Although this preparation of black-eyed peas and tomatoes is called a salad, in Lebanon it is usually an addition to the spread of various dishes found on a meze table. This salad is perfect for an end of the summer meal. Serve it with romaine lettuce leaves to be used as scoops. For ease of […]
Learn How to Make the Catalan Romesco Sauce
July 17, 2018 by Leave a Comment
One of the two great sauces from Catalonia is romesco sauce, originally from Tarragona. The other famous sauce is allioli more commonly known by its Provençal name aïoli. In Tarragona this preparation is as typical of the region as is paella in Valencia. Anton Gelabert, a painter from Barcelona wrote a book of romesco sauce […]
Vegetable Heaven From Italy Is Called Gianfottere
October 4, 2017 by 1 Comment
One of the grand dishes of southern Italy is a baked vegetable medley called gianfottere. There is a summer version and a winter version. It can be eaten from the vessel it’s cooked in hot, warm, or at room temperature. This recipe is a preparation for the summer version of verdure al forno, mixed oven-baked […]
Tomato and Cheese Make Perfect Summer Salads
August 10, 2016 by Leave a Comment
A rule of thumb—better yet—a summer desire, is to keep ones cooking simple as no one wants to spend a lot of time in a hot kitchen. Grilling is the solution, but so is simple summer vegetable salads. In fact, you could make an entire meal of nothing but a variety of salads. In Arab […]
Spring is for Snap Peas–in an Italian Style
May 31, 2016 by Leave a Comment
In Italian this preparation is called mangiatutto con pancetta e pomodoro which are snap peas cooked with pancetta and tomatoes. This recipe is a specialty of the area around Rome and to the south in the region of Lazio where in the springtime new snap peas are picked young and eaten raw. Mangiatutto means eat […]
4 Easy — And Cool — Pasta Dishes For Summer
June 16, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Everyone loves pasta, but during hot summer days a bowl of steaming pasta doesn’t sound that appealing. Some people make cold macaroni salads, but I think pasta is not meant to be eaten cold and besides, those macaroni salads usually have mayonnaise in them and fill you up too much. The Italians have an ideal […]
Luscious Winter Bean Stew from Algeria
February 4, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Winter stews in North Africa, called tagines or maraqat, are typically named after the major vegetable in the dish and not after the major protein, which actually plays a small role in the stew acting more like a condiment than a meat as we use it in North American stews. This stew from Algeria is […]
Colorful Summer Salads Make the Most of Heirlooms
August 25, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Think of the platter as a palette, and your vegetables as swaths of paint that fill in the color of the canvas. This is what every August provides as our tomato plants and other garden vegetables are going crazy and this means we should be thinking colorful salads. This is both an appetizing and beautiful […]
Summertime Raw Sauce for Pasta
August 19, 2014 by Leave a Comment
A delightful way to prepare pasta for a hot summer day is to toss it with a raw sauce or what the Italians call a salsa cruda. Summers can be too hot for full-fledged piping hot food so a raw sauce can come into play. It is exactly what it sounds like, a melange of […]
Juicy Figs Stuffed in Tomatoes Make a Summer Appetizer
August 11, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Our figs in California are so abundant and delicious that throughout the summer we dream all ways of using them. This particular preparation is wonderful as an appetizer to a barbeque party. The tomatoes I call for are a cultivar called Carmelo, but you can use any tomato which, when cut in half, could be […]
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