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Grow a Salad Garden for Plentiful Greens All Season Long
If you love salads as much as I do, lettuce and other salad greens are some of the best (and easiest) spring vegetables to grow at home. Leaves develop quickly, and you can clip as many as needed at a time. New ones will continue to grow from clipped plants, meaning you will definitely be able to cross at least one ingredient off your shopping list once the plants are in full swing. With warmer night temperatures here to stay, I’ll be filling the raised lettuce beds this weekend, but you can also plant seeds in deep hanging baskets and portable planters. Consider this encouragement to visit your favorite garden…
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Wheat Berry Salad with Roasted Squash, Spinach and Pear
Finally there is a chill to the air, and we can settle into my favorite part of autumn, the stretch leading up to Thanksgiving. The leaves have been whipping around my yard, and blustery days have me craving heartier salads with ingredients such as those in this wheat berry recipe. Roasted Honeynut squash and pear deliver peak fall flavors while the wheat berries themselves lend the characteristic nutty, slightly chewy texture that give this grain salad the substance we seek as coats and mittens slowly become essential. Freshly made, this vegan dish can be enjoyed warm or room temperature and makes a great Thanksgiving side. Ahead of her time in…
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Chicken Meatballs with Wilted Greens and Bacon
Whether you grew up eating Italian meatballs simmered in a slow-cooked tomato sauce or the smaller Swedish style ones served with a rich gravy, you know how perfectly those dishes warm us from the inside out. These baked chicken meatballs with wilted greens and bacon are equally warming. I would say they are closer to Italian style with their ample amounts of garlic, Parmesan cheese, and parsley, a trinity certainly deserving of a name in the same way that carrot, onion, and celery collectively earned the term mirepoix. Made with ground chicken, baked, then tossed with wilted greens and crispy bits of bacon, these meatballs are best served with a…
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Stovetop Spinach Dip
Sauteed spinach can be an incredibly flavorful side dish. When combined with mascarpone, Parmesan, and lots of great seasoning, it transforms into an indulgent dip. As opposed to a light bite that you can pop into your mouth right before the main course, this recipe is perfect for those times when a roast is slowly baking in the oven. As creamy and delicious as a baked version, it won’t take valuable oven space away from your main meal. Another advantage of a stovetop dip is that you easily can cook it until it reaches your desired level of thickness. Keep a close watch on the pan, and remember all that…
