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fiesta!

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012

Recipe: tostadas

As the calendar flips from December to January, my dismay at how quickly the year has passed morphs into the joy of a new year. New year, new starts, new whatevers. It is good for me. Nothing actually changes, but my mind feels free and wide open. I’m glad the holidays are over. January is more my pace anyway. I should also disclose that I like Mondays too. So there’s that…


kaweah enjoyed our new year’s ski



No new snow (*sob*) at the resorts meant more time spent in the backcountry which meant more quality time with Kaweah. While I would never turn down a powder day at Vail or Breckenridge, I rather love the peaceful quiet, solitude, and natural beauty of our local trails. On a typical day of skiing the backcountry, we would come home and heat up a nice, hot meal of soup or chili or anything with good heat capacity. But this past week has been ridiculously warm and sunny, rising above freezing here in the mountains – which I’m pretty sure is illegal in the state of Colorado during the winter months. Instead of craving a warm bowl of something savory in my belly, I wanted a salad.

cheese, refritos, olives, salsa, fried corn tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, dressing



There are short tostadas and tall tostadas. The short ones, you can pick up and eat like a pizza. I have no interest in those. The tall ones are loaded with lettuce and are more of a salad than an item you pick up with your hands. I’ve had these mountainous salads in Southern California and recently enjoyed one at Pica’s here in Boulder and I love them. The big draw for me is the heaping pile of crunchy lettuce.

shredding lettuce (i’d rather be shredding the slopes)

just enough to coat



I use romaine lettuce because of its firmness and texture. I don’t think I’ve purchased iceberg lettuce in over a decade if not longer. The lettuce is usually dressed in a light vinaigrette. It’s easy enough to whip up your own, but you can also use any dressing you prefer. I like the dijon vinaigrette, myself.

toss the lettuce, tomatoes, and olives together

spread a few spoonfuls of refritos on the tortilla



**Jump for more butter**

orange love letters

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011

Recipe: fall fruit and yogurt salad

Have you ever had a fresh mandarin orange? I’m talking about the satsuma mandarin oranges that are in season (in the northern hemisphere) now. The first one I ever had was in California, back in my college days. I found them at the Pasadena Farmer’s Market as well as my friend’s backyard (she had TWO trees!). They came into season right around the time Jeremy and I started going out (do people still say that?). We’d go to the market on Saturdays and buy a bag of these oranges, tearing into them as we walked around the rest of the stalls.


satsuma mandarin oranges



The skins were loose and peeled off easily and in one piece to reveal a plump ball of juicy, sweet orange segments. Satsuma mandarin oranges are better than candy. Throughout the week when we saw one another, I’d present Jeremy with one of these oranges. When he was home for winter break, I sent him a care package that included a tiny box with the last mandarin orange of the season in it. Jeremy saved it. On Christmas morning he woke up, reached over to the nightstand, opened the box, and relished that orange. Sweet little love letters.

easy peeling



When we moved to the East Coast for graduate school, I never saw satsumas in the stores. Instead, there were clementines – also mandarin oranges. Everyone gushed about clementines and I couldn’t wait to try one. Clementines are nice and cute little oranges, but you’ve got to be smoking crack if you think they are better than satsumas. I’m not sure if it’s because we’re back west or because they’re shipping satsumas farther afield now, but we get them fresh in our stores starting in November. We make a point of sharing the oranges when we’re together – a reminder of the simplicity and sweetness of those early days.

the best orange



I always think I’m going to be sad when summer fruits start disappearing. Everyone is cuckoo about summer fruits. But then autumn fruits begin popping up and I completely forget about those berries and melons and stone fruits. I don’t forget about the tomatoes though, but that’s another issue. I usually enjoy a fruit and yogurt salad in summer, but last month when my in-laws were visiting, I tried one with all of the seasonal fruit I had on hand.

grapefruit, pear, pomegranate, apple, honey yogurt, roasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)



Typically, I will choose a plain yogurt and add honey, but I’ve been enjoying a local Colorado yogurt brand, Noosa Yoghurt. Their honey yogurt is lovely and my current favorite (the other fruity flavors are also wonderful). Prepare the fruit as you like. I prefer leaving skins on the apples and pears, but peel the grapefruit segments as clean as I can get them.

diced and peeled

scooping out the center of a ripe pear



**Jump for more butter**

eat your greens

Sunday, October 16th, 2011

Recipe: kale pepita cranberry salad

I am really looking forward to some downtime in about… a month. But I’m also thoroughly enjoying the crazy time which is now. We have visitors, house guests, travel, events, and all manner of goings on that my head is spinning just looking at the calendar. Are you the type who prefers to spread busy out evenly or cram it all together? I guess I didn’t plan to have a smooshed schedule, but that’s how it seems to have shaken out. Actually, I think October is always like this for me.


from crested butte a few weeks ago



My parents are in town for a few weeks and we celebrated my dad’s birthday last Friday with dinner at The Black Cat. I really get a kick out of how much they are enjoying each new restaurant we introduce them to around here. Of course, it helps that Boulder has no shortage of great places to dine.

amuse bouche: radish and mustard terrine on toast



We like to cook as much as we like to dine out, so my folks came up to our house for dinner this evening. Actually, as my dad said, “I would like to see Kaweah.” Kaweah loves my dad. Ever since he first met her when she was a puppy and he kept “accidentally” dropping peanuts on the floor, he has pretty much secured his place as #1 favorite person in her tiny brain. Anyway, it was a great excuse to introduce them to this kale salad which Jeremy and I are addicted to. It’s all Shauna’s fault. Actually, it’s Danny’s and Jennie’s faults for tweeting about this salad after they had it for dinner one night. I asked if the recipe was on either of their blogs… and within a week, Shauna and Danny posted it. Thank you, friends.

dinosaur kale



I don’t really know if that is dinosaur kale. What happened is that I went to Whole Foods looking for dinosaur or Lacinato kale and found this. It was above the sign for dinosaur kale. It didn’t quite look like what I typically see listed as dinosaur kale, but that’s what they had. I think it’s pretty.

you’ll need: kale, olive oil, fish sauce, lemon, pecorino, dried cranberries and pepitas

strip the stems

chiffonade



**Jump for more butter**