Saturday, August 6, 2011
Peaches, Nectarines, Boucheron Cheese and Summer Greens make up this summertime treat.
I spent a few weeks in Georgia earlier this Summer which piqued my peach and nectarine cravings before the season really hit back here. By far, my favorite mid-Summer fruit, and versatile in so many savory dishes. Both the yellow and white varieties lend a medley of sweetness and crunchy texture I enjoy. In addition to pies, cobblers and the usual desserts, try adding them to salads with a sweet sherry vinaigrette, diced in a hot salsa with tomatoes for fish or sliced to throw on the grill. The other day I was poking around the farm stand at the Natick Community Organic Farm and noticed several bags of organic greens ranging from mesclun to tiny spicy bitter greens. Peppery bitter greens (like arugula) would be a perfect match for the …
Friday, May 13, 2011
Try these tender strawberry muffins with a hint of rosemary.
Last month I wrote about infusing sugar with fresh herbs. Now that my sugars have infused for several weeks, they’re wonderfully fragrant with hints of rosemary, lavender and orange zest. Time to start using them to give simple baking recipes a hint of Spring. I’ve taken one of my standard easy morning muffin recipes and given it a rosemary boost. I love the compliment rosemary lends to the sweetness of fresh strawberries. It also pairs well with cranberries and orange too. These muffins are tender and moist due to the combination of buttermilk and oil (rather than butter). Use a light oil like canola, sunflower or safflower. Not to worry if you open the fridge to find you’re out of buttermilk, most of the time I make my own: Homemade …
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Try these easy grab 'n go snacks for your kids.
Anyone feel the urge to get some Spring cleaning underway? For me, this means giving some of my snack recipes a healthy makeover. These bars are packed with protein and fill me up if I have to skip lunch (which happens too often). If you’re looking for a fast, easy snack to have on hand for the kids, this is it! You can interchange the ingredients to create different flavors and feel good knowing you control the sugar. These are a chewy granola bar with banana as the binder. You can certainly sweeten them, if you like. I have found that so many granola recipes are deceivingly high in sugar even if the recipe uses honey or maple syrup. Feel free to add some to this recipe, but I think the dried fruits add a subtle natural sweetness. …
Trish Wesley Umbrell
1:25 pm on Monday, August 8, 2011
The spicy greens used in this week's recipe were proudly raised from seed and harvested by Natick Community Organic Farm's Growing Farmers (ages 8-10). They thank you for support of their efforts! more ›