Red Potato and Sugar Snap Pea Salad

Why is summer the best time of the year?  Extreme heat, popsicles, outdoor movies, long hours of sunlight, and PICNICS.  Yes, I admit it: I'm a picnic partisan and I think everything tastes better al fresco.  And what's a picnic without potato salad?  This recipe includes a little greenery for a healthsome crunch and an olive oil dressing.  Bonus: Using olive oil instead of mayo as the binding/moisturizing agent prevents the potato salad from going bad in the summer heat.  Nobody likes food poisoning.

 

Greek Roast Chicken

Cooking for my family can be a bit of a balancing act: My dad is more-or-less carnivorous (though he doesn't eat pork) and my mom doesn't really like strong flavors (read: garlic) or massive amounts of meat.  So what to make for my first home-cooked supper in North Carolina?

It's decidedly spring here and, as such, a young girl's fancy turns to thoughts of Greece.  "Ah-ha!" I thought: Roasted chicken with lemon, olive oil, and scads of oregano—simple, fresh-tasting, and delicious. Basically, this is my take on a dish that is often on offer at tavernas called kotopoulo fournou (κοτόπουλο φούρνου), which is served with pan-roasted potatoes and a green salad.

Autumn Vegetable Kugel

First of all, I'd like to thank the extremely talented Tom Tian for the beautiful new banner.  Everyone should check out his blog for more of his great designs.

It's finally starting to feel like fall, which means that I want to eat only root vegetables (more or less).  I adapted this recipe for carrot, leek, and zucchini kugel from a few different recipes in Marlena Spieler's Jewish Cooking, which is beautifully illustrated and one of my all-time favorite cookbooks.