Mixed Greens Blog

Cauliflower Chic

Cauliflower. You could almost use it as a bouquet of florets on a wedding table. In terms of beauty, cauliflower has its own shabby chic charm. The taste, however, can be far more exotic, depending on how it’s prepared. One thing is for certain — I’ve noticed that many people arrive here at Mixed Greens [...]

Reclaiming Asparagus Butts

Tender edible asparagus tips are one thing, the tougher butt ends another. More flotsam and jetsam, stuff in the kitchen that we know we should, but don’t really want to mess with. Discounted food sits on the culinary conscience like an unread book on the shelf.

Maybe the economic state of affairs fosters a new level [...]

Broccoli’s Wild Cousin — Raab

Call it what you will — raab, rabe, rapine, rapini, Italian or Chinese broccoli. It’s all the same thing — a rapidly growing annual, a distant cousin of broccoli but more closely related to turnips. All are members of the brassica family. This is your typical wild cousin — a little nutty, sometimes pungent and [...]

There’s an egg in my soup

Some of you will not go for this. I get it. I might have been one of you had I not experienced this meal with friends a few weeks ago. Putting a poached egg in the middle of a bowl of tomato soup isn’t something I would have done on my own, but it was [...]

Mo’ Better Mojitos

I admit that I’m positively giddy with excitement. We decided on the spur of the moment to celebrate our anniversary by going to the Florida Keys. Who says you can’t be spontaneous after 20 years? Cuba, home of the Mojito, is just a little over 100 miles from Key West so I’m imagining it may [...]

Tomato Tomahto

Tomatoes are in. I mean in the ground, tucked in for summer. A relief when they’re snugged into their little raised beds, blanketed by compost and red plastic, fertilized, safe and sound right where they belong, in our backyard. Already statuesque artichokes are standing guard nearby. We provide plenty of TLC these first few weeks, [...]

Lay off those Potato Chips

I read an article in the NY Times last week about large companies using the local foods movement as a marketing angle to sell more processed food. If you go to the website for Lay’s potato chips you’ll see ” Lay’s proudly supports American potato farmers.” They have a “chip tracker” so you can find [...]

Kitchen Flotsam & Jetsam

Maybe you know what I’m talking about. Or am I the only one with end bits of whatever that have been pushed aside by kitchen tidal action and go unattended until it’s conveniently too late?

At my house it’s usually bread and cheese that have been marginalized for any number of reasons. Not so pretty and [...]

Sweet on Ricotta

Spring is a season of heightened sensory experience. Delicate fragrances, sounds that bring back memories, colors I forgot even existed and of course, fresh tastes found only at this time of year. You can make ricotta anytime but its light subtlety reminds me of a quintessential spring food. Ricotta is like my perfect pillow — [...]

Embrace Your Inner Farmer

A nudge of encouragement to cultivate a little something, to grow food for the family plate, to harvest those beauteous fruits, and then, oh yes, to relish the bragging rights. The glory, there’s no end to that – at the dinner table you can make an acceptance speech and thank everyone who helped you.

But seriously, [...]