• Roasted eggplant with tahini dressing
    Food

    Japanese Eggplant with Lemon Herb Tahini Dressing

    For my recent hummus recipe, you may have purchased a jar of tahini, so this week I’m sharing another way to make use of the ground sesame paste.  Combined with lemon juice and plenty of fresh herbs, tahini transforms into a dressing that pairs well with delicate and mildly sweet Japanese eggplant, which only becomes more flavorful after a brief roasting time.  With no bitterness and a smaller size than standard eggplant, they can take the slightly bitter natural notes in tahini without turning the whole dish so.  Citrus and herbs brighten up the dressing and make this an exceptional dish for lunch or dinner. When the Japanese variety is…

  • Quinoa stuffed squash on white plate
    Food

    Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash with Goat Cheese and Figs

    I believe there is something joyful about a stuffed vegetable. All that goodness overflowing an edible package. In this recipe I fill naturally mild and buttery acorn squash with a quinoa mixture that includes dried figs, goat cheese, shallot, and a touch of homemade pear vinaigrette. On the Italian side of my family, figs were relished, and a flourishing fig tree was admired more than a sprawling lawn. As we drove through my grandmother’s neighborhood, I would look for signs of fruit trees spilling over backyard fences. I suspect this is what sparked my love of gardens tightly packed and overflowing. Though she was a butcher’s daughter, my grandmother favored…

  • Roasted Olive and Goat Cheese Salad
    Food

    Roasted Olives and Goat Cheese

    “Over the light of the Italian sea Is the despair of olive trees” – From “Ode to Olive Oil” by Pablo Neruda Prized by the ancients, the olive tree and its fruit appear in mythology, food traditions, and trade. From the bed of Odysseus, which was shaped from a living olive tree, to the burning of Athenian groves by the Spartans, the olive is entwined in Mediterranean culture and history. Growing up, olives were always on the table in one form or another. When they weren’t being eaten, they were often talked about. Someone always knew someone who had olive trees or who was thinking of trying their hand at…