When I was writing my cookbook, New England Invite: Fresh Feasts to Savor the Season, I worked with my publisher to find images for the cover that exemplified each season. We had the quintessential lobster bake for summer, fresh veggie crudité for spring, and for the winter we used a holiday green salad dotted with juicy red cranberries.  The wintery, festive salad was made for holiday entertaining and after a few years on the shelf I thought it could use an update with some crisp Little Leaf Farms greens! read more

While almost everyone is gearing up for the big turkey day meal at the end of the month, I’ve been over here cooking and testing recipes for the holidays since early fall. The funny thing about writing a blog is that you start each holiday and season a little bit before everyone else to have content ready, and sometimes that means cooking Thanksgiving dinner sides in September. So, as we lead up to Turkey Day I am craving something a little bit lighter than mashed potatoes and stuffing. A big salad with my favorite Little Leaf Farms greens is my go-to dinner when I’m looking for healthier options, and I love to give them a fresh twist to make use of seasonal ingredients. This squash and farro salad is my current favorite! read more

Lately it has been hot-hot-hot and my desire to cook dinner has been low-low-low. We’ve been relying on some simple meals like grilled chicken, salads full of fresh, crunchy Little Leaf Farms greens and mixing in whatever is ripe in my garden (so many tomatoes!). A very simple way to make a quick garden salad feel a little more special is with a homemade vinaigrette dressing. read more

The weather has been so hot recently, I have been doing a little bit of cooking one or two days a week and trying to stretch out leftovers as long as possible to avoid my steamy kitchen. Most nights recently we’ve been making chicken or veggie burgers on the grill and serving them up with a green salad and some kind of a cold side dish — this simple pasta salad has been a favorite. I had the idea for making this pasta salad with orzo, but I’ve scoured all of the grocery stores near me and couldn’t find orzo pasta anywhere. Stumped for a substitute, I stumbled on these tiny farfalline, itty bitty mini bowtie pasta that are so cute! They were a great replacement and melded perfectly with the chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumbers and fresh herbs in the dish. My first ripe tomatoes and baby cucumbers are starting to pop in our veggie garden, so I’ll be making this with fresh ingredients all summer long. read more

I have been in kind of a dinner rut lately, making the same things on repeat. As I was thinking about what to make for dinner last week I realized that I’ve been lacking my favorite summer inspiration: strolls through the farmer’s market. Perusing fresh ingredients, taking in the colors and smells, and pulling ideas from what is in season is a huge part of how I brainstorm new recipes. Until I can get back to the farmer’s market, I started to dig into some older summer recipes to freshen up my meal plan. I stumbled upon an “ultimate caprese” board I made last year and decided to give it a revamp. This version is full of sweet peaches, prosciutto, burrata and tons of juicy tomatoes and fresh basil from my garden. I love how the sweetness of the peaches balances the salty prosciutto and creamy burrata — it’s like summer on a plate!  read more

Picnics are having a real moment at our house. Since we’ve been spending so much time at home, taking our lunch outside is a welcome change of scenery. It’s also usually a tasty excuse to think about how to make a weekday meal feel special. Now that the weather is feeling more summery, I’ve also been plotting some outdoor activities where a packed picnic is key. I made these simple mason jar salads that were built for backyard picnics and weekend adventure lunches — layered with antipasto ingredients, vinaigrette and Little Leaf Farms lettuce. read more

A few years ago I hosted a bridal shower at my home on a steaming hot summer day. The weather was so warm that I started to panic that my menu wouldn’t hold up in the heat. I went down my list of recipes, trying to figure out what I could rework and tweak to survive the oppressive backyard sun. I got to the potato salad on the list and decided to cross off my traditional recipe (which you can find in my cookbook!) from the menu and swap it for a French-style potato salad made with a vinaigrette instead of mayonnaise. It was a winner, and something I always keep in my back pocket now for warm weather gatherings. read more

Taco night is a favorite in our household. Whenever I’m stumped about what to make for dinner, the first suggestion that always gets thrown out is “how about tacos?” and I am nearly always on board. Lately we have been making it part of our Saturday routine to grill up a bunch of tasty chicken and make our own tortillas (my sister gave us this fun tortilla making kit for Christmas and it’s fun to do as a family).  One of my favorite side dishes to make when we’re having taco night is a spicy chipotle broccoli slaw. Most of the time when I make this dish, I use a broccoli slaw mix that you can get near the bagged lettuce at the grocery store. I’ve had trouble finding it lately in my grocery orders so I decided to make my own version — scroll down for the full recipe! read more

With all that’s going on around us, I’ve been leaning a lot more into cooking. On a good day it’s my way of showing my family (who I’m in very close quarters with!) that I love them. But on a bad day, it’s also always been my escape. I find a lot of calmness in cooking, focusing on the task at hand, and embracing my creativity. This time of year, my cooking starts to lean into the change of seasons, and I love getting to see some of the first fresh spring ingredients appear –I was at a bridal shower a few weeks ago (before all of this social distancing started!) and the event had a delicious, spring-inspired menu. One dish was a beautiful green salad with big shaved slices of parmesan, and a grains salad that fulfilled my carb-needs. I mixed them both together on the plate and it made me think about how silly it is that we always separate green salads and pasta salads – why not mix them together?
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