The "middle times" at the market
I recently went to visit my mom in sunny Santa Monica and the two highlights from the trip – other than hanging out with mom of course – were the amazing new Academy Museum and a kale salad at the new restaurant Ghisallo on Ocean Park Blvd. It was so good I had to replicate it the minute we returned to New York. Literally.
I actually took multiple photos of the salad to make sure I got every ingredient –kale, fennel, radish, lemon juice, pickled red onions, ricotta salata, sunflower seeds, apple all tossed in a lemony vinaigrette. Pictures taken on my old iphone 6 (yep, I'm one of those people) aren't quite newsletter quality but I found a salad that looks the part. It's the perfect salad for this time of year when you want to eat lighter, and are looking forward to radishes and snap peas but winter squash and kale are still filling the produce bins at the market. What I like to call "the middle times."
This early spring stew recipe with chicken straddles the seasons. You can find most ingredients at the market now, though you may have to wait another few weeks for fresh peas.
Escargot Voyageur is on a roll with his chicken entrées. This week he is making Chicken Forestier (with four different mushrooms) along with a root vegetable tagine. Perfect if you're looking for something quick and easy to eat while you watch the Oscars on Sunday. This week's dessert Napoleon flavor is "cafe." Challenging to eat, but oh so delicious.
By the way, Farm EATS BBQ also has plenty of options for an easy Oscar dinner.
If you haven't discovered 4 E Farms' spicy salad mix you're in for a treat. It sells out fast so make a beeline for their corner tent, next to the Pizza Vitale truck this week.
All of their salad mixes are so flavorful so if you don't like your salad with a kick and tang there are options. Their celery is anything but workaday. As flavorful as it is crunchy it's perfect for a dip into Aya Hummus or for a Sunday Bloody Mary.
This is the time of year when I get so crazy for brighter days that I start putting Arlotta Food Studio's lemon oil on just about everything: I drizzle it over avocado toast, over open face tuna sandwiches, stir it into my cannellini beans with rosemary and garlic, and use it as a finishing oil on all my baked or steamed fish dishes. It adds sunshine to everything it touches.
Hoping for sunshine on Sunday...
See you at the market!
