Spring Pasta with Artichokes, Mushrooms, and Peas

Although this pasta is great with fresh spring produce, it can easily be made year round using jarred artichokes and frozen peas.  I was inspired to make it because I wanted to try the fresh English peas that have been appearing in our market lately.  They are available in pea pods or already shelled.  It was nice to eat fresh peas and they were pretty tender and flavorful, but peas lose their freshness so quickly that frozen peas are also a good way to go.

If you chop and saute the vegetables while the water is coming to a boil for the pasta, everything should come together in just about the time it takes to cook pasta!

Chicken Peanut Curry with Banana

If you think this dish sounds a little strange, imagine eating just the curry sauce and bananas as a soup, which is what the original recipe from Mollie Katzen's The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest called for.  I ate only half of a bowl of the soup before feeling completely overwhelmed by the intensity of the flavors and the thickness of the broth.  The flavors were so amazing, but it just didn't feel like soup.  Disappointed, I put the leftovers in the refrigerator and went to bed.

The next day I had an idea to try to salvage my strange soup by cooking up some chicken and serving the soup as a curry sauce over it.  The results were absolutely delicious!

Pecan-Oat Whole Wheat Muffins

A small, healthy muffin is the perfect snack for a busy day.  I like to make them in large batches once or twice a month to store individually wrapped in the freezer.  Then they can be defrosted in ten seconds in the microwave for a quick breakfast or a snack with tea, or take one out in the morning and it will be defrosted in time for a snack with lunch or a quick bite in the afternoon.

These pecan-oat whole wheat muffins are great because they are not too sweet so you can really enjoy the flavors of the roasted oats and pecans.  Give yourself about 20-30 minutes to prepare the batter and then 15 minutes for baking.  In 45 minutes or less you'll have an inexpensive and healthy snack to last for the whole month!

Apricot-Ginger Whole Wheat Mini Scones

The combination of apricot and ginger works great in these scones, but they can easily be varied, too.  Try blueberries topped with turbinado sugar, currants with orange zest, or make your own!

Crystallized ginger looks like sugared candy and is usually located in the dried fruits and nuts section in specialty or gourmet food stores.  If you can't find it or would like to try making your own, click here for the recipe.  Crystallized ginger can be stored in its container in a cool, dark place for three months.

Watermelon Salad with Ricotta Salata and Walnuts

Ricotta salata is a sheep's milk cheese made by drying and pressing the curds and whey of a ricotta cheese before it is aged.  The result is a salty (salata means salt) , dense cheese with a milky flavor.  It comes in a block and can be shaved or cut into cubes.

When ricotta salata is not available, crumbled feta cheese may be used in its place for this recipe.

I've been wanting and not wanting to make a savory watermelon salad years.  Watermelon with feta is popular in the Mediterranean, but it sounded so strange to me at first that I'd actually been avoiding it.  Then last year I ended up at an overly expensive restaurant where the least expensive dish was small watermelon salad with cheese.  I went for it out of student-budget necessity, but I was surprised at how delicious and refreshing this pairing of sweet and salty were. 

Sweet Corn Soup with Roasted Pepper Puree

This pureed corn soup is simple food at its best.  It is equally delicious served warm or chilled and is perfect for dinner on a warm summer night.

Although I am a fan of Alice Waters, I've found that some of the recipes in her latest cookbook The Art of Simple Food are a just too simple and come out a little bland or lacking.  This recipe however is so full of sweet and salty flavor.  Since it was featured in Food and Wine's Best of the Best cookbook which pulls recipes from the 25 best cookbooks each year, I thought I'd give it a try.

Homemade Swiss Chard Gnocchi with Butter and Sage Sauce

Making gnocchi is similar to making pasta dough, but mashed potatoes are used in place of some of the flour in the dough.  The dough becomes more flexible than pasta dough, and it can be easily rolled into gnocchi shapes without a pasta machine using just the tines of a fork.  Here, big bunches of cooked swiss chard add more color and nutrition to the traditional recipe.

I made a double recipe of this swiss chard gnocchi and used half for my Skillet Gnocchi with Greens and Beans published last month, and then froze half of it.  To defrost, I let it sit out for about half an hour to and then I reheated it in a pan with brown butter and sage sauce, recipe below.

Cold-Poached Salmon With Shaved Apple and Fennel Salad

This refreshing salad of shaved apple and fennel with cold-poached salmon is a great quick meal for a warm night.  Shave the apple and fennel with a vegetable peeler while the poaching broth is heating up, and then prepare the vinaigrette while the salmon is poaching and the meal will come together in less than 30 minutes.

I just read an article here about the benefits of eating cold water fish such as salmon, and learned that many nutritionists are recommending eating it twice a week to reduce risk of coronary artery disease and boost the immune system, among other things.  So expect to see some more fish recipes soon!