Bring in the Spring

A Classic Spring Herbal Tonics workshop at The River Valley Market Co-Op was calling to me and I'm glad that I heeded the call. I had the pleasure of my friend Christine's company and bumped into a few other friends in attendance. The presenter, Jade Alicandro Mace, of Milk & Honey Herbs in Sunderland, was knowledgeable about herbs as food and medicine and was accessible and welcoming. She described Spring as a time of ambition and planning the future. In the Spring, we prepare our bodies to tackle and enjoy this time of transformation through selecting and eating the right foods and herbs. Jade created a perfect balance of sharing the benefits of each food or herb and sharing how to eat these from a culinary standpoint. She suggested some beneficial Springtime teas and shared some tasty tea with the class. 

Jade understood the importance of attending to other aspects of the body and mind, by ensuring that we are reducing stressors, moving our bodies and getting off of the couch. It's late March, and we surely want to leave our hibernating winter selves behind! 

She suggested that Spring is a time to eat light. Wild foods, especially wild greens, are a great choice. Dandelion, chickweed and miners lettuce are great choices for the spring. Salads with raw foods and oil and vinegar are a perfect way to bring in the spring. Excellent and delicious herbs for the Spring include peppermint, sage, thyme and oregano. She recommended Saw Mill Herb CSA for fresh herbs and Acadia Herbals of Northampton for dried herbs. And, of course, she recommended River Valley Market for a good variety of herbs and greens. She recommended that we stop by the produce section and peek at the greens selection on our way out. I did just that and picked up a beautiful bunch of Dandelion Greens. 

Dandelion Greens from River Valley Market

Since attending the workshop, I have prepared Dandelion Greens on a few occasions and everyone gobbled it up. I was inspired to use an Italian "Cicoria" recipe from the influence of my long time friend, Sue B., of Italian-American heritage. Her family traditionally would make a Dandelion Greens recipe with Italian Sausage and Cannelini Beans. Here is a traditional Fagioli, Cicoria e Salsicce (Beans, Dandelion & Sausage) recipe from the James Beard Foundation. 

I used this recipe as an inspiration for some other Dandelion Greens creations. The first version was cooked with cannellini beans, pasta, herbs and spices. I also prepared Dandelion with the beans, leftover roasted chicken, herbs and spices. And, lastly, I prepared it with cannellini, diced and pan sautéed potatoes, herbs and spices with a fried egg on top. Who doesn't love a fried egg on top? Even if you are feeling a tad skeptical, give Dandelion Greens a try, they are both addicting and delicious! 

Another highly recommended Springtime vegetable is Asparagus, my all-time favorite. I have been waiting for the local Asparagus season with bated breath. One month to go until we have beautiful, local Hadley Asparagus in abundance! 

 Dandelion with Cannellini and Pasta

 Dandelion, Cannellini and Chicken

With Herbs & Spices

Dani digging on some Dandelion Greens! 

I had an opportunity to pop by Acadia Herbals and get my hands on a huge 1/2 lb bag of Nettles. Stop by there sometime-the staff is wonderful and they offer FREE ginger candy to all customers! Plus they know their way around your herbal needs. We are enjoying drinking Nettle Tea-you can always start out with a small amount if you would like to give it a try. And, I picked up some ever-evasive Red Rose Petals, that we can now use to top one of our favorite desserts, the Persian Love Cake. Beautiful! I'll be visiting Acadia again soon to browse and perhaps pick up a few more Springtime herbal teas. 

Lastly, Jade grounded her Springtime Herbals talk in the concept of The Five Elements of Chinese Medicine and shared that the Spring is a time that is heavily influenced by the element of wood, which is also a symbol of growth. It is a time of re-birth, with buds shooting off of trees and a surge of rising energy in ourselves and the environment. I hope you have take full advantage of this energy. I certainly have a newfound appreciation for the Spring season. 

Ina Garten Shrimpspiration!

We're sending off Sam today for her last two months at college before summer. And, she's been such a busy gal, we haven't had a chance to all sit down together for dinner. We managed to carve out some time last night and Sam also assisted with the dinner preparations.

Awww...Here's Sam w/ a

lovely parsley bouquet to 

celebrate the Springtime weather. 

Speaking of Sam, we were planning on making Ina Garten's Oven Roasted Shrimp last time she was in town for a break. She enthusiastically tore off the shrimp tails, so we "made do" with an off the cuff shrimp creation as an appetizer instead. I thought I would give it another try and with a little training, Sam experienced shrimp prep success. 

I was also inspired by Friday night's visit to Bela, our favorite restaurant in Northampton. Over the last couple of years, they have daily dinner specials of pasta or rice dishes with butter sauces. Their most popular creations are orange butter sauce, lemon caper butter sauce and miso butter sauce. Considering that I am having a bit of a caper obsession as of late, I opted to make a lemon caper butter sauce with pasta. This sauce was a cinch and is moving into heavy rotation. To make it a little more heart healthy, you could use half olive oil and half butter. Enjoy and let me know if you give this a try. 

Pasta with Lemon Caper Butter,

Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Oven Roasted Shrimp

Pesto Chicken & Venetian Rice with Raisins

This is a down and dirty post on a weeknight meal we quickly prepared this week. Blue stopped by Marin Mama Cooks and found this easy recipe for Pesto Chicken with Greek Yogurt. It's originally from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine, which would explain the easy and straight-forward nature of this recipe. Everyday Food is a great place to head to for fast and simple weekday evening meals.

We thought the Pesto Chicken would pair well with a newly discovered traditional Venetian Rice with Raisins Recipe (Risi col' Ua) that you can find over at Mediterranean Living.  Here are the results:

Venetian Rice with Raisins

Venetian Rice w/ Raisins & Pesto Chicken

We also made an Italian style Dinner Salad with Radish, Almonds & Sun Dried Tomatoes to go with the meal. It was a hit and I'm craving it already! Our friend Toni was over for dinner and I think she liked the salad as well. 

Dinner Salad with Radish, Almonds & Sun Dried Tomatoes

2 Cups chopped or baby lettuce

1/4 Cup slivered daikon radish

4 Tbsp pan toasted slivered almonds

1 small red onion, very thinly sliced

1/2 Cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1/4 Cup marinated sun dried tomatoes

3 Tbsp good quality extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp good quality balsamic vinegar

Place the first five ingredients in a large bowl. Add the olive oil and balsamic vinegar, thoroughly mix the salad and then plate as individual servings.

It just so happens that I was recently in my hometown of Rochester, NY and picked up another stockpile of good quality olive oil and vinegar from the Rochester Public Market's Cosimano e Ferrari. So, I used a Blood Orange Olive Oil and Champagne Mimosa White Balsamic in this salad. This combination gave this salad a wonderfully bright citrusy taste. I think I could have eaten the entire bowl by myself! 

And, I also made a new discovery at the Rochester Public Market, the local worker-owned cooperative small-batch organic foods purveyor, Small World Food. I picked up Chanterelle butter and Caraway Seed Sauerkraut for the St. Patty's Day season. And, I grabbed a jar of Gingered Carrots, which made it's way into this salad. It was a nice and biting counter-balance to this citrusy salad. If you are ever at the Rochester Public Market, definitely look for the Small World table at the market. 

Makes 4 Servings

Vietnam via Italia

The incredibly versatile Italian Frittata is a dish that is perfect for breakfast, brunch, or even as an appetizer. There's lots of great recipes out there for Frittata that I would love to try. This is a simple dish to prepare: Begin with heating up a generous amount of olive oil in a pan, add and heat your
vegetable, cheese, herbs, spices and meat ingredients. Add whisked eggs with salt and pepper and cook on medium in the skillet or frying pan. Using a flexible baking spatula, pull the eggs from the side of the pan and let it cook underneath, continue checking on the bottom of the Frittata for browning. Once just slightly brown cook for 2-4 minutes under the broiler.

Lately, I have been doing a lot of experimenting with making Frittata, a traditional dish that puts your leftover prepared vegetables to use. The key to a wide ranging Frittata repertoire is to consider most any leftover as a potential ingredient. So, in the last couple of weeks, we have had Frittata with leftover Saffron Cauliflower, Mushroomy Israeli Couscous and Broccoli w/ Parmesan and Onion and Potato w/ Parmesan. Hopefully the family won't become to exhausted with my little Frittata obsession.

An Italian Frittata creation 

Speaking of obsessions, I have long been enamored with Vietnamese food and I have made the traditional dishes, such as Shrimp on Sugar Cane, Fresh Spring Rolls, Shrimp Toast, Simple Vietnamese Salad and Pho Noodle Soup. I have been having mostly Mediterranean food lately and have been longing for some Vietnamese food. This past week, I made a double batch of Nam Pla (prepared dipping sauce w/ fish sauce) for a Vietnamese Noodle dish. And, then I put it on everything for days in between my Frittata making.

I decided to combine the best of both worlds for a Mediterrasian Basmati Rice, Fish Sauce, Ginger and Onion Frittata. The Frittata was garnished with Thai Basil, chopped Vietnamese Rau Ram leaves and more fish sauce. I wish I had some chopped peanuts to add, and chopped cucumber would also be a good addition.

Vietnamese Mini Frittata