Mixed Greens Blog

Fast Forward to Spring Green Soup

Will someone please hand me the remote so I can skip the whole “March comes in like a lion” thing and go directly to the part where it “goes out like a lamb?”  First thing this morning Charlie announced in his sometimes aggravatingly cheerful voice, “Looks like we’re going back to winter.” Oh no, [...]

Going Crackers

In the past I might have said you’d have to be crazy to spend time making crackers, and, as usual, whenever I make such proclamations I end up eating my words – in this case the crackers. Maybe I’ve gone crackers, but I have a hankering to make some. (The munchkins in your life will [...]

I Need No-Knead Bread

Suddenly all of those indoor projects I vowed to do over the winter are being put on the back burner. Spring is teasing me in its usual fits and starts fashion. I’ve been conditioned by the Northwest spring — when the sun is shining, I’d better go outside because who knows how long it will [...]

The Color of Food: Black is Black

Lately I’ve been obsessed with the color of food. For a while it was white vegetables, now it’s anything black. To me, black food says nutritional richness, exotic taste, ripeness, sexiness and just plain weirdness all mixed together. I can’t help but react to the contradiction it evokes, just by its intense color.
The importance of [...]

Cabbage Italian Style

Winter cabbage is the party guest who arrives early and stays, maybe a little too long, but is flexible and helpful therefore welcome. So it is with cabbage. God love her robust, firm, round little body, ready to take on a culinary challenge any day.  Mid-February and the choices for locally grown food seem to [...]

Right Meal, Wrong Occasion

Turkey n Dumplings For the Dumplings 2 cups ricotta cheese 1/2 cup fresh chives (or sage leaves), chopped 1 egg 1 cup cornmeal 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 T kosher salt Combine all these ingredients and keep the mixture in a bowl in the fridge until you’re ready to use. For the Stew 2 T chicken fat or olive oil 2 spring onions or 1/2 regular onion, chopped 1 bunch baby carrots, cleaned and sliced on the diagonal 1 bunch turnips, cleaned and quartered ( I used 3 turnips and 3 parsnips instead) 1 stalk green garlic or 4 cloves regular garlic, thinly sliced 4 to 6 cups homemade chicken or turkey broth 4 cups cooked chicken or turkey shredded 2T chopped fresh thyme leaves Salt & pepper to taste Melt the oil or fat in a large pot over medium heat .

Just Cooking

It occurred to me recently that we emphasize local/seasonal food on this blog, which implies the importance of cooking.  Maybe we need to declare it more emphatically, champion the act of cooking in the same way we champion the use of local/seasonal ingredients, carpooling and unplugging electronics. Cooking meals from scratch is in itself an [...]

Angel Food Cake for Your Angels

A couple of weeks ago I began to imagine the angel food cake I would make for Valentine’s Day, a sort of homage to the angels in my life, a light and airy labor of love flecked with chocolate bits.

I’d made one angel food cake in my life.  I was in high school, it was [...]

A Local Dish: Japanese Salmon Burgers

As a matter of fact, I already had everything I needed — salmon from Loki Fish, ground pork from Skagit River Ranch, an onion from Willie Greens, an egg and potato from Stoney Plains…. salmon 1/2 small onion 1T butter 1 small potato, peeled 1 small beaten egg salt & pepper vegetable oil for frying Remove bones and skin from salmon and chop finely until it is almost ground Chop the onion finely and cook lightly in the butter.

Earthy Romance: Wild Mushrooms & Farro

I made soup today with dried wild mushrooms and farro. It may be the color of oatmeal, but trust me, this is not your morning mush. It’s a sexy soup for nighttime, candlelight and romance, which is in the air this week.  Then again, it’s just soup for a Monday night. Mushrooms in the wild [...]