My Fava-rite Beans!

By Katie Barreira

Even in their dried and canned forms, favas are, in my opinion, the most underutilized of beans. But the real treat is a fresh fava. I found them at the market on Saturday morning and there went my weekend, but it was so worth it!

My first restaurant job was at a Tuscan establishment just outside of Boston known for its ciccheti, the Italian version of small plates. One of their most beloved seasonal offerings was a simple salad of creamy favas and sharp pecorino cheese, both ingredients nutty and toothsome.

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Time for Squash Blossoms – Three Easy Uses for Edible Flowers

By Katie Barreira

Zucchini, yellow crooknecks, pattypans…the coming season promises a deluge of thin-skinned gourds. But before the onslaught of summer squash there are squash blossoms, the flowering buds of a squash vine.

These delicate blossoms are entirely edible and usually seen on restaurants’ seasonal menus. Like Jean Georges’s fabled “Peekytoe Crab and Squash Blossom Beignet,” a simple crab salad stuffed into squash blossoms, coated in tempura batter and fried. But the flowers don’t require such flourish.

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A Chef’s Makeover of Chef’s Salad

By Katie Barreira

Culinary historians have mused over the origins of chef’s salad, some tracing the dinner salad back to diet-conscious California, others to the kitchen of New York City’s Ritz-Carleton. But as noted in a 1999 issue of Gourmet, “Nobody has ever stepped forward to claim the title of the chef in 'chef's salad.'” No great surprise here, for truly, what self-respecting chef would put their name to the slapdash mélange of deli meat, cheese and chopped salad? Thus the sad irony of a dish, which was named for a chef but that no chef will own.

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A Rainy Day Spring Supper

By Katie Barreira

Rain, rain and more rain. Phooey. Not even my LED lights are helping to brighten this late-spring gloom. Well, if I can’t play like it’s May, or dress like it’s May, then I’ll simply have to eat for the season.

Here’s a quick, farmers’ market-inspired supper that’s perfect for a low-energy weeknight. Even though this single-skillet meal is minimalist in time and effort, it’s boldly flavored, dramatically refined and exceptionally healthy! It’s recipe for good cheer.

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Taming the Wild Fiddlehead Fern

By Katie Barreira

A fiddlehead is the curled tip of a wild ostrich fern leaf in its first weeks of life. This fleeting spring delicacy is in peak season at a farmers’ market near you (psssst – even Fresh Direct is carrying them this year!) and while they may sound (and look) wildly exotic, they have the familiar fresh flavor of verdant veggies and are a cinch to prepare.

A quick scan of fiddlehead fern recipes uncovered an almost unanimous call for blanching the ferns before further cooking, but Pamela Mitchell, a very well-eaten pal and Executive Food Editor of Rachael Ray Mag, told me that she likes to snack on raw fiddleheads, which proved a delectable way to enjoy the fern tips. (Caution: technically speaking, raw fiddleheads are safe to eat, but tummy troubles have been reported. I’ve had no such problem, and it’s a risk along the lines of runny egg yolks and oysters. But if you prefer zero-risk eating, steam or boil fiddleheads 10 minutes before stir-frying.)

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