Fennel and Apple Salad with Smoked Salmon

Crisp, bright flavor makes this a terrific starter

It’s “shoulder season” in our part of the world. We’re still getting good-quality winter produce, and just starting to see spring favorites.

So this salad celebrates late-season fennel and apples. We mix them with celery and a lemony vinaigrette, then top it off with succulent smoked salmon.

It’s the beginning of a great company meal. And maybe a beautiful food friendship.

Manhattan Clam Chowder

This easy, vegetable-rich dish is made from pantry staples

Clam chowder is a double classic, featuring both a creamy New England style and a brothy Manhattan version.

We love all that cream in the New England version, but its rich heartiness makes it a winter dish for us. Come spring, we like lighter, healthier Manhattan Clam Chowder. Plus, it’s a great way to load up on vegetables.

Serve this for dinner and you’ll know where the saying “happy as a clam” comes from.

Cream of Celeriac and Celery Soup

 A flavorful but not-too-rich winter starter

Need a cream soup that’s not a calorie bomb? We’re here for you. Our Cream of Celeriac (aka Celery Root) and Celery Soup is hearty but not overly filling.

Which means you can enjoy this as a first course, and still have plenty of room for the main and dessert.

Perfect for warming up your guests.

Italian Corona Bean Salad

Use any white bean to make this easy, tasty main or side

A hill of beans, you say? Coming right up.

Today we’re using corona beans (aka royal corona beans), a large white bean that’s very popular in Italy. Their size makes them perfect for an antipasto dish or salad. But if you don’t have corona beans on hand (they’re hard to find), you can substitute any white bean for this dish.

Coronas are worth the effort to search out, though. If for no other reason than to say you’ve bean there, done that. 

Chicken and Roast Cauliflower Soup

A hearty, winter-friendly way to use leftover chicken or turkey

We see leftover poultry in your future. Chilly weather too.

So why not take them both on with this warming soup? Add some roast cauliflower to the mix and you’ll increase the comfort quotient even more.

Who knew you’d be giving thanks for leftovers?

Chicken and Andouille Jambalaya

You can feed a crowd with this spicy Creole dish

Mardi Gras may be over, but that’s no reason to ignore New Orleans-style cuisine. It’s good any time of the year!

So today we’re cooking jambalaya, which is pretty much every-day fare in Louisiana. And why not? It’s a one-pot dinner with outstanding flavor.

Best of all, jambalaya is not hard to make. Most of the cooking is unattended, and you can prepare it ahead of time. That makes for a perfect company dish.

It’s the big easy, you might say.

Asian-Spiced Chicken Noodle Soup

Rev up this traditional favorite with ginger, garlic, and jalapeño

We’re trudging through cold-and-flu season in our part of the world. Time for chicken noodle soup (a/k/a liquid penicillin).

You could buy canned soup, of course (and the leading brand’s logo is museum quality when painted by Andy Warhol). But homemade is so much better, especially when you add an Asian angle.

This soup is so good you may look forward to getting sick. And creating your own work of art.

Chicken and Celery Stir-Fry

Ginger, garlic, and fermented black beans add sizzle

Lunar New Year arrives on February 16. So how about some Chinese-inspired stir-fry?

Asian cooking can look complicated to Westerners, but it’s actually pretty simple. It’s all about the prep – the cooking takes very little time.

So fetch some flavor for the Year of the Dog.

Braised Celery with Tomato and Parmesan

A great side dish to accompany, well . . . anything

Never tasted Braised Celery? Well, you’re in for a treat. Because braising makes celery tender and sweet, revealing new depths of this often-overlooked veggie.

For this recipe, we cook celery in tomatoes (marinara sauce, actually), then finish it with a layer of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. We end up with a dish that’s almost a gratin, but not quite.

Braised Celery makes a perfect sidekick for grilled/roasted meat, fish, or poultry. Or anything, really. And its flavor is lip-smacking good. So this might be the perfect time to wear your “Kiss the Cook” apron.

Italian Celery and Mushroom Salad

Pecorino Romano perks up this fresh and healthy delight

Looking for a dish with crisp, sunny flavor—one that can make you forget winter’s gloom? This classic Italian Celery and Mushroom Salad is just the thing.

Mushrooms and celery always play nicely together when dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. But mix in some Pecorino Romano cheese, and look out flavor explosion!

This salad takes just minutes to make. So it’s perfect for a weekday meal. But it’s also delectable enough for a weekend dinner party. Don’t you just love it when recipes are that accommodating?

Celery, Corn, and Bacon Chowder

Celery takes the lead role in this hearty dish

We all have celery in the fridge, right? Usually a wilted, half-used head buried deep in the vegetable bin. 

Most of us wouldn’t even think of using celery as a main ingredient. But I say it’s about time this shy veggie got some love.

Our Celery, Corn, and Bacon Chowder highlights the flavor of celery—in a warming comfort food. And with the cold, snowy weather we’ve been having in most of the US lately, I need all the warming comfort I can get.

Tuna Pasta Salad

Simple Summer Comfort Food

It’s been hot, hot, hot throughout much of the United States lately, with no letup from the heat immediately in sight. So most of us don’t want to spend more time than necessary over the stove. And somehow the thought of a big, heavy meal sounds unattractive at best, revolting at worst.

No, in these dog days of summer many of us want to eat lighter, but still crave flavor. A cold dish is ideal.

What better than a nutritious and relatively light pasta salad? Maybe the tuna pasta salad so many of us remember from childhood. A simple dish, but – like mac ‘n cheese – one that still delights us today.

American (Mayonnaise) Potato Salad

Just Like Our Moms Made

For many of us in the United States, classic mayonnaise potato salad is the ultimate summer comfort food.  We associate it with picnics, fried chicken, and barbeque.  Hot dogs and hamburgers, too.  Good times, good memories.

For a lot of us, though, the potato salad of memory has been replaced by deli fare.  Either we (think) we don’t have the time to make the real thing or don’t know how.

If you’d like to recapture the taste of homemade, this post is for you.