We were thrilled  last spring when we heard that our Niece would be attending a great college nearby this year.

It has been so much fun to have her over for dinner, and do laundry of course  But also to lend a sympathic ear, and give advice and support when needed.

This week she spent a few days with us,  before setting off on an humanitarian trip to Haiti.

Of course the Mom and cook in me needs to send her off with a tummy full of comfort food.

So I ask her , what would you like to eat for dinner tonight more than anything?.

She replies “whatever you make will be fine with me, I like everything you cook Aunt Pamela”

What a nice polite child!

So I quiz her a bit more, seeing that she has just spent the last 9 months eating cafeteria food, and we all know how bad college food can be. Maybe she is craving something her Mother always makes.

“No really I am not craving anything, I am sure I will love anything you make”

Okay how about something Asian, maybe ginger salmon, probably not going to be eating that for the next few weeks huh?”.

She replies “Um, well, I don’t eat fish Aunt Pamela” ”

None? I ask.

“Nope, don’t like it”

Holy cow in our house that is like saying “No thanks, I don’t breath air”

We eat a lot of fish and shellfish, with a vegetarian in the house and all.

Then I remembered her Mother is allergic to fish and shellfish.  So it was never an option in her house.

Well that makes sense.

So we decide to stay with the Asian theme, sesame crusted chicken fingers with a peanut dipping sauce for her, and salmon for us.  Perfect.

With that some sticky rice and soy beans. And lets not forget a side of  kimchi (Korean pickled cabbage), I always have a big jar in the fridge.

During dinner Kailey is munching happily on her chicken fingers and I see her eyeing my salmon, so I ask her if she wants to try a tiny piece of the fish?

Sure enough she is game, and tries a teeny tiny piece.  Then a bigger piece….

Then asks “Is it okay if I take that piece there on the platter?”  Turns out she loves it.

Sigh, her Mother would be proud.

It has just occurred to me, with a vegetarian daughter, I really should be preparing more bean dishes.

Not just for the nutritional value, they have that in spades.

But because she loves them.  Will eat them any old day of the week.

Of course, she prefers dried beans over the canned version.

Preparing them does take a bit more time, who am I kidding? it takes way more time.

So naturally, I gravitate to  recipes that don’t require soaking the beans overnight.

I have been making these Spicy Black Beans for years, it is by far one of our favorites.

Normally I would feel that this is a fall/winter kind of dish.

However, today turned out to be  52 degrees with a light rain, hello spring? Where the heck are you?

With that kind of miserable, cold, damp weather, we need some spicy warm comfort food – you know?

The recipe below is vegetarian, which means I usually add some pork on the side to keep the carnivores happy.

I just happened to have a package of  Chorizo sausage in the fridge, one of those impulse buys at the fancy grocery store last week.

We chopped it up cooked it until it was all crispy and charred on the edges.

Now you might be thinking most people serve cornbread with their beans, right?

Well here’s the thing, beans are a carbohydrate, and served with rice, well thats a carbohydrate too.

Whereas swiss chard, yes techincally a carbohydrate, but not in the same starchy category as the other two.

It lends a lightness and freshness to the overall dish – I think.

Call me crazy, but it works.

Not a week goes by in this house that we don’t enjoy some sort of Asian cuisine.

And, not a week goes by without consuming chicken in one way or another.

We eat a lot of chicken here, well not Bunny of course, she usually has tofu instead.

I purchased a mango last week with thoughts of a warm Asian chicken salad.

With savoy cabbage as it’s base since Bunny will eat anything with cabbage in it.

And of course crafted in such a way that the chicken could be added, or not, in her case.

However, no one here was interested, and I did try to sell it a few different ways.

That mango sat there in the fruit bowl on the counter taunting me.

The macadamia nuts needed though, I had to guard with my life.

They just couldn’t grasp the fact that I was saving them for this salad.

I think if you say “don’t eat this” it just makes that item incredibly irresistible.

Of course that rule does not apply to artichokes, liver or anchovies in this house.

So you know how this story ends right?

I finally make the salad a week later (had to that’s me).

And everyone here says “Wow mom, this is good, how come you didn’t make it sooner?”.

I wonder.

Lately, it seems most of the food we eat here falls into these 4 categories.

• Recipe ripped from a magazine and saved (yes, I am sometimes guilty of that while waiting at the Doctors office).
• Word of mouth recipe, while not having a pen and paper handy, and hoping I remember all the details.  This does allow me some creative license to make any changes to the original recipe of course.
• From my old trusty binder with the plastic sleeves (have to keep those stolen tear-sheets somewhere).  Some day I will get around to scanning them and saving them to my computer.
• Concocted from what’s presently on hand.  This being the most often used category of course.

This salad does fall into the  ”concocted” category, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve the same accolades as those other salads.  You know the ones ripped from Fine Cooking while no one was looking.

Sitting at the breakfast table yesterday , I asked the daily question.

“What do you guys feel like for dinner tonight?”

Yep, here we start thinking about dinner before breakfast isn’t even finished.

That’s normal right?

Then I proceeded to go through some of the usual suspects.

How about a pasta dish?

Maybe a cream sauce, we rarely have that.

Nah.

A chicken Asian thing?

With chicken for us and tofu for veggie girl?

Nope, not feeling  Asian.

Mexican?

We haven’t had that in awhile.

Beef and black bean tacos, what do you think?

Nope.

Okay then, well here’s a thought, how about eggs?

They perked up a bit.

Oh that sounds good, What kind of eggs?

Hmmn I am thinking a frittata, maybe leek and mushroom, with parmesan and gruyere cheese.

Also a salad, and warm  buttered baguette (gluten free for me).

Sure!! We haven’t had eggs for dinner in ages.

That was easy.

I am a planner, yep a list maker.

Can’t help it, it’s part of my DNA.

I am the one in our family that packs 1 week in advance of a vacation.

In case those cute little shorts from last year don’t fit (gasp), I need time to pick up a new pair (or two).

Or perhaps a few things need mending or dry cleaning, that takes time you know.

I like to be prepared.

Yesterday being Monday, I was in planning mode for the week.

Had compiled a grocery list for the next few days, made the trek to the big fancy grocery store that is 20 minutes away from home.

Even made sure to check the fridge first for fresh parsley, because it can be mistaken for cilantro in the crisper you know.

So, when we lost power yesterday I was all in a tizzy about dinner.

I had it all planned of course.

And using the oven featured prominently in the arrival of dinner to the table.

So shifting gears I made the same dinner, using the BBQ instead.

Brilliant!!  Less washing up of sheet pans I would have to employ to roast the potatoes and a separate one for the asparagus.

Out came the grill basket, from the deep dark recesses of the pantry.

I love this grill accessory!

Totally forgot we had one.

How have we survived all winter without this fabulous invention?

These prosciutto wrapped shrimp were perfect with the warm potato salad, and BBQ friendly I might add.

 Dinner was a huge hit with the carnivores, since they devour anything wrapped in bacon.

Of course our Veggie girl had her shrimp sans prosciutto, naturally.

Two days ago I made individual Chocolate Molten Lava Cakes.

They were a work of art.

The picture turned out fabulous.

Which is no small feat for me,  with no sunlight all winter , and the fact that I am still figuring out how to work my expensive camera.

In my early posts I didn’t even know I needed software that reduces the pixels size so that the image loads quickly.

So don’t go back and check those early posts, it will be ages before any visuals show up!

So why didn’t I post them?  Those fabulous little gooey chocolate creations?

They were incredibly dry, not gooey and not so yummy as it turns out.

They looked good though.

Given enough time I can style any food (whether it tastes good, or not) and make it look mouth watering, and worthy of your time in the kitchen.

Not going to post it though, unless it is a huge home run, always.

I will try again with those darn chocolate cakes, don’t worry.

In the meantime our local fishmonger received a big shipment of the freshest, whitest, best tasting halibut ever (his words).

So I mixed together a quick cornmeal crust that made it oh so crispy on the outside, yet moist and tender on the inside.

The only way my Hubby likes fish is crispy, you may notice a pattern here with the fish posts.

So if you  ever see “Wine Poached Halibut with Julienne Vegetables”  likely the girls were over for dinner, and the Hub was out of town.

In my haste to run to the table with that plate, because who likes cold fish?.  I forgot to place a nice big dollop of the Spicy Tartar Sauce on top.

Sorry about that, it was heavenly.

We also had Quinoa with grilled asparagus and spring onions, I added a little lemon zest, and topped it off with a nice drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Last week definitely felt like the finale of winter and the burgeoning of spring.

This week however, has all my daffodils and crocuses in a tizzy.

With a high of 45 degrees today with a light rain, I was not thinking of digging, planting and mulching, that’s for sure.

Instead I was thinking of curling up with a good book, and building a huge roaring fire in the fireplace.

Hello spring?

In the kitchen, we are supposed to be putting away all those recipes that call for slow braising, roasting and stewing.

In favor of lighter, cleaner, fresher tastes.

With that in mind (and the low temps) we opted for a compromise last night.

Petite spring peas and vibrant asparagus pay homage to springtime, add some earthy mushrooms and a hefty dose of cream and cheese and we hopefully bid adieu to winter.

A ying and yang of the seasons if you will.

This is the best marinade/glaze ever.

Truly.

Fabulous on beef, amazing on lamb and super on chicken.

Takes 2 seconds, whip it up, slather on and make magic.

We had dinner guests Saturday night, so I decided to show it off.

Huge rib eye steaks, tomato goat cheese salad (a nice change from tomato mozzarella), and buttery garlic bread.

Naturally some delightful Merlot and some lighter Pinot Noir (for me) as well.

No one here was complaining, that’s for sure.

Bunny was out at a friends house for dinner, so no need to accommodate the Veggie Girl (this time).

How do you feel about tofu?

It is a very polarizing food.

Most people think you either like it, or you don’t.

The carnivores thought they didn’t like it.

Until we baked it.

Once baked it has a nice charred, crispy exterior, and chewy interior.

It does not resemble it’s previous soft and pale packaged self at all.

Paired with  Peanut dipping sauce, a big mound of sushi rice and some hoisin green beans, it was a big hit.

Wish I had put a little ramekin of peanut sauce in shot!!  Darn, was in a hurry to get to the table and enjoy.