This beautiful, yet simple salad is a cut above the ordinary—stunning with its range of colors and flavors. Orange, beet and arugula are a classic combination, and the fennel seed adds a pleasant crunch and hint of licorice flavor. If you don’t enjoy the taste of fennel, substitute a sprinkling of toasted walnuts.
This week we welcome another guest writer, Becca Velasco—a young professional who loves cooking, but is often short on time, faced with the demands of work. Becca looks for simple recipes that translate to quick, flavorful meals tonight, yet slide easily into a satchel for tomorrow’s lunch (when, I imagine, they’re the envy of the office).
Becca’s Roasted Tomatoes and Onions with Polenta reminds us that not only is it okay to turn to a few convenience items now and then, it’s actually a brilliant move in support of an even-tempered household. (And the strategy will tide us over as we wait for Freshness Farms’ deliveries to restart.) We can always add a few fresh items, depending on what’s in the fridge; perhaps toss some cubed fennel or broccoli into the roasting pan, or sauté roughly chopped greens, like spinach or chard, and stir them into the mix. While the veggies roast, it would be wise to take a moment to kick off our shoes, open a bottle of wine and relax. Once the perfume of roasting garlic and onions begins to waft through the kitchen, we’ll be glad we resisted the temptation to grab carry-out on the way home.
While I love these roasted vegetables over polenta as Becca suggests, they would be equally inviting on their own, or tossed with cooked pasta or whole-grain farro. Even spread across toasted baguette for the easiest dinner of all. Now, onto Becca’s post…
I haven’t written much recently—or cooked for that matter. My mother passed away shortly after the New Year, and not much of what I normally love to do has felt particularly appealing. I’ve basically been going through the motions of life. And just barely. When you’ve focused on unimaginable things, like dosing morphine, one day, then written obituaries and shopped for burial urns the next, eating will strike you as downright trivial. Even if you know you really should.
When I need a sensational appetizer that’s quick to pull off, without fuss, I turn to a trusty secret weapon from the grocery store freezer section. A small shrink-wrapped container of buttery possibility. It’s saved me on more than one occasion; I’m in over my head, too much to do, including somehow pulling together a crowd-pleasing bite for one holiday gathering or another—on top of everything else. Packaged puff pastry is my savior at such moments. I’ve got a ready supply tucked away. It’s the best insurance policy a harried cook can buy.
This time of year makes me smile. And while we may not relish the early nightfall that squashes those favorite after-dinner strolls, who can resist the falling leaves, saturated in fiery color, or the gaggle of holidays from Halloween to Diwali, Thanksgiving and beyond? Call me odd, but I crave weather that pleads its case for a cozy jacket on foggy mornings. The drizzly weekends that prompt card games and family hang out time.
And the soup. This is its season. Steamy broth laced with vegetable chunks, lentils or healthy greens. Add a few noodles and fresh herbs. Spice it up if you like. Or purée the lot to a satiny consistency that swaddles the spoon like a blanket. There’s any number of possibilities. All warm. All delicious.