seasonal, modern, exuberant
I’ve always had a weakness for fresh figs. When fully ripe, their flavor is absolutely sumptuous.
Figs are exquisite in desserts or simply eaten on their own, but they’re equally at home with savory foods, like these crostini. The contrast of the sweet figs with the pungent semi-aged goat cheese is sublime – an addictive finger food!
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Grilling turns the rather spongy, bland eggplant into something utterly succulent. Made with firm-fleshed, freshly picked eggplant, these bruschettas, although simple, are loaded with flavor.
If you’ve never made your own ricotta, make sure to give it a try. It’ll only take a few minutes and your bruschettas will be transformed!
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A couple of months ago, my husband Marc and I spent a weekend at Shelburne Farms in Vermont, celebrating our 10th anniversary. I’d lived in Burlington for many years in the late 80s and 90s, but I could have never imagined that after moving to New York and meeting Marc we would end up tying the knot in Vermont, and specifically at Shelburne Farms.
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When I was a child, the only beets I ever saw were the ones that came from a can. Needless to say, I never liked beets… The odor emanating from the can alone used to make me run out of the kitchen as fast as my legs could move.
It’s not until I started growing my own vegetables in my early 20′s that I truly discovered beets. They were very easy to grow and if re-seeded a couple of times in the season, I could harvest them from late spring all the way to the first snow. They came in all kinds of colors and best of all I could eat the roots as well as feast on their luscious green tops. I became a voracious fan of beets!
A quick way to prepare the beet greens is to sauté them with garlic and red pepper flakes (I love adding a bit of spiciness to cooked leafy greens – it’s a marriage made in heaven!). Here I serve these warm beet-green crostini as an hors d’oeuvre or appetizer. Cooked this way, the greens become incredibly tender and flavorful.
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