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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Double Dipping

By Lori Powell

Double Dippers are a must-have to beat the heat. I don’t own a pool so for me, “dipper” means dips to have on hand at this time of the year when the days are long and hot, and BBQ smoke is permeating everyone’s backyard.

My go-to dips are freshly made guacamole and salsa. Each time I make them I change it up a bit depending on what I might have on hand and what looks good at the grocery store or farmers’ market.

For the guacamole, seek out avocados that yield slightly to pressure but are not too soft. Simply halve them, remove the pit and with a large spoon, scoop out the flesh into a bowl.

Just recently I discovered another use for my pastry blender that has sharp steel blades. It’s the perfect tool to chop and mash avocados.

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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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Chill out with an Apricot Piña Colada

By Sandy Hu

Summer is a time for fruity drinks – preferably gussied up with a fancy garnish and sipped through a straw. If you have a blender, it’s easy to whip up delicious, Fresh Apricot Piña Coladas in minutes. Serve each drink immediately because the ingredients will separate upon standing.

Fruits are not uniformly sweet, so you may have to adjust the recipe with more simple syrup, depending on the quality of your fruit. Use simple syrup Instead of sugar to sweeten because sugar will not dissolve readily in cold liquids.

To make simple syrup, just combine equal parts of sugar and water and boil gently for a minute or two until sugar is dissolved. Store any leftovers in a glass jar, refrigerated, up to a month. You can use simple syrup to sweeten iced tea, sangria, lemonade and other cold drinks.

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My Life in Recipes

By Marilyn Hunter

While searching through my recipe box the other day, it occurred to me that this little wooden box is a metaphor of my life. Every well-worn recipe tells a story, a snapshot of a particular time in my life – times when I’ve been up and times when I’ve been down.

There are recipes for celebrations (my favorite chocolate cake) and recipes for difficult times when I craved comfort food (mac ‘n’ cheese and pot pie). I can think of a recipe that has accompanied almost every milestone. These recipes tell my life story, and if a picture is worth a thousand words, then a recipe must be worth a million.

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