Chickpea-Artichoke Heart Salad for Memorial or Any Day

Today's recipe is in honor of the newly married Annie Harm and Louis Sigtermans. Eat well! Live well! Love well!!

It isn’t even summer yet. But we should be in planning mode for Memorial Day weekend, shouldn’t we? It’s less than a week away; is that possible? Where did May go? Our deck only got swept today and I’ve planted zero, zip, nada, zilch. (Too big of a chance of a freeze, still.) There are some new plants in their pots patiently waiting their turn out front and I can run them inside should a really cold snap appear, as it nearly always does. But last night, after a warm day, just felt like it was time to begin tossing easy no-cook dishes together — ones that get stuck back in the fridge for lunches or sides for the next night’s chop or fish so you don’t have to start dinner from scratch. (Something that might be good for, say, Memorial Day?!) I am, perhaps like you, a circuitous cook. There’s always something coming round tomorrow from what happened today or yesterday or last week or month. It’s conservative–in a good way, smart, healthy, and gives me more time for other things. I adore cooking but it’s not the only thing in my life.

Checking the pantry, there were lots of chickpeas; we love hummus. Artichoke hearts in a big glass jar from COSTCO jumped out at me, as did a forgotten can of hearts of palm, a Trader Joe grab, I think. My fridge and counter are always chock-full of fresh vegetables and I don’t go a day without olives or pickles somewhere along the way. I began chopping and tossed the ingredients in the bowl so that you could see them easily. I do the “recipe in a photo” for social media occasionally and someday I’ll do a little graphics study to improve my work. In the meantime, isn’t it fun to look at something like this and know you could make it? If you save the photo below, you can print it and put it on your fridge. The internet is full of chickpea or other bean salads, but this one is mine and, soon, yours. I do include a for real recipe; scroll down.

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Grilled Halibut with Basil Salsa on Corn and Poblano Risotto

…shown here with cauliflower soup garnished with chopped sautéed mushrooms and garlic

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Menus: always in pencil!

When students or friends are talking cooking, the comment that comes up quite often is, “I just don’t know what to make for dinner.” Even I feel that way once a while and maybe you do, too. To avoid jumping in the car and going to a restaurant and spending money or cooking scrambled eggs and toast (though I love scrambled eggs and toast), I try and make a menu each week. That helps a lot. If the penciled menu and I are not on the same page on a given day –let’s say we ate some leftovers for lunch instead saving them for dinner– my fast meal answer is always fish. I keep 3 or 4 kinds of fish in the freezer and sometimes more. If I bag the fillets tightly in a ziplock bag (after removing the original plastic packaging for safety) and stick them in a bowl of cold water for thawing, I can be grilling or sautéing or roasting our meal in a half hour. A salad gets tossed while the fish cooks–or maybe only tomatoes sliced if it’s summer and the tomatoes are perfect. Soon, dinner is on the table. Other nights, I’ve planned ahead on a gorgeous fish dinner complete with scrumptious sides and that’s what today’s Grilled Halibut with Basil Salsa on Corn and Poblano Risotto is all about.

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KIDS BAKE MOTHER’S DAY: Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake

Are homey cakes best? Try mine and see!
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Wasn’t it just New Years? Or at least Valentine’s Day? I only yesterday took the Easter runner off my piano. Geez, Alyce. After a month away from home, hearth, dog, and blog, I was –after getting a little reacclimated — amazed to see Mother’s Day coming up quickly on the heels of Cinco de Mayo. The time simply runs. Perhaps you, too, have yet to make the first plan for Sunday, May 12, 2024, but you might start right here with nearly the simplest of sweet treats, my Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake–which you can throw together and slide into the oven in truly a few minutes. If you are a really good soul (and you are, right?) and are baking with a local kiddo, it might take a few more. And if you’re skipping Mother’s Day all together, go ahead and bake this for yourself or have a favorite neighbor in for coffee. Don’t wait. Everyone should have a 9″x 13″ coffee cake in their back pocket and if you’ve not yet found yours, claim this one now. It’s fast, inexpensive, easy, flexible, and requires no chopping of fruit since it’s made with toss-in-the-bowl blueberries. Frozen work as well as fresh; just rinse and use — no thawing necessary. One thing about this cake is: it’s really a cake, by golly. This isn’t bread masquerading as cake. There’s a bu** load of sugar and even more fat than that and you’ll darned well like it when you eat it, I promise you. Diet another day and make sure the coffee is hot, good, and strong (just like mom!) while you’re at it.

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