Cucumber Fennel Salad with Dill

I make this salad all year round. Take some English cucumbers, slice them up with a mandolin, or a spiralizer, or even (!) a knife. Salt them to release their moisture. Sometimes I'll cut into matchsticks. Or sometimes, I'll add soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger and garlic. Other times, yogurt. 

But for summer, I'm of the opinion less is more. Just the extra crunch and water of fennel. A touch of dill. And few grinds of pepper. This is great as a condiment (on your burger, say), or just on its own. So easy and good. 

RECIPE: Mandolin one long English cucumber and one bulb of fennel. Salt liberally with 1 1/2 tablespoons of table salt. Let sit for 15 minutes, then squeeze out all water. Dress with 3 tablespoons of white vinegar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of olive oil, and dill. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serves 2-3.

Book Buzz | Andi Dorman's Memoir, on Trainwrecks, Tiki Drinks

from Rogge & Smith's first book, Do One Thing Every Day that Scares You

Every weekday, Publisher’s Marketplace emails the latest publishing deals in print, digital, audio and foreign sales (over 200 deals/week). Here are some of my favs -- not necessarily the biggest names or the buzziest deal… but the ones that piqued my interest for one reason or another.

DO ONE THING EVERY DAY THAT CENTERS YOU by Robie Rogge and Dian Smith
Editor: Amanda Englander at Potter Style
Description: A year's worth of prompts for practicing mindfulness, gratitude, and intention-setting.

You know, I’m all for doing things that scare you. That’s how I was able to write/sell a book that may have turned out to be nothing, a waste of five years. But the older I get, the more I value the time-out. Rogge and Smith started with a book about doing things that scare you. Their second book will be about centering you. And their last will be about inspiring you. Sounds like the ideal trio of action and reflection.  

TRAINWRECK by Sady Doyle
Agent: Melissa Flashman at Trident Media Group  
Editor: Taylor Sperry at Melville House
Description: A feminist anatomy of the women we hate, mock, fear, and try like hell not to be--from Mary Wollstonecraft and Charlotte Bronte to Billie Holiday and Britney Spears--and an exploration of what it means to be a trainwreck now that any public form of self-expression can be the one that ends you.

Whoa. It’s the last line that really get to me: “any public form of self-expression can be the one that ends you”. I’ve been thinking about this more and more lately. The truth is that I’m a little scared of releasing my book into the world. Sure, it’s fiction, but it’s also an expression of myself, my values, my motivations. My former writing professor Amy Bloom once told us that your personality will shine in your writing no matter what. So better to just accept that rather than try to be someone else. I admit that I rubberneck when I see a trainwreck (though I prefer the French term which translates to “curiosity congestion”). But I also think of the woman herself -- can we blame her for cracking under the spotlight? Self-expression in a public arena will always invite public scrutiny. But in an age of anonymous trolling and snark over sincerity, is it fair that public scrutiny can take on a vicious life of its own?

IT'S NOT OKAY by Andi Dorman
Agent: Kirsten Neuhaus at Foundry Literary + Media
Editor: Abby Zidle at Gallery
Description: By the tenth and most recent Bachelorette, a tongue-in-cheek girl's guide to break ups, revealing never-before-told stories of her dramatic dismissal of Juan Pablo "It's OK" Galavis, her romance as the Bachelorette with Josh Murray, and what really happened after the cameras stopped rolling.

Speaking of women who put themselves out there… Andi! Yes, I’m a feminist. And, yes, I watch the Bachelor/ette. Andi was by far the smartest bachelorette -- both professionally (she’s a litigator) and emotionally (immediately shutting down Juan Pablo for his shocking narcissism among many other reasons). This actually isn’t the first book by a Bachelor/ette, but it’ll be the first I read. (Also kind of curious about Chris Harrison’s new novel, The Perfect Letter.)

TIKI COCKTAILS by Lynn Calvo & James Fraioli
Agent: Andrea Hurst at Andrea Hurst Literary Management
Editor: James Jayo at Sterling
Description: Tiki-style mixology secrets from Lynn's Hula Hut in Montauk, NY

And, finally, since it's officially summer... I'm so ready to put away the brown and red drinks and bring out the pink and green. Kinda scared by this drink though.
 

Sunday Writing Inspo - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Solitude, the safeguard of mediocrity, is to genius the stern friend, the cold, obscure shelter where moult the wings which will bear it farther than suns and stars."

Spiralized Zucchini Noodles with Peanut Sauce

This is for those times when you don't want your zucchini noodles to taste like diet noodles. The key is really cooking the noodles down in the sauce. The noodles become the vehicle for the fatty flavor of the peanut-sesame sauce. It's a beautiful thing. 

Another key: some brightness in the form of lime, ginger, and cilantro. You don't want to feel like you're eating straight peanut butter (save that for eating straight peanut butter). 

RECIPE: 

Spiralize 4 zucchinis on the largest setting. Slice 1/3 of a cabbage into 1/4-inch ribbons. Add cabbage and zucchini in wok with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Saute on high uncovered for 3 minutes until fragrant. Turn stove to low and cover for 5 minutes, to sweat out the veggies.

In the meantime, make peanut sauce and the veggies you don't want to overcook. Mix 2 heaping tablespoons of peanut butter, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, 1 1/2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar, and 1 teaspoon of chopped ginger. Chop two bell peppers and spiralize one carrot. Add veggies and peanut mixture to the veggies. You'll have to break up the peanut butter. Resist the urge to water it down because there's plenty of water in the wok. You don't want the sauce too watery. 

Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Add juice of 1 lime, cilantro, and toasted peanuts before serving. 

Papaya Lime Sorbet

Papaya and lime. They're more than nice pairings... they complete each other. 

Papaya is a subtle, low-acid fruit. It's floral, but not as insistent as lychee. It's tropical, but not as overt as mango. And so lime strengthens its lines, like a few swipes of makeup that enhances the beauty that's already there. 

RECIPE: 

Freeze 1 1/2 cups of papaya and half a banana (or, if you're like me, just keep a bunch of frozen fruit in the freezer for sorbet and smoothies). Blend in a Vitamix with one glug of almond milk, 1 teaspoon of honey and the juice of 1 lime. If the mixture isn't blending, add more almond milk.

Swiss Chard, Raisin, Pine Nut & Bulgur Dolmas

When I tell people I was born in Queens -- I know what they're thinking. Flushing. That's where the Asian community is, right? 

Yes, that's true. But that's not where I was born. I was born in Astoria -- little Athens. 

Nowadays that means one thing: a mandatory visit to Titan, said to be the largest Greek grocery store in North America. 

So that's what came to mind when I had some beautiful Swiss chard. My go-to prep (after just garlic, olive oil, and lemon) is Swiss chard with raisins and pine nuts. But how to make it different? 

Dolma is from the Turkish verb dolmak, "to be stuffed." So...we're good! 

RECIPE: 

Boil 2 cups of water, turn off, then add 1 cup cracked wheat. Let soak for 15 minutes, then drain off water. 

While the water is boiling, toast 2 heaping tablespoons of pine nuts for 3 minutes at 350 degrees. Keep watch! Pine nuts burn even when you're concentrating. and If you don't -- you're done for. 

In a frying pan, add 2 cups of broth. When at a boil, add the stems of 5-6 Swiss chard leaves. After 3 minutes, add the leaves and keep simmering until wilted, about 2 minutes. Make sure they're still bright green -- not olive.

Mix 2 tablespoons raisins, toasted pine nuts, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon olive oil to cracked wheat. Mince Swiss chard stems and add. Mix well, then add one spoonful per Swiss chard leaf, wrapping like a burrito (sides, then along the length. Pour the remaining broth on top and serve. 

Book Buzz | Acadiana Cuisine & New Books from April Bloomfield & Austin Kleon

Every weekday, Publisher’s Marketplace emails the latest publishing deals in print, digital, audio and foreign sales (over 200 deals/week). Here are some of my favs -- not necessarily the biggest names or the buzziest deal… but the ones that piqued my interest for one reason or another.

ACADIANA TABLE: Stories and Recipes of Cajun Creole Cooking by George Graham
Agent: Judy Linden at Stonesong
Editor: Dan Rosenberg at Harvard Common Press
Description: 125 mouthwatering dishes and over 150 stunning full-color photos from the region of southwest Louisiana steeped in historical tradition and home to a cross blending of unique flavors.

How do you discover new food blogs? There are a million ways, but I ldo it by reading book deals. Two days ago, if you asked me what Acadiana cuisine was, I'd say maybe Maine mountain cuisines (Acadia National Park + Appalachian mountains). Whoa, would I be wrong. Graham's blog Acadiana Table is an interesting, nuanced look at the cuisine found opposite from New Orleans, in the southwest region of Louisiana. 

THE STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST JOURNAL: A Notebook for Creative Kleptomaniacs by Austin Kleon
Editor: Bruce Tracy at Workman
Description: An interactive journal and all-in-one logbook to get creative juices flowing, and keep a record of ideas and discoveries.

Austin Kleon is part of that genre of artist that's prolific, "real", generous with sharing his work and his talent -- and an inspiration for it. You don't have to be a visual artist to appreciate his (many) messages: Show your work. Tell Good Stories. Learn to take a punch. (Other artists in this same camp: Elle Luna, Donald Robertson)

HOMESTEAD KITCHEN by Eivin Kilcher and Eve Kilcher
Agent: Sandra Bishop
Editor: Pam at Pam Krauss Books at Clarkson Potter
Description: A collection of original recipes, sustainability tips & techniques, and everyday self-reliance skills they have learned while living as third generation curators of the homesteader lifestyle, in cooperation with The Discovery Channel.

Hunting. Fishing. Gathering. Gardening. That's it. Maybe the New Yorker in me is rebelling (and maybe because I just watched the Francis Mallmann episode of Chef's Table), but there's something very appealing about becoming one with your land and its fruits over many generations. (Although I don't love the phrasing "curators of the homesteader lifestyle". Huh?) 

the oyster roast at the John Dory // via New York Times

A GIRL AND HER FISH by April Bloomfield
Agent: Luke Janklow at Janklow & Nesbit
Editor: Daniel Halpern at Ecco
Description: April Bloomfield shares her recipes and reflections regarding the serving of fish; illustrated throughout.

Oooooh. So it's a series! She's a clever one, that April. Well, I love her latest, A Girl and her Greens (see the whole roasted cauliflower I made from it). Fish definitely makes sense, given the John Dory. Now the question is... first there was Pig, then Greens, then Fish. What's next? 

Friday Links | 5.15.2015

Happy Friday! 

Tomorrow I'm off to my favorite art event of the year, the Frieze Art Fair on Randall's Island. Here are some highlights from my very first visit two years ago: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.) And of course I like art and stuff, but what really puts the experience over the edge is the food. Last year, we got a salad box from Fat Radish and a pizza from Roberta's and ate outside alongside the water. That right there? Perfection. 

This year, Fat Radish is no more (Very sad, those salad boxes deserve a fan club. I'll be President). But Dimes will be there which is sorta kinda similar? 

Also, I'm headed off to a mini-vacay next week. Will try to keep posting here, but might be a little spotty. If you're so inclined, follow me on Instagram to tag along on my trip! I'm going to Baltimore, DC, and a remote little town in Maryland.

Okay... LINKS! 

This baby lives in a house with 65 sorority girls. His mom is the facility manager and their family lives in a dorm. Sounds like a TV show, right? (WNYC) 

Frida Kahlo's wardrobe... unlocked after 50 years. Those dresses! The colors! (The Guardian) 

I love an interactive food station. Here are 16. (Domaine) 

And finally, since I'm going to Baltimore next week, all I can think about is crab cakes. This is the major crab cake porn over here. (Food & Wine) 

Til next week! 

Pineapple Sage Champagne Cocktail

pineapple sage mimosa

Without fail, I'll always order the cocktail with herbs. Rosemary. Sage. Bay leaf. 

But come spring/summer, those herbs can get a little heavy-handed. Sure, you can go the minty route, a mint julep or a mojito. Nothing wrong with that. 

Though let me introduce you to pineapple sage. Less "Thanksgiving-y" than traditional sage. More surprising than mint. It's faintly tropical, slightly grassy, slightly earthy. It's a very subtle flavor that plays nicely with fruit and sparkling wine. 

Is pairing pineapple with pineapple sage a little matchy/matchy? Perhaps. But who would dare question twice-baked potatoes or grapes in sangria. Do it. 

RECIPE:

Muddle 2 1-inch chunks of pineapple and 4 pineapple sage leaves in glass. Add cava, prosecco or champagne. Serve with blueberries and pineapple as garnish.  

Sesame Soy Mirin-Glazed Korean Yams

Let us now praise that trinity of sauces. Sesame. Soy sauce. Mirin. 

Sesame oil! Fragrant, nutty. Instantly recognizable. The base note. 

Soy sauce! Salt with umami. The mid-note.

Mirin! Sweet, with a ricey mouthfeel. The top note. 

Add it on Korean yams, and you have one of my favorite snacks. I like to keep roasted sweet potatoes on hand for carby snacking. If you do that, then making this is just one easy step away. It's sweet, savory, earthy. I personally like Korean yams for this because they are dryer and nuttier than sweet potatoes (which are, comparatively, wet, sweet). Think chestnuts over pumpkin. 

RECIPE: Wash, pierce, and roast Korean yams in 400 degree oven for 35 minutes, or until a fork can easily be slipped in with just slight resistance (you don't want it too mushy). Remove from oven and slice along the length, about 3/4 of the way to the bottom. Mix 2 parts soy sauce, 1 part mirin, 1 part sesame oil. Add some rice vinegar, too, to lighten it up. Pour on top of yams, making sure to get in the cracks. Roast for another 10 minutes, until glaze has infused. 

Highly recommend eating with fingers, dragging the pieces through the residual sauce. 

Slow Cooker Bang Bang Chicken with Lime, Lemongrass & Chilis

This is *not* the bang bang sauce from Cheesecake Factory -- a calorie-bomb of coconut curry and peanut sauce (I mean, it probably tastes amazing). 

This is the Laotian Bang Bang sauce -- a funky, fiery, sweet/tangy/spicy mix. Ie: a slow cooker friend.  

In my experience, the best slow cooker recipes are deeply, aggressively flavored (see also this miso ginger garlic chicken). Slow cookers get a bad reputation because they remind people of dull stewy mush. 

But that's why you fight against the murky "brown" flavor with brightness. In Laotian cuisine, bang bang is typically eaten with sticky rice (the way fries are eaten with ketchup). The same idea applies here: you want to match a tender, blank-slate food (slow-cooked chicken, sticky rice), with something that awakens the palate. Now you have the best of both worlds -- something soft and pillowy with something sharp and vibrant. 

My preparation includes two ingredients that aren't in classic bang bang sauce: gochujang and black bean sauce. I did this because slow-cooker sauces need to be thick. They'll get watered down a lot as the chicken cooks (such are modern chickens, very watery). Both sauces are thick, fermented and funky, and serve as the foundation for the more ephemeral top notes of this dish (ginger, lime, etc). 

So, to review: Laotian bang bang: wakes you up. Cheesecake Factory bang bag: knock you out. 

RECIPE: 
Skin an entire whole chicken (I do this because the fat doesn't have anywhere to go in a slow cooker. Since the slow-cooker is a pro at keeping meat tender, don't worry about going skinless!). 

In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons gochujang, 2 tablespoons of black bean sauce, 1 teaspoon chopped chili peppers (Thai chilis, piri-piri, whatever you have), 5 cloves of chopped garlic, 2 tablespoons chopped ginger, 1 tablespoon chili oil, 1 chopped lemongrass stalk (or 1/2 teaspoon of dried lemongrass), 1 tablespoon palm sugar, 1 teaspoon fish sauce, 1 pinch of dried ginger, 1 pinch of dried galangal (or just more ginger if you can't get this), 1 pinch of cardamom. Add enough water to mix, but not too much. 

Place chicken in slow cooker and pour sauce over chicken, making sure to get every crevice. Add one diced lime. Cover and cook on low for 7 hours. Serve with sticky rice and Thai basil. 

Book Buzz | Pan Sauces, Famous Salads, and a Pizza-Loving Lobster

Every weekday, Publisher’s Marketplace emails the latest publishing deals in print, digital, audio and foreign sales (over 200 deals/week). Here are some of my favs -- not necessarily the biggest names or the buzziest deal… but the ones that piqued my interest for one reason or another.

Chopped Chicken Salad at Freds / via In Search of the Next Meal

FREDS AT BARNEYS NEW YORK COOKBOOK by Mark Strausman
Agent: Jennifer Cohen
Editor: Gretchen Young for Grand Central Life & Style, with Karen Murgolo editing
Description: The first cookbook from this powerhouse restaurant, offering classic recipes and cooking secrets, paired with anecdotes learned along the way.

I love love love department store restaurants. From the chopped salad at Freds to a vegetable plate at Dover Street Market to a bento box at Takashimaya (sadly closed) to an omelette at Ikram -- department store restaurants always have straight-forward, healthy(ish) lunches. And -- let’s get real -- sometimes you can’t afford the dress at Barneys, but getting one of their famous salads can satisfy the craving.

MASTERING PAN SAUCES by Susan Volland
Agent: Alison Fargis of Stonesong
Editor: Maria Guarnaschelli of Norton
Description: Featuring 100 contemporary and classic pan sauce recipes from the author of Mastering Sauces: The Home Cook's Guide to New Techniques for Fresh Flavors and editor and lead recipe tester of Modernist Cuisine at Home.

So Volland’s first book was a general sauce book. And her new book is about pan sauces. What is a pan sauce? It’s basically like gravy, thickened with butter (or not) instead of flour. Both start by deglazing the pan post meat-cooking with or without aromatics. I’m intrigued by this single subject and can definitely see how something so simple can lend itself to many variations (protein, deglazing liquid, aromatics, thickening agent, etc).

via ClaireLondon.com

LORENZO THE PIZZA-LOVING LOBSTER by Claire London
Editor: Charlie Ilgunas at Little Bee Books
Description: A lobster discovers and falls in love with pizza, and tries to recreate it with his sea turtle friend, with unexpected results.

The other day I walked past an old movie poster for SpongeBob: A Sponge out of Water. Spongebob was, for some reason, really buff. This made me laugh. And if the idea of a pizza-loving lobster doesn’t make you laugh, then I don’t know about you.

CICI RENO KNOWS IT ALL by Kristina Springer
Agent: Andrea Somberg at Harvey Klinger
Editor: Brett Duquette at Sterling Children's
Description: The first book in The Yoga Girls series, in which a pre-teen yoga enthusiast helps her best friend get a crush's attention by impersonating her on Twitter, but before long the favor turns into a social media love triangle.

Ah, is this sort of stuff the new Babysitter's Club? I'm digging how literature is integrating social media into its narratives (I'm thinking of Read Bottom Up, a love story told in emails and texts, and Unfriended, a horror movie via a terrorizing social media account). A couple years ago, these probably would have been written off as novelty pieces, but now social media is so ingrained in our day-to-day, of course art can arise from its nuances. I'm kind of waiting for a novel to be told in real-time through social media -- almost like you're a character and you're engaging with the story. 

Does anyone know if this exists already?

Friday Links | 5.8.15

Happy Friday! This weekend I'm seeing my family for Mother's Day so there will be a lot of cooking, eating, and perhaps a visit to the zoo or a garden (Tom family traditions). I'm also seeing Ex Machina tonight. I think it's funny that Ava, the AI woman, is a Natalie Portman lookalike (though isn't played by Natalie Portman). I have a theory that all sciencey guys are in love with Natalie Portman. 

Anyway, on to links! 

Mariah Carey starts her 2-year Caesar's Palace "residency". Jon Caraminica of the New York Times basically describes her show as a case of morbid rubber-necking: a train wreck you can't take your eyes off. Yikes. In college, I saw Celine during her Caesar's residency and it was magical. I hope Mariah can bring it! Surely she has it in her. 

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about my friend Andrea, the co-inventor of the LuminAID inflatable solar light. Well, now her former professor has a Kickstarter with a very similar product called the SolarPuff. WTF, right? I know a little about this, but I don't feel equipped to comment on this very serious intellectual property issue. Not to mention student-teacher ethics. So I'll just quote from the comment board, where people have not been shy about calling the project out: 

Like others in the comments below, I have given $1 only in order to help shed some light (pun intended) on the backstory of this project. I was once a student of Alice's, (and later a collaborator and co-teacher) and I was a student in the studio Alice taught in which she claims to have asked students to work with inflatable lights - this never happened. Anna and Andrea began to develop the LuminAid from their own independent research, LuminAid was completely their design and Alice started presenting the idea of the SolarPuff as her own only after Anna and Andrea made it clear that they would continue to develop LuminAid beyond their initial work in the studio. Its unfortunate to see that this misrepresentation has continued and the SolarPuff is being passed off as something it is not - there is certainly room in the world for many great designers to be working on behalf of the public good - but this seems like a good old fashioned case of intellectual theft and crafty marketing. It should be fine for a teacher to admit being inspired by their students without having to rewrite history to claim influence for the work of others. 

The other day, I posted my interpretation of April Bloomfield's whole-roasted cauliflower -- and she commented on it! I'm not one to get too starry-eyed when a "brand" engages with you (that's what they're supposed to do these days). But I had a major fangirl moment here (I also believe that April Bloomfield does her own social media, but I could be wrong). 

From McSweeney's: 13 Creative Writing Exercises for Women. "Write your greatest fear on a Post-it note. Place the Post-it at the corner of your eye before applying liquid liner, to create the perfect cat-eye." Ha! 

This article describes the lifestyle-office-crafting of Brad Sherman, who has designed offices/event spaces/Instagram stages for startups like Casper, Sakara Life, and Food52. I've been to the Food52 office -- it's basically like a Hamptons beach house meets a professional kitchen -- and I can see why he's in such high demand. 

And, related to the pic above. This goop-exclusive Spiralizer makes me laugh. It's very, very similar to the basic model, but 60% more. Why? Someone please enlighten me.

And, last, here's the recipe for the dish above. This is a true got-home-from-work-wanna-make-something-really-fast recipe. On days like that, I'm not making my own sauce and meatballs. This has a bunch of pre-made stuff, plus some stuff to round it out and make it fresher. 

RECIPE: 

Sautée 3 shallots, 4 garlic cloves, and 3 chopped carrots until sweating. Add 5 pieces of chopped turkey bacon. Add chicken meatballs. (I like Aidells Caramelized Onion. I also like to halve them because I like to spread out the meat more.) 

When everything is browned, add a can of crushed tomatoes and half a bottle of jarred sauce (I like Rao's). Add 3 glugs of soy sauce for extra umami. Simmer for 45 minutes. Add spiralized zucchini. Let them wilt, about 5 minutes or more, depending on how limp you like them. Serve.

Crunchy Spaghetti Squash with Sesame-Seared Ramps

Did you think that spaghetti squash always had to be that consistency? The softness of canned Spaghetti-Os? (I'm not hating!) 

Well... it doesn't. This was a revelation when my brother's girlfriend once brought this to a holiday dinner -- a spaghetti squash salad, with strands that crunched. How did she do it? Were the strands deep-fried? Dehydrated? No... they're just undercooked. Easy as that. 

The original dish has scallions, but I used ramps because 'tis the season. This would be great as a picnic dish -- it's hearty, but clean and fresh. 

RECIPE: 

Bring one large pot of water to a boil. Seed and cut spaghetti squash into 1.5" x 1.5" sections. Add to boiling water. The water will cool off. Leave in the water until the water boils for about 30 seconds (about 3-5 minutes). The spaghetti squash should still be hard (you should be able to insert a fork, but it should crunch, not sink, into the flesh). Soak the spaghetti squash in ice water to stop cooking. Once cool, scrape out strands and place in bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of kosher salt and let sit for 5 minutes. Then squeeze out all the water with your hands. 

In a frying pan, saute chopped ramps in sesame oil. Once fragrant, add to spaghetti squash. Serve warm, cold, or room temperature. 

Spring Roasted Vegetables

But first, a poem. 

Spring (Again) by Michael Ryan

The birds were louder this morning,
raucous, oblivious, tweeting their teensy bird-brains out.
It scared me, until I remembered it’s Spring.
How do they know it? A stupid question.
Thank you, birdies. I had forgotten how promise feels.

My friend who recently moved from NYC to SF told me she's now cooking more. 

"Finally, the recipes I cook turn out well!" she says. 

It wasn't that her skills improved. Or that she tried different recipes. The reason, she says, is that there's better produce on the West Coast. She can make a simple tomato salad, sautéed green beans, the most barebones recipes of Yotam Ottolenghi -- they all turn out great. 

As much as I want to defend NYC farmer's markets, she's probably right -- most of the year. Come spring, it's a different story and one can go wild at the abundance. 

This isn't a recipe as much as it is a shopping prompt. If you've got it it, roast it.

RECIPE:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Prep vegetables, toss with olive oil, and roast them individually in their own trays (as opposed to all at once, as the photo implies). Veggies at the size shown will roast in 12-15 minutes. Sprinkle with Maldon salt. 

Shown: Asparagus, radishes, spring onions, potatoes, fennel, radicchio. 

Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Tomato, Capers & Beluga Lentils

Or, in praise of the mushy vegetable. 

It's not in vogue to eat mushy vegetables. They must be crispy and seared. Fried or pickled. They must snap, appear vibrant green rather than murky olive. But, can we admit that mushy vegetables are kinda good? 

I'm talking good in an nostalgic way, sure. The way mushy green beans taste like your summer camp in the Catskills. Or how mushy, underseasoned peas take you to the time you licked your baby brother's spoon clean. 

But also good in an objective way. Cruciferous vegetables are unequivocally stinky when they're cook to oblivion -- but isn't that the whole point? Sauerkraut, boiled cabbage, collard greens and ham hocks. All overcooked, the opposite of al dente, all delicious. 

Leave it to April Bloomfield to take the cliché of the greenish-gray British veg and turn it into something delicious. This recipe is adapted from her excellent new cookbook, A Girl and Her Greens: Hearty Meals from the Garden. 

I made one modification out of necessity. I was cooking for vegetarians and someone allergic to fish, so anchovies were out of the question. In went capers, lentils, and some caramelized onions to give this some brine and body. I served this as the main course -- like a whole roast chicken and leg of lamb -- and carved it tableside. No knife needed though. The cauliflower was soft and I used a serving spoon. 

RECIPE: 
(adapted from April Bloomfield's A Girl and her Greens )

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Trim and core cauliflower. Heat olive oil in a cast-iron pot (I used a 7-quart Le Creuset) and sear the cauliflower on all sides. Remove cauliflower and add 3 diced garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons of capers, and 3/4 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary. Stir until fragrant, then add 1 28-oz can of peeled plum tomatoes (cut the tomatoes before hand), 1/4 cup dry white wine, 3 large pinches of chili flakes. 

Return cauliflower to pot and baste with tomato liquid. Simmer for 5 minutes until the tomato mixture is thickened, then cover and place in oven and roast for 30-45 minutes, depending on your preferred mushy level (I did 45 minutes for peak softness). Every 10 minutes, baste the cauliflower with the tomato liquid.

In the meantime, cook 1 cup of beluga lentils in a separate pot (rinse them, cover with 2 cups of water, bring to boil until water is at surface, then cover and simmer on low until lentils are tender, about 20 minutes). Sauté three sliced onions (pearl onions are fun, too) in olive oil until golden brown.

When the cauliflower is ready, mix the lentils and onions with the tomato sauce and serve. 

Book Buzz || Surreal fiction, Iranian food memoir, Christoph Niemann's poetry collection

Every weekday, Publisher’s Marketplace emails the latest publishing deals in print, digital, audio and foreign sales (over 200 deals/week). Here are some of my favs -- not necessarily the biggest names or the buzziest deal… but the ones that piqued my interest for one reason or another.

THE FIRST BOOK OF CALAMITY LEEK by Paula Lichtarowicz
Agent: Clare Alexander at Aitken Alexander
Editor: Amy Einhorn and Caroline Bleeke at Flatiron Books
Description: Pitched in the vein of Karen Russell, about sixteen girls in a walled Garden, raised by a disgraced stage star on a diet of show tunes and twisted creation myths, and what happens when one girl starts asking questions about the world beyond the Wall of Safekeeping.

This sounds so goofy and strange and I'm a fan of women who write in this loopy style (Karen Russell, Katherine Dunn). The book is already available in the UK if you wanna grab an early look. (And, while we’re on this topic, just found out about Unstuck, a literary journal showcasing stories with “elements of the fantastic, the futuristic, the surreal, and the strange”.)

INSANE SILENCE by Sarah Barthel
Agent: Steven Chudney from The Chudney Agency
Editor: Martin Biro at Kensington
Description: A young bride-to-be who spies her fiancée murder a servant girl, and pretends to be insane and mute in order to escape the marriage and find safety in a sanitarium; while there, she gains the trust of a fellow patient -- Mary Todd Lincoln.

Whoa, what? Interesting how Lincoln has spawned his own genre of successful fan fiction. Here’s a crash course on MTD’s mental unwinding -- even before her husband’s assassination.   

DECANTING A MURDER by Nadine Nettmann
Agent: Danielle Burby at Hannigan Salky Getzler
Editor: Terri Bischoff at Midnight Ink
Description: The first in a new cozy series about a sommelier-in-training who discovers a dead body at a vineyard; when she finds out that her best friend is the prime suspect, she sets out to use her amateur sleuthing skills and knowledge of wine to clear her best friend's name; chapters are paired with wine recommendations to set the mood.

A wine cozy! With wine pairings! That’s the thing about food-related cozies -- you don’t want to get up and make a pie while you’re reading a mystery. But pouring a glass of wine? That’s totally doable.

from @abstractsunday, Christoph Niemann's Instagram

ONE MINUTE TILL BEDTIME by Kenn Nesbitt with illustrations by Christoph Niemann
Agent: Jill Corcoran of Jill Corcoran Literary Agency for Nesbitt, and Liz Darhansoff at Darhansoff & Verrill for Niemann
Editor: Susan Rich for Little, Brown Children's
Description: An anthology of 150 original 60-second poems from a large collection of talent, including Dennis Lee, Lemony Snicket, Sharon Creech, Douglas Florian, J. Patrick Lewis, Jack Prelutsky, Jane Yolen, Judith Viorst, Lee Bennet Hopkins, Marilyn Singer, Nancy Willard, Naomi Shihab Nye, Pat Mora, Nikki Grimes, Sonya Sones, X.J. Kennedy, Mary Ann Hoberman and many others.

Man, short poems, by diverse authors, illustrated by an extremely versatile artist. A kid’s book, sure, but whatever. Never too old for good poems and art.

FINISHING SCHOOL: The Happy Ending to that Writing Project You Can't Seem to Get Done by Cary Tennis and Danelle Morton
Agent: Linda Loewenthal at David Black Literary Agency
Editor: Joanna Ng at Tarcher
Description: A guide to completing that manuscript or project you just can't seem to finish, addressing the psychological underpinnings of writer's block and how to combat them, and including guidance on how to develop a support system to create accountability. 

Right. Learning how to write a nice sentence is totally different from writing a novel. For me, writing a novel is as much about stamina, discipline, and organization as it is about lyricism and storytelling. Vision only goes so far and I’m a big fan of books and how-tos that help you treat writing like a job rather than a mystical process. (For more, I wrote a little bit about my get-er-done systems on Medium here.)      

THE TEMPORARY BRIDE by Jennifer Klinec
Agent: Eve White
Editor: Deb Futter at Twelve
Description: A young woman who abandons her corporate London job to start a cooking school in her kitchen and travels in search of ancient recipes; her quest leads her to Iran to learn the secrets of the Persian kitchen…but also leads her to forbidden love in one of the most complex and fascinating nations with harsh laws and customs.

Another book that's available in English-speaking countries not the US, where it's widely lauded. Forbidden love + food + a peek into a normally closed-door culture. Sold.