Today’s post is one that, once again, should’ve been posted last week but wasn’t because I flaked it. I’m hoping that there are still some ramps available but if not, we can use spring onions or scallions. 
In the blink of the eye, it’s April. What? Where did the time go? I’m quite sure that it was just the other night when I was doing my usual New Year routine…falling asleep wa-aaay before midnight, and here we are, and it’s April already. I think I write this every year. And yet every year, without fail, I can’t fathom how quickly the time passes.
However, I do see the time passing…everyday as I look in the mirror! I see it in my children who are growing up so quickly that they’re not little kids anymore. Even my baby turns 11 this year; him growing up is the hardest for me to wrap my head around. I know that’s how life works but it’s still very hard to get older and watch your children growing up and getting older themselves. I think what’s even harder is when you can remember your youth like it was yesterday.
Ok, enough of this getting older business! I’m just happy that I don’t let my age define me, in my mind, I’m still 21 🙂
So, how about all this spring loveliness? I may be a winter person, but I love when spring finally makes an appearance and everything begins to turn this beautiful green. The shops begin to liven up with spring colours and flavours. I know I’m not the only one who gets excited to see mounds of ruby red rhubarb, stacks of asparagus neatly tied up in bunches, zesty purple tinged spring onions and bulbs of pungent green garlic. The vibrant citrus of winter gives away to the feathery lushness of spring. I love how Mother Nature gives us so much joy every season with a variety of fruits and vegetables and an abundance of happy colours to keep our souls and tummies nourished.
Colorado’s growing season is still a while away. But this is one time I will buy non local because I’m tired of eating winter root vegetables! I need colour, I need freshness, I need variety! The farmers markets are starting up now but are mainly stocked with seedlings and plants. It won’t be till June when we get Colorado produce, and I cannot wait! My local farm stand carries a lot of green house grown produce right now and they are finishing up their fall and winter harvest.
I didn’t realise how much I missed the green until we went to the Pacific Northwest a couple of weeks ago. It was such a difference between grey, snowy Colorado. Spring was in full force and it was really soul lifting to see the vibrant greenery and the colourful bulbs, all in full bloom. The incredibly, fragrant cherry blossoms laid out a snowy carpet under each tree and I came across a couple of heady honeysuckle bushes too and just stood there breathing in the heavy scent.
I was really excited to be visiting that part of the country and looked forward to putting my camera to good use. Yeah….spring in the Pacific Northwest…nothing but rain. Every. Single. Day. All my photos ended up being taken with my iPhone. They’re not bad but not quite the artistic works I was hoping for! I was asked to share some, so here are my excellent iPhone photos. The photos maybe blah, but the experience was wonderful. I really enjoyed my time in a beautiful part of the country.
Downtown Portland by the water
Downtown Seattle from the Bainbridge Island ferry
Ferris wheel by the Pike Place Market
Flower stalls at Pike Place Market
One of the many fish stalls at the market
More fish!
Home away from home!!
This salad is a spring take on a winter salad I was making for many of the events at work. It ended up being quite the hit with lots of requests for the recipe. In that particular salad, I was using Farro grain tossed with roasted sweet potatoes, sautéed mushrooms and fresh spinach that was wilted in the heat of the warm salad. The whole salad was tossed in a sweet tart balsamic dressing and lots of fresh, citrusy herbs to liven up the heavy salad. Since winter is over, I have redone the salad with spring vegetables, this can be served warm, room temperature or cold, since these spring vegetables work well in all temperatures. I’m not a fan of raw mushrooms so I always cook mine but feel free to keep them raw if you don’t mind them that way.
It’s a great accompaniment to roasted or grilled meats and you really don’t need anything else. I roasted my harissa chicken and we had this salad along side. Since the grains and greens are all in one, a big pile of salad and some chicken is all that is needed for lunch or dinner.
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Serves: 10 servings
One of the great things about these whole grain salads is that the vegetables can easily be swapped out with the seasons. I’m envisioning heirloom tomatoes, copious amounts of mint and basil, grilled squash or even corn for a summer take.
I hope everyone is having a fabulous start to the week. I am off this week so I’m having wonderful time! I am excited to take part in BlueStar training event on Wednesday but what I’m really excited about is getting to visit Uncorked Kitchen
Uncorked Kitchen is a food kitchen in Centennial, Colorado, where events, cooking classes, couples classes, corporate events, take place. Their kitchens are outfitted by BlueStar ranges which are some of the most powerful ones in the market (open burners) I haven’t had an opportunity to play with any of these so I’m thrilled to finally get a chance. I’m also thrilled to be attending Uncorked Kitchen because it opened a few months ago and is having great success. I’ve been wanting to drag my husband to a cooking class but let’s just say, they’re a little pricey. So, on Wednesday, since it is a training class, we’ll be going for free with the other guys and girls from work. Score!
Is it just me or is time really flying by? I am quite certain it was Christmas time just a few weeks ago, but here I am with my calendar telling me it’s almost June. What?! Where did the weeks go?
Understandably, most of my weeks went by in a blur because I was sick for almost 8 of them. But still, it’s almost June!
This time warp has also really affected my cooking, blogging and writing (and posting) Before I can press “publish” on the last post, it’s already time to schedule another one! As you can see, I’m woefully behind. Behind with creating, behind with posting and behind with visiting cherished friends.
I have no idea where my week goes. It’s this haze of kids, school, shopping, cooking, and a few work things thrown in. Before I know it, it’s Friday and I am scrambling to create a menu for work the following day and to go shop for it all. It’s a good thing I don’t work outside of the home everyday!
As a result, the blog has been sorely neglected. I do feel guilty because I realise it’s this blog that has given me the opportunities I have right now. It’s still the thing that starts the conversation at work with the new people I meet.
One of my most asked questions is “How did you get into cooking?” My answer is always that my interest in cooking and creating led me to write a food blog. So, even if I wanted to give up my little piece of the web, I can’t. Cooking for work and cooking for home is overwhelming and to think about cooking for the blog is just exhausting but I will have to post when I can.
In the meantime. I have little boy who turns 10 next week and his party is this weekend. I just outsourced it this year! The bowling alley can do the work. I’m making a cake for him and that’ll be it.
I also have a 17 year old drama queen who is about to graduate from high school, also next week (on Laith’s birthday, actually) I couldn’t outsource this party so we’re having friends over after the ceremony for a cookout.
Hamburgers, grilled herby chicken or maybe kebabs, and a bunch of salads. I’m keeping it easy and there’s no cake. I’m tired of cake. We can’t have a cookout without blueberry cobbler and strawberry shortcakes, the very vision of summer! Though, here in Colorado, we’re still struggling with the dregs of winter.
Mother’s Day saw snow again this year. I love snow on Mother’s Day but it left quicker than it arrived and the weather is back to cool spring like interspersed with some violent rain storms. We don’t complain, here in our dry climate, we welcome every rain drop.
I am not joking when I say that my inspiration has gone. I have lost my mojo it seems. All this beautiful, seasonal spring produce and I can’t think of a thing to do with it. The asparagus has been roasted or blanched or thrown in a tart and eaten; no photos. no recipes. The over- wintered spinach from the farm stand made it home many times but ended up in a curry or just sautéed with garlic and devoured. I just haven’t had much of a desire to eat, let alone cook. There is something seriously wrong I think 🙂
So, when I found local rhubarb, I actually felt a little spark ignite inside. I brought it home from the farm stand and it stayed in my fridge for 2 weeks, no joke, 2 weeks. Because it’s so fresh, it lasted all this time and finally this week, void of any imagination, I ended up making some jam.
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Serves: 7 jars
Strawberry and rhubarb is my most favourite combination and there are many recipes on this blog with that combo. Here’s another, strawberry and rhubarb jam. One of my most favourite jam combinations as well. I try and make this jam every year and when I lived in Houston, I was able to get local strawberries at the same time as rhubarb. In Colorado, our strawberries make a late appearance but our rhubarb is here. I just made do. It’s some what local but totally seasonal, totally organic and totally delicious.
Hopefully, we won’t go through all the jars in one sitting but we’re already done with one so it’s not looking good. I really like to save some for fall and winter. Oh well, I’ll have to make some more.
My posts may be a bit sporadic from now on. I’m starting a new project at work and it will take up more of my cooking hours. It’s also the beginning of the summer grilling events at work, and then Ramadan. I will try and post regularly and I will try to visit you all as much as I can.
Happy summer and happy cooking!!
How was everyone’s weekend? In the US, Sunday was Father’s Day and it was a beautiful day, a bit hot for my liking but nice nevertheless. What did you all do for the special fathers in your life?
We had a bit of a late and lazy start but eventually when everyone was ready, we headed out to one of the many State parks we have and walked/hiked around, well, I mainly hobbled but it was still really nice to get out in the open and enjoy nature. I have missed being outside.
We took a ride up to Golden Gate Canyon State park, about 40 minutes from where we live in Broomfield. It’s not very mountainous as such, but a beautiful canyon with a river carving through, lush green vales and hills and a few precarious rock formations.
We drove through to the open space and it was just perfect. We could see the plains of Denver on one side and rocks and hills on the other, and we were standing in the middle surrounded by an endless prairie. It was beyond beautiful and peaceful.
We didn’t do anything fancy for dinner; came home and slapped some burgers on the grill, chips on the side and warm brownies for dessert. I think it was perfect and the man of the hour thought so too.
Today’s post is nothing new but definitely an old favourite classic of many. This one particularly so, because it’s an adapted Julia Child recipe. You can’t get more classic than that. My first experience with soufflé probably wasn’t the greatest because it was the frozen, throw in the oven kind. It wasn’t bad and I rather enjoyed it. As time’s gone on, I have of course, made my own from scratch. Apart for the dessert kind, my favourite is the spinach soufflé.
Over the winter, the only thing that was available at the farm was the over wintered spinach. I wasn’t familiar with the term and come to find out it basically a hardy variety of spinach that can be grown, covered, in the winter time. It is SO good. So good that I went back many, many times to stock up on this sweet, sweet green. I made lots of Spinach and Potato curry, I made Spinach and Feta cheese borek, I sautéed it with garlic and I made soufflé.
Julia Child’s recipe is made in one big soufflé dish, but I wanted to make mine in individual ramekins as a side dish to serve with my kefta kebabs. My ramekins were a bit small and I recommend a 1 cup or 1½ cup ramekins, otherwise you may have batter leftover (which you can put in a dish and bake).
They were light, fluffy and delicious. Mine did rise nicely but deflated before I could photograph them.
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Serves: 1 large dish or 8 ramekins
I hope everyone’s had a good week. It’s been a bit hectic for me with cooking demos, and then the World Cup. It was disappointing to see England lose their first game but I am still hoping for the best. I had the best time watching the game with a bar full of other Englishmen and it was like being home 🙂 I had a blast.
Have a great week everybody!
Asparagus season is quickly coming to an end here in Colorado. I find that asparagus is one vegetable I insist on eating only in season. Other vegetables I often let slide and eat a few here and there. Corn and asparagus are two I refuse to buy off season, though from somewhere, we seem to have them available all year round!
Until last month, I had never tried a truly, local grown asparagus. Let me tell you in one word, wow. In Texas, I shopped from a local farm but they didn’t grow asparagus. I don’t know if asparagus can be grown in Texas! This farm had Southern specialities like all kinds of fresh beans, fried pies and then your usual farm fare.
So, as long as local, Colorado grown asparagus is available, I’ve been rushing to the farm every week piling up on the grassy goodness. I have never tasted asparagus this sweet and perfect. Store bought asparagus is absolutely no comparison.
My most recent visit, I grabbed two bunches of perfectly, green, crisp asparagus spears. I had no idea what was planned for these beauties but I knew they would be the highlight of my dish.
Pasta Primavera is one of my favourite springtime dishes. It’s substantial enough for lunch and dinner, versatile enough to use up what you have in the fridge and light enough to not bog you down in the warmer months.
I loaded up the pasta with the fresh asparagus, a light tomato cream broth and a handful of spinach. Asparagus Pasta Primavera is the perfect dish to highlight the sweet and tender asparagus against the neutral pasta. It is so good. If you can still get some asparagus, make this!
I used whole tomatoes in this dish because I had a bowl of organic tomatoes that urgently needed to be used up. I, usually, like cherry or grape tomatoes in my primavera. I like how they heat up, pop and release just the right amount of juice; mixed with the olive oil, garlic and a drop of cream and a splash of pasta water, it makes a perfect sauce.
Homemade pasta would be the ideal pasta to use here but since my husband left my pasta machine behind in Texas, I used dry pasta. I haven’t bought another machine as yet, because I know when I do, there’ll be no stopping me. I have a weakness for pasta. But, I have lived four years without one, I think it’s time. I have a birthday this week and I am thinking of asking one for my gift 🙂 Better start dropping those hints 😉
I blanched my asparagus in salted water because I wanted the green colour intact, but you are welcome to just sauté them and build your sauce from there. Also, this pasta dish is vegetarian, but I’ve made many primaveras with chicken or sliced sausage; so good. Great thing here is; you don’t need a lot of meat because it is vegetable heavy.
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I hope everyone has been enjoying the lovely summery days we’ve been having. I have to say though, it’s getting a little too hot, a little too quickly! Last few days in Denver have been very hot. I don’t do hot. I envy all the Southern Hemi people enjoying autumn.
I’ve been trying to make my rounds and catch up with my blog reading but it’s been slow going. I haven’t forgotten you! I am just moving so slow that it takes me twice as long to do anything which means I have no time left at bedtime to catch up on my reading! Imagine how long it’s taking me at the grocery store! So, I’ll be by to see you all.
This week has been hectic all around with the kids last week at school and all their activities. I have to say that they made me proud. After all the screaming I do during term time, and all the non listening they do, I am surprised they finished the school year like they did. My eldest daughter finished her first year in college with an all A report card, my second daughter finished 11th Grade with a 4.0 GPA and my youngest daughter graduated 8th Grade with Excellence in all classes, I am chuffed (#proudmama). As for Laith, well I’m just happy he got up everyday for school and made it there on time!
Have a great week, y’all!