Food
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Caramelized Red Onion Tart with Seasonal Vegetables
Tarts are some of my favorite things to bake…and eat. With the perfect balance of crust and filling, this red onion version makes use of a variety of vegetables and cheeses already on hand – a handful of green beans, a few cherry tomatoes just about to become too ripe. They combine beautifully to top a caramelized onion layer. Tucked beneath the vegetables are goat cheese and feta as well as Parmesan, which lends a nutty quality. I love dishes such as this one that change throughout the seasons. Certainly the assorted leftover vegetables in my kitchen could make a salad, but here the beautiful slices are celebrated even more…
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The Language of Spice: Chili, Chile, and Chilli
If you enjoyed reading last week’s hot chocolate recipe and happen to be interested in the language surrounding food, you may have wondered about the spelling of one of the key ingredients: chile. As I write up the recipes that hopefully will inspire your own home cooking, I occasionally come upon the name of an ingredient or traditional dish that requires a little bit of editorial finesse. Take, for example, my recent pasta e fagioli. I faced a decision of whether to translate the name into English for those who were not familiar with this Italian soup. Since my grandmother pronounced this dish and other Italian classics so fluidly, it’s…
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Pasta e Fagioli Soup with Chard
A rustic Italian soup made with pasta and beans, pasta e fagioli is a classic dish to which I add greens for extra flavor and nutrition. Even though I use mainly the leaves in this tomato-based recipe, I tend to make it with rainbow chard versus white-stemmed Swiss chard because the bright colors extend from the stems through the leaf veins, adding even more color to each bowl. If you’ve ever had a bland version of this soup or found the pasta to be too soft, try this recipe, perhaps when you’re craving a tomato soup with some tasty extras. The method and ingredients result in a satisfying meal perfect…
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Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash with Goat Cheese and Figs
I believe there is something joyful about a stuffed vegetable. All that goodness overflowing an edible package. In this recipe I fill naturally mild and buttery acorn squash with a quinoa mixture that includes dried figs, goat cheese, shallot, and a touch of homemade pear vinaigrette. On the Italian side of my family, figs were relished, and a flourishing fig tree was admired more than a sprawling lawn. As we drove through my grandmother’s neighborhood, I would look for signs of fruit trees spilling over backyard fences. I suspect this is what sparked my love of gardens tightly packed and overflowing. Though she was a butcher’s daughter, my grandmother favored…
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Cozy Winter
Whether winter brings to mind the peace of a snowy woodland or pine branches brought inside as festive decoration, this is the season of coziness. A walk through the woods is an opportunity to bundle up with chunky mittens and knits. There may be no better time to wear a fluffy pom-pom. Inside there is coziness to be found in a cup of rich hot chocolate and, for a while, the garlands and ornaments that surround us. I’ve always loved winter for the way it calls us to be a little more still, more warm, perhaps even more thoughtful about things we might take for granted in other seasons. Heading…
