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Sesame-Buckwheat Noodles with Fresh Green Almonds
Appetizers Asian Pasta Salads Sauces & Condiments

Sesame-Buckwheat Noodles with Fresh Green Almonds

One of our favorite spring ingredients, fresh green almonds, are just that – green (as in “unripe”) almonds, picked while the nut is immature and still in the early stages of formation. Green almonds are available only in the spring, usually beginning in late March or early April, and can continue to be harvested into May. In the earliest stages of growth, the entire almond is eaten, fuzzy green outer hull and all. The flavor is surprising; tart, almost citrusy, somewhat reminiscent …

Farro, Wild Mushroom and Chestnut Salad with Sherry Vinaigrette
Appetizers Mushrooms Salads Wild Foods

Farro, Wild Mushroom and Chestnut Salad with Sherry Vinaigrette

Farro, an ancient relative of modern wheat, was once called “pharaoh’s wheat,” since it’s been around since the pyramids were still under warranty. It’s kept its appeal across much of the world through the intervening centuries, especially in Italy and the Middle East, but it’s only caught on in North America relatively recently. Once considered rather exotic, delicious farro now pops up regularly on restaurant menus and can usually be found in well-provisioned grocery stores. Farro’s wholesome grain-like flavor makes …

Grilled Salmon with Black Beluga Lentil & Mushroom Salad Featured
Mushrooms Salads Seafood Vegetables

Grilled Salmon with Black Lentil & Mushroom Salad

As deeply colored and glossy as black pearls, tiny uncooked black lentils have a flavor that is earthy, nutty and satisfying. Black lentils are very like lentilles du Puy, also known as French green lentils. Both varieties differ from common brown or green lentils in significant ways. Black and green lentils take less time to cook and they both hold their lens-like shape better, making them perfect for salads and side dishes (although they’re both wonderful in soups, too). Black lentils …

Maple-glazed Chanterelle & Arugula Salad with Grilled Apricots and Pecans
Mushrooms Salads Wild Foods

Maple-glazed Chanterelle & Arugula Salad with Grilled Apricots and Pecans

Among the most well-known and best-loved of wild mushrooms, chanterelles figure prominently in the wild mushroom seasonal cycle, usually starting up in late spring or early summer, just as the season for fresh morels begins to wind down. After that, chanterelles can be depended upon to be be growing in some part of the world for the next 6 to 8 months, and frequently longer. Their cheerful orange-yellow color and distinctive trumpet-like shape make chanterelles one of the most easily …

Appetizers Salads Vegetables Wild Foods

Warm Fiddlehead Salad with Pistachios and Parmesan

While almost everyone has heard of “fiddlehead ferns,” most people think only of the Eastern fiddlehead, the ostrich fern (Matteucia struthiopteris), as edible. But there is another widely consumed wild fern, the lady fern (Athyrium filix-femina), which grows along the west coast of North America from California to Alaska. Often simply called “Western fiddleheads,” lady fern fiddleheads differ only slightly from ostrich fern fiddleheads in appearance and flavor. Both fiddleheads have a distinctly “wild” green flavor that is often compared …

Soba Noodles with Roasted Matsutake Mushrooms
Asian Mushrooms Pasta Salads Sauces & Condiments Wild Foods

Soba Noodles with Roasted Matsutake Mushrooms

It’s already November, well into the fall season. Depending on where you live, fresh produce from your home garden may be done until next spring. Thankfully, there are a few hardy radishes and the last scallions to be harvested from our garden which add some crisp texture, fresh flavors and tangy “bite” to this preparation. With the addition of a few foraged wild mushrooms, it’s enough to make a wonderfully earthy dish, featuring hearty Japanese soba noodles. Soba noodles are made with buckwheat, a …

Cheese Salads Vegetables

Black Lentil Salad with Goat Cheese

Black lentils, like French Green Lentils (lentilles du Puys), differ from other “garden variety” lentils in several ways.  Black lentils retain their lens-like shape and firm pleasant texture when cooked, making them a good choice for salads. They’re much smaller, too – only about 1/8th-inch or so in diameter.  Black lentils cook very quickly, requiring only about 15 – 20 minutes to cook to a pleasant ‘al dente’ consistency. The natural deep ebony color of black lentils fades to an …