Yes, this is my second artichoke recipe of the season. No, this will not be the last. 

As you are probably well aware, I'm kind of obsessed with artichokes. They are one of my favorite foods of all time. I'm not sure exactly why I love them so much. My mom used to make big batches of steamed artichokes when I was growing up, and when they were in season, it seemed like we always had stuffed artichokes around. I'd come home from school and immediately run to the fridge with hopes that I would find something yummy to snack on, and if that yummy thing happened to be an artichoke, well then it was a happy day.

My mom always used the same recipe, and when I started making them for myself I used my mom's recipe. It was not until the past couple of years that I started to branch out prepare them in different ways. 

When we were in Rome for our honeymoon last year, it was artichoke season. Lucky me. Lucky us. There was not a single restaurant in Rome that did not have an artichoke on the menu. Some as an appetizers, some as a side, and a few as a main course. They were prepared in every which way, steamed, fried, grilled, served in salads, dissected, or whole. And we tried them all. It definitely inspired me to branch out and try different preparations. 

This marinating and grilling preparation has been my absolute favorite this year. So much so that I have not stuffed or steamed a single artichoke this season ..... (yet). It is a little easier because you don't have as much prep and cook time. You just steam them lightly, toss them in a bag with some olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and lemon and when you're ready to eat them just throw them on a grill or grill pan for a few minutes. As with most things, the longer you marinate the better. 

I have made these about 4-5 time in the past few weeks. I have wondered if Michael is getting sick of artichokes, I don't think it possible for me to. 

There are several things that I get really really excited for this time of year:

The first day that I do not have to wear a jacket to go outside 

Planting the first seeds in my garden and growing fresh herbs on my fire escape

Being able to eat meals outside again 

Ramps

Wearing open toed shoes, and throwing my boots to the back of the closet

Mounds of artichokes in the grocery stores and farmers markets

Spring onions

Cute little sundresses in pastel colors

Peas

Stuffing artichokes

Roasting baby artichokes

Artichokes ...... 

I love spring, I love artichokes, I just love this time of year. {Although, I'm a little reluctant to call it my favorite because come summertime when it's 80º outside and the fresh tomatoes are coming up in the garden then I'll be singing a different song.}

I love artichokes big and small. A big stuffed artichoke is one of my all-time favorite things, but when I want a quick artichoke fix I go with the smaller ones. I never used to bother with the smaller ones until I learned how to handle them. I didn't really understand them. I thought, what's the fun if you cannot pull off the leaves and anticipate getting to that delicious heart?

Then I realized, the small ones are a totally different experience. There is no leaf pulling, prickly center removing, or juicy heart eating. They are much less time consuming to prepare than the big guys. Once the tougher outer leaves are removed you are left with a tender inside that is completely edible and so tasty. You can grill then, blanch them, roast them, fry them ..... love them. 

Grilled radicchio is a wonderful thing too. It is fairly bitter on it's own so it needs a few accompaniments to mellow it out. The sweetness of the balsamic does just that, and so does savory mellow flavor of the artichokes. If you prefer something less bitter, this can be made with any type of hearty green or cabbage. Kale, romaine, red cabbage or swiss chard will all grill up nicely. 

So, if anyone is looking for me over the next few weeks you're likely to find me outside, eating artichokes sprinkled with fresh herbs from my herb garden, wearing a pastel sundress with some open toed shoes, daydreaming about what I am going to make with all the ramps and spring onions coming our way. 

I feel like my recipes have been a bit of a celebration of vegetables recently …. and I like it that way.  

Part of my passion behind this blog is showing that vegetables can be the star, instead of just a side. This recipe is the perfect example, it take the cauliflower and makes it a big bright superstar. 

I mentioned a couple of recipes ago that I get a lot of inspiration from eating out, and our meal at the Fat Radish totally inspired this dish. We had a whole roasted cauliflower as an appetizer, and I just loved how they served it whole instead of chopped up into florets. It was so much more exciting. I thought with just a few added extras, this would make an impressive entree.

Michael and I shared this for lunch last week. I served it over some millet and tossed some currants on top. Each with fork in hand we tore into this cauliflower, and finished it in about 7 minutes. We both agreed, it was an awesome meal that was fun to share and full of flavor. 

I have something to admit. For someone who is obsessed with kale, I had been a bit skeptical of kale pesto. I thought, how can kale pesto taste good? Kale on it’s own is nothing special and it needs some love and a good bit of massaging to taste great. It does not have an exciting scent or taste like basil or mint, so how is it going to flavor a pesto? Well … after making one batch I now have a whole new level of respect for kale.  I’m not quite sure what it is, but kale pesto is crazzzy good.

I’m warning you now, you’ll probably be seeing a few more recipes with kale pesto in the coming weeks, but for now, if you've been skeptical like me and haven't tried it, well, you must. And then you must smear it on this roasted cauliflower and eat this for a meatless Monday or Tuesday ... or any day of the week. I'm certain you will be smitten. 

I usually start thinking about my next meal before I've finished the current meal in front of me. Sometimes I start day dreaming about meals days or weeks ahead of time. If you're reading this, I am guessing you do the same.

This past weekend I visited one of my closest friends from college, Michal, in Switzerland. Michal and I both think about food and talk about food a lot. I knew this trip would involve some pretty great meals. And don't let those mountains in the background fool you, there was no physical activity happening on this trip ...... we didn't want anything to get in the way of our eating. 

Before my trip, I was already thinking about the food I would eat while I was there, and what I would bring with me to eat on the plane. As you might remember, I have been trying to make food for my flights, especially the longer ones. Since I don't really enjoy flying, I like to make food that will make me happy. Looking forward to a good meal is one way to take my mind off of take-offs and bumpy rides. 

Dumplings make me happy. I just love a good dumpling. I get excited when I see a dumpling, and even more excited when I eat a dumpling.

Before I made my first dumpling, I have to admit, I was intimidated (and maybe just a little lazy) to take on the task. Leave it to the experts, I thought. But let me tell you, once you start making your own dumplings, you'll never stop. It is so much easier that you would think, and this way you can come up with crazy concoctions that you would not be able to order from take out.

I bet you wouldn't find swiss chard dumplings at your local chinese food delivery place.

I love the idea of stuffing what is fresh and seasonal into a dumpling. Last fall I made some pumpkin dumplings, maybe this spring I will do some sort of pea dumpling. Right now there has been some stunning swiss chard in the markets, so I thought a fantastic dumpling combination would be swiss chard and roasted garlic, because swiss chard and roasted garlic go so well together. 

The walnut miso was inspired by my favorite cookbook of the moment: Japanese Farm Foods. That book is such an awesome source of inspiration, I am sure you will be seeing more recipes + influences from that book here. 

Michael got me a food processor for Christmas. I asked for one. It was probably the last key piece of equipment I was missing from my kitchen.

It is kind of an embarrassing admission. A food processor should be one of the first additions, not the last, but I always seemed to get by without it. After using it once, I can totally see why they're so popular. This machine might change my life. 

As I was using my shiny new food processor for the first time I couldn't help but think about when I first started cooking a lot in college. I had nothing. No food processor, no vitamix, no mandolin ... I barley even had a sharp knife. I had one pot and no pans, which meant sauteing was done in a pot. YEP. Sometimes I'd even roast things in that darn pot. I always got it done. 

You know what .... it did not matter, because I loved to cook so much. 

This recipe is for my old college roommate, Kara, who willingly ate my home cooked meals back then ... the good ... the bad ... and the way too garlicky. Kara will never forget my love for pesto and she recently requested that I do a beet / pesto recipe for the blog. Thankfully I have a much better grip on the garlic proportions now (note: less is always more). 

Since I know she probably will not make this for herself, this is my way of coaxing her to visit me in NYC. 

Gnocchi is easier to make than you might think. The ingredient list is short, and it is pretty hard to mess it up. The most challenging part is to get that dreamy, pillow-like texture. I give some tips in the recipe to tackle that. For this particular recipe, I used a gluten-free flour blend and I did not taste the difference from when I made gnocchi with whole wheat flour. If you would like to use all-purpose or whole wheat flour, just switch out the brown rice flour (same/similar proportions). You can also use an egg or not use an egg. I find that the eggs helps bind so that you use a little less flour, but if you do not want to use the egg, the recipe will work fine without it. 

I just love the gorgeous color that the beets add to this dish. It would make for a great valentine's dinner for two, or this would also make a great meal for a friend who comes to town to visit (wink wink Kara). 

Gluten-free, although it might not be a new term in the world of food, it is a new term in my kitchen. With many friends and family who have become gluten-free recently, I found myself having to come up with gluten-free meals to make at home. No biggie, right?

Well, I have found this particularly tricky since, as you may know from following my blog, I avoid dairy as much as possible mainly because of dairy allergy I discovered I had about a year ago. 

Bread & cheese, two of the most wonderful and easy foods to throw together. Who doesn't love bread and cheese?

People who have to live gluten and dairy free, that's who. 

I always thought to myself ... okay ... I can sacrifice most of the butter and cheese as long as you don't take my bread away from me. Please.do.not.take.my.bread.away.from.me. And thankfully, I have zero sensitivity to gluten. However, I am discovering more and more that friends, and friends of friends, and family are having trouble with the gluten. So, you know what that means. Dinners and dinner parties around here are including less and less gluten. And, you know, it might not be such a bad thing. 

Luckily, there are tons of great recipes and alternatives out there for doing things both gluten and dairy free.  

Sometimes I just want to take a giant piece of bread and slap some soft, tangy, gooey goat cheese on top and call it a day. I had yet to find anything that really replaced that taste and gorgeous texture. I really needed to come up something that would nix that craving.

This recipe right here might be the answer. 

Let me start with the "creamy" leeks. The creaminess comes from a tofu base. I know that might not sound so exciting, but hear me out. The tofu is blanched to get rid of any bean-like taste. Then a lot of other delicious seasonings are added to give it a lovely flavor. Once you throw it in with the caramelized leeks, it's heavenly. 

Socca, if you're not familiar with it, is a crepe that is made with garbanzo bean flour and then baked. It is super easy to make, high in protein, and it's gluten-free.  

Slap those leeks on top of the rosemary and garlic socca, place some roasted tomatoes on top, and you have one yummy, creamy, delicious, gluten-free and dairy-free snack or party-time app that everyone can eat. 

I probably wouldn’t describe myself as someone with a green thumb.  It’s not that I am not one with nature, or have no instincts when it comes to plants, it’s probably more because I approach growing things the same way I approach cooking. I prefer to go in blindly with little direction and see what works and what does not.

I planted my first garden this summer and it was very apparent that this approach probably does not work as well in the garden as it does in the kitchen.  Or maybe it does, depends on how you look at it. I did make a lot of mistakes, and I learned some key lessons from those mistakes, so maybe that will make my garden next year that much better? I sure do hope so.

Last summer I volunteered one day a week at The Stone Barns Center for Agriculture in their dooryard garden hoping to learn a little from the experts: the passionate farmers and gardeners who work there. I did learn to make a killer trellis from found objects, and I learned about all kinds of plants and vegetables that I had never heard of, but most of all I learned that I had a lot to learn. 

It was kind of overwhelming, especially for someone with very little knowledge of gardening.  So when it came time to build and plant my garden this summer, I decided that I was not going to try and learn everything. I was just going to plant some seeds, give it some love, and see what happened.

The result? An out of control amount of zucchini, cucumbers that are popping up in and around my grape tomatoes, and enough pumpkins to charge for hay rides and pumpkin picking in my backyard this October. As well as a bunch of lettuce that never surfaced, and carrots and scallions that I’m certain were eaten by some sneaky little creatures.

On the second leg of our trip, we spent a few days in a little mountain town called Ravello which is perched high above the Almalfi coast. Ravello is home to some of the most breathtaking views in the whole world, and one very special cooking school.

If you want to learn real, authentic, no-fuss Italian cooking, what better way to do it than in the home of an Italian woman who has been cooking professionally for decades for some incredibly famous people like Frank Sinatra and Jackie O. 

Mama Agata is the beloved woman at the heart of the cooking school. Her daughter Chiara, the soul of the school, is the one who runs the day to day, assists and translates for her mother who speaks very little english. They teach out of their home, perched high on a mountainside overlooking the Mediterranean, which has been in their family for over 200 years. 

Mama's recipes are simple, clean, and all about the ingredients. Her technique has been perfected in both her kitchen as well as her garden.  On their property their garden stretches down the mountainside where they grow everything from capers, to lemons, and of course plenty of tomatoes. In August, the family closes down the cooking school so that they can harvest and preserve their tomatoes so they have plenty to last through the year.  

After a day of learning, helping mama cook, and wandering through her gardens, it was time to sit down an enjoy our lunch.  It was a meal I will never ever forget.  The eggplant parmesan was the best I have ever had, and the pasta dishes were so fresh tasting and absolutely incredible.  

The most important lesson from the day ...... that good food comes from the heart. Love is the secret ingredient in every great meal.  This was evident from seed to plate at mama's home, and will be something I strive for in every meal served in our home.