Strawberry Strata
It’s seasonally appropriate and sensationally versatile at the table – a layering as suitable for breakfast as it is for dessert and starring the rosy jewel of a fruit that marks spring at its peak.
Asian Pesto
Tap into spring’s verdant herbs to come up with a most adaptable condiment right for everything from noodles and stir-fries to grilled steaks and dumplings. In other words: Why wait for basil to make a sauce that’s endlessly useful?
Good Tidings from Spring Garlic
Mild, gentle and even somewhat sweet, this infant allium can be used in vibrant condiments such as chimichurri – or wherever you might find regular raw garlic too harsh to handle. Here’s a how-to.
Asparagus Salad with Dried Salmon
Early stalks of a top crop of spring are partnered with a less-common incarnation of a staple fish to make for a toss suited for an in-season supper.
Creamed Ramps with Mushrooms
A kissing cousin of creamed spinach can be slimmed down a bit and still work as a mighty fine side dish for grilled steaks. Or it can take on a focal-point role in a non-meat entrée.
Red Pomelo
In the waning days of citrus season, the giant of the genre can mix it up with early herbs from a backyard garden, a bitter chicory and any sort of shellfish you might choose to make a supper of salad.
Sunday Spread
Taking feisty to the max is a mix of chilies and herbs that plays like pesto, acts like chutney and enjoys its place at the table like salsa. It’s zhoug, and though it stands well on its own, it raises the bar on hummus in a major way.
Pickled Onions
Sorry/not sorry for shouting, but WHY AREN’T YOU MAKING PICKLED ONIONS? There’s no excuse for not adding to the versatility of this staple of any kitchen rooted in any culture. So grab a glass jar, snatch the ingredients from your pantry and get with a program of advancing the use of your onions.
One Little Big Thing
Cherry Grove Farm’s store in Lawrence Township proves a windfall for those looking to stock up on Garden State’s artisan foods. On this day, one particular jar becomes the instigator for myriad and many easy meals.
Oven-roasted Small Tomatoes
Ready to put something on your Squirreling Schedule? A favorite, and one of the easiest how-tos of the extend-the-life schemes for produce, is a method of oven-roasting and stashing in olive oil the omnipresent cherry tomato and its kin, the grape tomato.
Greens Bars
Have your corned beef and cabbage, cottage pie or colcannon, Irish stew and Irish whiskey, green beer, green guacamole and cookies tinted shamrock green. But also eat your greens on St. Patrick’s Day, perhaps in pastry-esque squares that ooze cheese and the nutritional value of vegetables.
Dried Sardines
By now you’re on board with tinned fish, assigning a prime place in the pantry for those trusty vessels that hold a range of seafood beyond the tuna that’s long been staple and savior. Turns out there are other versions of preserved fishes ready to step into the role of last-minute meal-maker.