Hi lovely folks! I’m excited to share a late spring, early summer recipe for spicy radishes at The Balanced Platter. The blog shares a great compilation of recipes and tips from different health-minded bloggers. Take a look here for the recipe!

Meanwhile, I’m enrolled in an online course about the sustainability of food systems. If this sounds right up your alley, you should take it too! It’s free, online, and lasts four weeks. What good nourishment for the noggin.

Have a great week!

I am constantly amazed by this place. This place being the vast stretch of concrete, dirt, and pipeline known as Brooklyn. I explored the Brooklyn Botanical Garden and got lost in the floral oasis. I made new loves at Bushwick Open Studios. Lastly, I joined a sweet CSA, and promptly decided never to eat out again. (Could you blame me?!)

I’ve always respected the act of sourcing from local farms and suppliers, but I never experienced quite as much joy as during my first CSA pick-up. A huge throng of neighbors gathered around boxes of sprightly greens, talking and laughing. Boy were they sprightly. Seeing clusters of spicy stalks and bowls of soft lettuce leaves made my heart skip a beat or two, for real.

High off the excitement of carrying pounds of fresh greens, my greens, I half-ran home to crank out dinner. As I spread out the bounty across the butcher block, I hemmed and hawed over the tasty possibilities. So many good choices. Remembering a savory turnip soup recipe, I saved the other plants for later and rinsed off the cream-colored roots.

(more…)

My sweet momma came to visit last weekend. I always enjoy sharing new recipes and ideas with her, as we both view the kitchen like a creative laboratory. Each homemade meal ends in “Mmm…I love this part, next time let’s sprinkle some of this,” or “Let’s crumble a bit of that on top,” or “What do you think if we added this?” Hungry to experiment, we aim to make each concoction a feast of the mouth, eyes, and brain.

So for her birthday I wanted to create a sweet treat that was healthy in nature and innovative in flavor. With a fresh batch of scarlet cherries and a hankering for cold dessert, I thought crafty popsicles laced with fresh cardamom seemed like fun.

Cardamom in particular is a fragrant, woodsy spice that I like to sprinkle in sweet, tea-laden, or floral dishes. When I was rummaging through my mental spice rack of what to pair with the dark cherries, cardamom came first to mind.

(more…)

My friends and I were all in favor of celebrating this warm change of weather with a potluck picnic. After the forecast laughed and changed to a whimsical drizzle, we continued indoors with a front yard BBQ.

Now as a native Southern gal, I appreciate barbecue. I just don’t partake in it. I love my veggie- and fruit-laden meals, so this event was just an opportunity to be inventive with vegetarian options. After hemming and hawing at the grocery store, I spied the golden opportunity: fresh pineapple. At the shindig I sliced the fruit in thick rings, squeezed a layer of lime juice on top, and set them out to cook.

So if you plan on breaking out the grill for Memorial Day, I highly recommend buying a pineapple. It’s nice to finish a hearty meal on a fresh, citrusy note. Not to mention it’s super easy to cook.

(more…)