easy and totally yummy! RIMA’S INDIAN INSPIRED GREEN BEANS   some mild oil  (about 2 Tablespoons) cumin seeds (about 2 teaspoons) black…

Turkey or Chicken Keema

This is from Quick and Easy Indian Cooking by Madhur Jaffrey.  For more info on this book look under the cookbooks tab.   Keema is usually made with ground lamb but this recipe calls for ground chicken or turkey.  It tastes MUCH better after a day in the fridge, making it not only quick and…

Lemon Ginger Pancakes (Gluten-Free)

I was a pretty committed morning egg eater for many years. And I feel those days are waning, but breakfast remains vitally important to my well being. So I find myself exploring the world of delicious and unconventional pancakes. I like to keep a batch of batter in the fridge ready to go so that…