This simple little side has become a staple in our meal repertoire.
It’s perfect with grilled chicken or fish, but it’s also pretty tasty on its own…the next day…straight from the fridge.

Aren’t those peas gorgeous? They were grown on a local farm about 10 minutes from my house.

Really, this is the perfect spring dish…when you can find all three of these ingredients at your local Farmer’s Market. I’m failing you by finally sharing this halfway through October. My apologies – when I first discovered this little combo, I didn’t have anything clever to tell you about it. I still don’t, but this is one of those recipes you just can’t miss.

Peas, Asparagus, & Basil

Adapted slightly from Gourmet
Serves 4ish
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots (about 2)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 pound shelled fresh peas (2 1/2 cups; 1 3/4 pound in pods) or 1 (10-ounce) package thawed frozen peas
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
Handful of torn basil leaves (about 3/4 cup)
1/4 cup grated parmesan
Preparation
Heat olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add shallots and cook until tender, about 4 minutes.
Stir in asparagus, peas, sea salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook over medium heat until vegetables are tender but still slightly al dente, about 8 minutes. Stir in basil, cheese and sea salt to taste.

There’s nothing very complex about this salad. It’s simple and clean, but there’s also something kind of elegant about it. It’s my favorite type of salad. What’s special about it, and the reason I’m sharing it with you, is its unique combination of ingredients…heirloom tomatoes and cherries.
(more…)

I started crying at IKEA today.

Though I did spend 45 minutes in the curtain section, analyzing the many merits and disadvantages of velvet vs. tweed vs. linen, panels vs. tabs vs. grommets, translucent vs. opaque, navy vs. brown vs. ivory vs. orange vs. white, my tears were not due to exhaustion or sensory overload. At least I don’t think they were – by the end of it all, I may have been ready to cry at anything.

The real culprit was a simple exchange between mother and daughter. You know that silly little food court on the way out of IKEA? The one with the amazing cinnamon rolls and soft-serve ice cream that even the most extreme of the Cross-Fit fanatics can’t resist? Yeah. Well, the mom and the daughter took one sniff look at those ooey, gooey cinnamon rolls, looked at each other, grinned, and made a beeline for the counter.
(more…)

I give Andrew lots of grief for being uncreative in his food requests. Each time I make a meal plan, I can pretty much guess what his input will be.

For a while, all he’d ever ask for was green chile enchiladas.
Then, he moved on to ‘magic chicken’.
Now, it’s ‘that amazing mustard steak’.
The man knows what he wants.
(more…)

This simple little salad added two new cooking methods to my repertoire.
(more…)