Ever since I made Balsamic Radishes using the recipe from Kalyn’s Kitchen a few years ago, I have been obsessed with cooked radishes. I cannot begin to express just how much I adore them. By cooking them, normally super peppery radishes are toned down, turned into milder, slightly sweet versions of their raw selves.

And when they are well-seasoned, like the balsamic ones, Grilled Radish Packets or these simple Asian-inspired Soy-Ginger Sauteed Radishes, they become this incredible veggie — firm but silky and practically screaming with flavor. This particular recipe has that sweet-saltiness thanks to the five second soy-ginger sauce that finishes these babies off. So good.

So you know, this dish serves two. Unless, of course, you love them like I do and you accidentally-purposely eat them all by yourself. Don’t worry, I won’t tell!

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Do you ever just want to cheer from the rooftops? Maybe let out a loud whoop? Or perhaps jump on Oprah’s couch … oh wait, that’s just Tom Cruise.  Anyway, even if you aren’t couch jumping, everyone feels like this sometimes … where something thrills you so much that you just want to tell everyone. Right. Away.

That’s totally how I feel about this kale dish. And yes, I am being absolutely serious.

Although the kale is braised, it retains that texture that makes it so special. It’s softened, but still definitely leaves. In fact, that’s one of the things I love about kale and chard: they don’t turn to mush when cooked. It’s that mushiness that makes spinach and I have a tenuous relationship.

In any case, this is dinosaur kale … aka Tuscan kale. The leaves are sweeter than other varieties of kale, and milder in flavor. They are delicious when used raw, but also good for cooking.

This kale is a little sweet, but totally savory. And the lemon and Romano finish make it simply spectacular.

And perhaps the best, bestest, best part? This is local kale. I dropped by my cousin’s organic farm earlier and bought this, chard and scallions — my first local food of the season. There is nothing like it. And I couldn’t be more thrilled that the local season is here at long last.

Have your farmers markets opened yet? Are they open year-round?
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For years I haven’t watched the news at night. While I think it’s important to be informed (and I am), it’s easy to become enraptured with the frightening amount of bad things that happen every day everywhere. I like to believe in the inherent goodness of people, but also realize that for whatever reason some people do very bad things. But it’s my choice not to focus on those things. So, I change the channel when the news comes on.

All of this is a wind up to explain why it was so unusual for me to watch the news last night. I’d heard a preview about rising food prices, and I had to tune in. I handle the budgeting for our family — for everything from food and utilities to vacations — so I really feel the impact when prices rise. I wanted to know what I am in for.

The news isn’t good. We all know that the price of gas and food has risen over the last year. Fuel, which has risen nearly 30 percent in the last year, is largely to blame … and the rising prices aren’t done climbing yet. Gas is expected to topple the $5 a gallon mark soon — something that was unthinkable a decade ago. With this, the cost of meat has and will continue to rise, as will pantry staples. How much? Beef alone is expected to rise by 7% this year. Good thing we don’t eat a lot of beef anymore, right? But the rise in prices is largely across the board, so not eating beef won’t let us escape the costs.

The cost of putting food on the table — any food at all — is rising. Whether you eat all organic or whole foods or cleanly or low-carb, it doesn’t matter. If you aren’t feeling the pinch yet, you will.  That is scary.

This all made me start thinking about ways to cut costs, naturally. There’s only so much my family — and especially me — can comfortably cut back. As a food writer who makes a living developing recipes, I have to buy certain ingredients no matter what the cost. But what I can do is cut back in other ways like cutting back on my coffee habit, getting less takeout and driving less. And I can plan our meals in advance, allowing me to save on gas for the many trips to the grocery store I make each week.

Really, no matter whether food is an intrinsic part of your work or just what you need to nourish your family, planning is absolutely key to frugal eating. This dish — Lemony Pasta Salad — is a perfect example of a well-planned meal. It’s a side dish with 12 portions, so you can make it for dinner one night and have plenty of leftovers for lunches and quick sides all week. Easy.
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The cabbage I grew up with was, like so many other vegetables, boiled. That rendered it translucent, shiny and limp, and it wasn’t a bad thing. I would salt it well, and eat as much as I could. Unlike other vegetables, I adore boiled cabbage. And for a long time, beyond making coleslaw, that was the only way I used cabbage.

But then, I discovered Jamie Oliver’s recipe for Braised Cabbage and I fell head over heels. It was a bit firmer than the cabbage I grew up with and so much more flavorful. I didn’t need to heavily salt it to drag out flavor, because it was already there. Front and center. That changed my whole perspective on cabbage.

So recently when I bought a cabbage, I knew I wanted to try a different preparation, something that would honor the cabbage, and develop its delicate sweetness. I remembered reading about someone roasting it and loving it, so I asked my Twitter buddies if anyone saw that recipe. Kalyn immediately sent her recipe — and that was the one.

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Last week, I asked on the Sarah’s Cucina Bella Facebook page if anyone would be interested in my ultra-fast recipe for homemade macaroni and cheese that takes about 15 minutes to make. The answer was a swift and resounding “Yes!”

I loved the response. I loved knowing that this is something that people want to hear about. And I love sharing it because it is so freakin’ easy.

This recipe is something I have worked on and honed over the last few months. I started making it one snowy night when Shawn and I were trying to decide what to make as a side dish for dinner. We were out of the boxed mac and cheese, but it seemed like the perfect accompaniment for the chicken he was making. So, I tossed together a quick roux (that’s just a fancy word for a butter and flour mixture), added whatever milk and cream I could find in the fridge and tossed in cheese.

It worked. In fact, it worked so well that I made it again shortly after. It’s become a staple for us because it’s fast (10 minutes of active cooking!) and made from ingredients that I always have on hand: butter, flour, milk, cheddar, dry mustard and salt.

A note on the dry mustard: I hate mustard. But this spice (it’s a powder, found in the seasonings aisle at the grocery store) is absolutely essential to a great cheese sauce. It really brings out the flavor of the cheddar cheese.

The recipe is below, but I wanted to give you three really clear steps on how to do this so it takes 10 minutes to cook (Note: total time is slightly longer if you add in the 5-10 minutes it takes to get the water to boil).

Step 1: Fill up the pot of water and get it going on the stove. It’s going to take a little while to start boiling, so do this first.

Step 2: Gather and measure the ingredients. I cannot stress how important this is. Once you start making the sauce, you need to move fast so having everything measured and ready to go is essential. Do this while you are waiting for the water to boil. Also, you will need a wire whisk and a rubber spatula or a spoon with a long handle.

Step 3: Cook everything.
Alright, this is crunch time. But if your ingredients are all ready, it’s a cinch. Toss the pasta in the water, then start cooking the sauce. But make sure you time it so that the pasta and sauce are done at about the same time. How?

It’s easy. The sauce takes about 10 minutes to make. So, depending on how long it takes to cook your pasta to al dente (these small shells took 10 minutes), you may start making it at the same time as the pasta goes in the water or you may wait a few minutes.

Making the sauce will be an intense 10 minutes. You really need to stay there, stirring a lot. But once the cheese sauce is done, the whole dish is done. You toss the sauce with the pasta and voila! You’ve made macaroni and cheese, no package of powdered cheese required.

That’s it.

See also Slow-Cooker Macaroni and Cheese. Read the rest of this entry…

Sunday was a wild, busy day. We spent the morning outside, then rushed off to a family lunch, ran some errands, rushed home, the kids ate dinner and then it was off to Will’s track practice. By the time we got home for the evening, it was late and time for the tired children to go to bed. In short order, they were rushed off to bed, read short books and tucked in.

Once that was all done, I had a second to just stop. In the rush to feed the kids at a decent hour and before track, I didn’t take the time to feed myself. And I was hungry. Obviously.

And it was in that hunger that I first made this recipe. It was light, but satisfying. The smokiness of roasted broccoli went so well with the toasty garlic and browned feta. Yum. And I liked it so much that I made it again the next next for everyone to enjoy at dinnertime. Will loved it. Paige and Shawn? Not so much.

If you like broccoli and garlic and feta … which are basically the only ingredients … then you will love this. I swear.

What’s your favorite veggie to roast?
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Months and months ago, I bought a bottle of walnut oil, with the good intention of trying it. Except, then I got it home and couldn’t remember what I wanted to try it in. Or why I even thought I would use it. So it sat in the cabinet, untouched.

Recently I noticed that lonely bottle of walnut oil, and made a mental note to do something with it. Except, I wasn’t even sure what applications walnut oil might be good for and I was never near a computer when I thought about it. So, it sat a little longer until the stars suddenly aligned one day, and I remembered to Tweet my question. An answer came almost immediately from Evan Barbour, who is an editorial assistant at Fine Cooking. She walked me through what it’s good for (mostly cold applications, but its flavor is enhanced when it’s warmed a little — like in the case of these roasted Brussels sprouts), and made some suggestions of what to try it on (roasted sunchokes, root veggies, etc). It was unbelievably helpful.

It’s funny, a few years ago, I moderated a BlogHer panel on social media and cooking, and at the time, Twitter was still in its infancy and Facebook wasn’t nearly as widespread in popularity. People were learning to use sites like Yelp, some loving the concept. But as I sat on the panel, asking questions, it occurred to me that the panel was coming perhaps a little too soon — we were all just starting to adopt the social media platforms that are now essential marketing, communication and relationship-building tools.

That was nearly three years ago. Today, a simple tweet asking about an ingredient can lead to a great conversation with someone you might never have known otherwise. Today, when you need that last-second help, you can turn to social media and get answers. Just yesterday, a reader sent me a note asking for help with a recipe — she wanted to know if she could skip a step (it was possible, but the results wouldn’t be as good), and I sent her back a swift response, along with a similar recipe that didn’t require that step. That recipe alternative was just what she was looking for.

So, this fabulous recipe for warm, slightly sweet Brussels sprouts that are infused with a hint of walnut-iness and bathed in melty gorgonzola is all thanks to social media. What a cool world we live in.

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For the past two months, I have been staring into my backyard, wondering what we’ll find when all the snow melts. As more snow came, my worries increased. My raised bed garden is back there, and it’s hard to tell what the many feet of snow and ice that piled onto it this winter (all at once!) will do to my boxes and half barrels. Will the melting water find its way into cracks and split the wood beyond repair? With the snow melting fast these days, I will soon get my answers. The tops of the boxes are visible today for the first time this year.

Because of the uncertainty — not knowing whether the untreated wood will survive unscathed or if we will have to re-plan the garden from scratch — I haven’t been letting myself think too much about what we’ll be planting when summer comes. But Will, my five-year-old, has wanted to talk about it, asking if we can plant tomatoes and pickling cucumbers and red peppers again. I’ve said yes, telling him that of course we can, though in my head I hear “I hope so.” What else is there to say?

In the meantime, while I wait, wonder and try not to worry, I’ve been thinking a lot about cooking (okay, who am I fooling? I always think a lot about cooking). I’ve been thinking about recipes and flavors and cooking with the food in my pantry and fridge.

Today, I was whipping up a soup that uses sweet potatoes for an assignment for work, when I started thinking about the lonely knob of ginger in my fridge. For a second, I contemplating adding a little to the recipe, but I realized that wasn’t a great idea. But roasted sweet potatoes with garlic and ginger? It sounded delightful. So, I grabbed the remainder of my sweet potatoes and whipped up a batch.

That batch is now gone.

The sweet potato chunks are roasted, making them beautifully sweet, without being cloying. The garlic, ginger, salt and pepper complement that sweetness, pulling them back into the savory realm. It’s hard not to fall in love with these at first bite. Really. I mean it.

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When my husband and I moved to our town, I didn’t realize what a small town we were moving to. I mean, in theory, I knew. The main street is a small drag with a few well-frequented businesses. The school district has neighborhood schools, which all seem a stone’s throw away from where the kids live. And everyone told me that it was a really small town mentality. But it wasn’t until I started working at home, frequenting our local businesses and the kids started school that it sunk in. This is small town life.

This morning I was working in a coffee shop in town, a welcome change of scenery allowing me to really focus on the edit/rewrite assignment I was working on. While there, I ran into a local parish priest, my daughter’s teacher and I saw several other women whom I recognize from various school and town activities. And it was a slow day there.

That’s how it is in a small town. Forget six degrees of separation — it’s more like one degree of separation here.

Living in a small town has taken me way beyond my comfort zone. Back when I lived in New York, which was eons ago now, it was easy to just blend in and be one of the masses, getting from point A to point B quietly, alone. Here, a visit to the farmers’ market is punctuated by hellos. It’s not a bad thing. Just different.

A part of me loves that wherever you go, if you welcome the small town thing, there is someone you know, someone to talk to. But, of course, the private part of me still wishes for anonymity. There has to be a balance of the two.

Balance is something important to cooking as well. You can’t have too many soft textures together, because it will just feel like mush in your mouth. Likewise, too much crunch is too much. You need a little softness, a little crunch, a little sweetness and a little salt. Sometimes, a little heat too. It all keeps a dish interesting.

This Brussels sprouts recipe walks that line between tastes and textures. It’s delicious with the creamy melted blue cheese and salty bits of bacon. But if you want to take it up a notch, sprinkle a little hot sauce in too.

Either way, it’s delicious.

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The sun is shining. I know, it doesn’t sound like much, but the first six or so weeks of winter here were marked with gray skies and ever-impending snow. The harsh weather was unlike anything I’d experienced before, and for the first time, I understood the winter blues.

I was frantic — trying to harness what little natural light we were getting for my photography. Trying to hold everything together when deadlines loomed and the kids were home on yet another snow day. Trying to keep our driveway clear, so that a much-needed oil drop could be made. Trying to keep the kids happy and occupied when I was going in 50 directions myself. It was hard.

But the sun, today and over the past week or so, has melted away that frustration (along with a lot of the ice and some of the still-way-too-deep snow). I am starting to feel human again. Thank goodness.

Now, I am counting down to spring. Yesterday, we got a little preview. It was so warm here that I shed my coat and went without it all day (can you say bliss?). Today it’s cold again. But yesterday’s little respite from the cold and chill of winter, left me thinking all day about the glorious months of farmers’ markets and fresh veggies and sun-filled beach days. We’re getting there (a few weeks ago, it felt like we never would).

Until spring comes, I am making the most of what my local grocery store carries for veggies at this time of year. And when I saw big heads of snowy-white cauliflower recently, I had to buy some.

You probably hear me say this a lot about many different veggies, but I love cauliflower — especially roasted. The kids? They can be a bit of a harder sell. But when I tossed the florets from this head with garlic, parsley and oil, they were all over it, and asking for more. I think that’s a good indication of how tasty it was.

Roasting cauliflower brings out a wonderful, subtle sweetness. It’s amazing. Though I have no problem with boiled cauliflower (one of the few veggies I can say that about), roasting it is just so, so better. Have you tried it? You should.

And given the kids’ reactions, I guess I am not the only cauliflower fan here anymore.
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