Food, Photography and Bon Mots
Pythagoras was so convinced that beans had souls that their consumption was forbidden among his followers. Don’t get me wrong. I love beans, but I’m not so sure about the soul part. Tiny little bean hearts, maybe. Truth be told, however you fix ’em, I…
This healthy Middle Eastern soup is wonderful. It’s spicy–flavored with a robust harissa paste. It’s full of flavorful and protein-rich Rancho Gordo Marcella white beans. It’s filled with good-for-you greens. It’s just what you need to warm your soul–whether you are caught in…
I’m late to the party. (What’s new? I know.) To be honest, I didn’t even know I liked soft polenta, but it is pretty wonderful, particularly mixed with generous amounts of butter and grated asiago (or parmesan) cheese. In this dish, the polenta is topped…
Raise your hands if you don’t like baked beans. Nobody? I thought so. This baked bean recipe has it all. It shines with the best beans you can buy but it is also great with plain Jane canned beans. (I used Rancho Gordo…
I’m enjoying a fair amount of Middle Eastern/North African cooking of late. I love the bold flavors and the high-intensity colors of the dishes from that region. Brings back good memories, too. When the world was a gentler place, my husband and I did a…
Oxi! (or is it Nai! ?) I could never keep yes and no straight in Greek. (Could be a dangerous confusion in any language. I know.) These Greek Baked Beans are delicious. I just made another big (for me) Rancho Gordo bean buy and…
This wonderful Julia Moskin recipe for Spicy Peanut Stew with Ginger and Tomato recently came across my desk and flooded my world with all kinds of happy memories. Talk about an endorphin rush! When my husband and I were traveling, we were fortunate to make…
These days many food sites exhort us to “eat the rainbow”–a colorful visual cue to remind us of the importance of incorporating a variety of nutrients into our daily diets. Good advice. I know I need the nudge. Here is a recipe for…
I often look to David Tanis’ food column for inspired food ideas. He was a lead chef for more than thirty years at Berkeley’s legendary Chez Panisse. That credential alone positions him in the pantheon of culinary immortals. Since leaving Chez Panisse in 2011, Tanis has written a…
OK everyone. All together now. Say cowpeas. That’s what black-eyed peas are. They are a type of cowpeas, “one of the most ancient crops known to man” according to Purdue’s horticultural Jefferson Institute, and the real shocker is that they aren’t really peas at all.…
