asparagus
green beans
peas
snow peas
spinach
watercress
mint
strawberries
mandarins
pineapples
papayas
melons

How did I want to put these together? I came up with several ideas, but the one that stuck was this idea for a hollowed out cantaloupe half stuffed with fruit and herbs. I wanted to turn this into a main dish salad, however, so I started adding elements. Ribbons of spinach. Almonds. And to give it more depth, more backbone, more meat, if you will, I added quinoa.

If you haven’t yet heard of quinoa, I’ll give you the lowdown. It’s an ancient grain that dates back to the Incan empire. It’s wheat-free, contains all eight amino acids, is rich in vitamins and minerals, has a slight nutty flavor, and a nice texture. Plus, it only takes about fifteen minutes to cook. It’s gaining in popularity, so some well-stocked supermarkets may carry it, especially if they have a bulk section. If not, check the health food store.

I planned this meal for later in the week, when the weather was supposed to be nice, because what’s better than eating a light, fresh dinner outdoors in the sunshine? Unfortunately, a cold front swooped down from Alaska, and our expected 60 something degrees turned to low 40s. Blech. But I made the bowls anyway, and we grubbed them under the lights of our kitchen, ignoring the weather outside.

One more note. I don’t have measurements for this recipe. As I’ve said, I’m not a big fan of measuring. All I can offer you are guidelines. The basic rule, for me, is to balance. But if you prefer more of something, less of another, by all means—make it your way!!

Cantaloupe Bowls

1 cantaloupe
strawberries
mint
spinach
sliced almonds
quinoa
*lemon poppy seed dressing (see below for additional ingredients you may need)
croissants (optional)

Special equipment: melon baller

Prepare your favorite lemon poppyseed dressing, or purchase from a store. I use the recipe out of The Essential Cookbook, with a few tweaks. *They key is to always use fresh lemon juice and zest if you’re making your own!

Cook the quinoa. The basic method is as follows, and is similar to rice. Double the amount of water to quinoa. If you use 1 cup of quinoa, 2 cups of water will be required. Rinse your quinoa well, then bring the water and quinoa to a boil. Cover. Turn the heat down, let simmer until the water has evaporated and the quinoa is tender. 15-20 minutes. For this recipe, use ¼ to ½ cup quinoa. Let the quinoa cool.

Wash the cantaloupe. This may seem like a no-brainer, but I know many people who don’t wash their produce. No, you won’t be eating the outer rind, but your knife slices through it, right? And besides pesticides, think of all the nasty that’s on the conveyer belts at the grocery store. Don’t believe me? Ask the cashiers. So, please, folks, wash your produce!

Cut the cantaloupe in half, and remove the inner pulp and seeds. Using a melon baller, remove most of the fruit, transferring it to a large bowl.

Cut the strawberries into quarters. Place them in the bowl along with the cantaloupe.

Chop a handful of fresh mint. Add to bowl.

Cut the spinach leaves into thin ribbons. Add to bowl.

Add a handful of sliced almonds to the mixture.

Once quinoa has cooled, add to the fruit, herb, and nut mixture.

Drizzle the lemon poppyseed dressing over the ingredients and lightly toss.

Using tongs, transfer the salad into the hollowed out cantaloupe halves.

Serve immediately. Serving size: 2. Serve with croissants.

Let’s just call it non-committal. A way of easing out of one season and into another. And true to its ambiguousness, the ingredients are measured in abouts, approximates, severals, and palmfuls. If you’re a strict follow-the-recipe kind of cook, beware! But I will try to be as precise as I can.

I should also say this is an easy salad. I made this during my kitchen renovation, and used the microwave to warm the red peppers, beans, and thyme. You could serve it cold, of course, but the flavors seem to meld better when heated on low. Plus, it would go against the part this, part that character of the salad. But it’s your call…

Enough of that, however. On to the salad…

Ready? Okay, here we go.

Ingredients:

1 bunch spinach
1 can white beans, such as cannellini
2 roasted red peppers
cherry tomatoes
Parmesan cheese, in brick form
fresh thyme
fresh ground pepper
Italian dressing

1. Wash, de-stem, and spin dry your spinach. Place in a large salad bowl.

2. Slice your roasted red peppers. You can buy these in a jar, or roast them yourselves. If you choose to roast them yourself (I usually do, as they tend to have more flavor), place them on a broiler pan, and broil, turning often, until the skin has charred. Remove, place in a paper bag, and let steam. Once the peppers have cooled, remove the charred skin, and any seeds left inside. Note: It’s advisable to remove the stem before roasting the peppers. They usually burn. Sometimes, they even catch on fire!

3. Rinse your beans. Place in a medium saucepan with the roasted pepper slices. Add a palmful of fresh thyme leaves. Heat until slightly warmed, but not hot. Keep warm until use.

4. Halve several cherry tomatoes, and with your vegetable peeler, shave several slivers off your Parmesan cheese brick.

5. To assemble, toss the spinach with your favorite Italian dressing. Place the desired amount of greens on individual plates. Scatter the beans and red pepper mixture over the top. Add cherry tomatoes , Parmesan cheese, and fresh ground pepper.

Note: If you’re using canned ingredients and bottled salad dressing, try to purchase low sodium versions. Unless you like your food salty, of course.

Note 2: You’re likely to have extra beans and red peppers. Use them in another salad, or get creative, and come up with another use for them!

I titled the compilation Family Food, and while I was putting the collection together, I noticed a strange trend in my own personal recipes—they combined ingredients in an unusual way. Take the Sweet Sausage and Broccoli Pizza, for example. The sauce is a creamy parmesan, with plenty of red pepper flakes and fresh garlic. I don’t know about you, but I would have never eaten this as a kid. It goes against the very idea of pizza! But it’s delicious, nevertheless.

Then there’s this Italian Wonton Salad. I don’t know how I came up with the idea to fry these classic Italian ingredients in a Chinese inspired wrapper. I’d never even cooked with wontons before. And let’s face it, they’re incredibly time consuming. But the results were good enough that I wanted the recipe in the cookbook, so in it went.

Here it is:

Italian Wonton Salad

Ingredients:

4 large tomatoes
8 oz. fresh mozzarella (about 4 balls)
1 bunch fresh basil
fresh ground pepper
1 package wonton wrappers (50 count)
green leaf lettuce
vinaigrette salad dressing
canola oil

Finely chop 3 tomatoes, 4 oz. (2 balls) fresh mozzarella and basil. Stir together in a large bowl and grind fresh pepper over top. Let sit for ten minutes then pour off any excess juices.

To assemble wontons, follow package directions, placing only a small amount of the mixture on each wrapper to assure a complete seal.

Heat 2-3 cups of canola oil in a large wok and deep fry wontons until crispy. Drain on several layers of paper towels.

Wash and chop lettuce. Top individual serving plates with a bed of lettuce and sprinkle with your favorite vinaigrette salad dressing. (I like Moosewood Restaurant’s Versatile Vinaigrette, but I’m anxious to try this recipe with a Balsamic based dressing.) Place several wontons on lettuce bed and garnish with remaining tomato, mozzarella, and fresh basil.

This is a perfect salad for chilly weather. The smell of roasting sweet potatoes sprinkled with thyme, and their rich orange color, is comforting. The hazelnuts and cranberries, the sugar-spice of candied ginger, the crisp apple slices, all appeal to the warming senses. It’s also a hearty salad, despite being meatless. My husband, an avid meat eater, raves about the richness of the sweet potatoes. If you insist on meat, however, try adding sliced chicken or apple sausage, and let me know how it tastes.

A note about candied, or crystallized, ginger: You can find it in the spice section of most supermarkets, but it’s usually very expensive. However, I recommend buying it at Trader Joes, if you have one in the area. I found a bag of it there for a very affordable price, about three dollars, if I’m remember correctly. Really, it’s a steal.

A note about toasting hazelnuts: Place them on a baking sheet in a 250 degree oven. Watch closely. They burn very easily!! Once they are cooled, you can take a paper towel and rub the skin off of them.

And forgive me for the generalness of this recipe. I hate to measure…

Ingredients:

1 large bunch spinach, or 1 pre-washed bag
2 medium sweet potatoes
fresh thyme
¼ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped
a handful of candied ginger, diced
1 apple, sliced
olive oil
brown sugar
balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Optional: Parmesan or mascarpone cheese

1. Peel and cut sweet potatoes into thick wedges or slices, about 6 per potato. Toss with olive oil, fresh thyme, salt and pepper. Bake in a 350 degree oven, turning once, until done, about 40 minutes.

2. Wash and dry the spinach. Place in a large bowl.

3. Mix about ¼ cup balsamic vinegar with 1-2 tablespoons brown sugar. The amount of sugar you add will depend on how tart you like your dressing, so go by taste. You can also add olive oil, if you like. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss spinach with dressing.

4. To the dressed spinach add the dried cranberries, toasted and chopped hazelnuts, diced candied ginger, and the sliced apple. Top with the roasted sweet potatoes.

5. Add fresh thyme and Parmesan curls, or a dab of mascarpone, for garnish.

When I returned to the Pacific Northwest ten days later, I found Safeway brimming with citrus, the bounty of which was almost overwhelming. Bins stuffed with limes and lemons, stands topped with tangerines, grapefruits, and Valencia and Navel oranges, smaller crates lined with mandarins, satsumas, kumquats, and tangelos. My mouth puckered just looking at it. It was Christmas all over again.

I bought a variety and went home determined to resume my pre-vacation habit of full meal salads at least once a week. And to be honest, I was so over-saturated with rich, holiday food, I couldn’t wait! Plus, I’d snuck a ball of chèvre into the cart, a cheese I had yet to try, and which I knew, being made from goat’s milk (chèvre is French for goat), my husband would refuse to eat. Still, I thought it’d go perfectly with the dish I wanted to create.

Luckily, it did. Chèvre is wonderfully creamy and slightly tangy. It’s softer and milder than feta, which is an alternative to consider if you like stronger, harder textured cheeses.

Also, because I’m all about balance, I contrast the colors and textures of the greens and citrus fruits with crunchy, brown nuts, and chewy, red cranberries. I like a combination of pecans and walnuts, but hazelnuts would compliment the dish, too. And if you use tart citrus fruits, consider using sweet cherries instead of cranberries. Other options, which I haven’t tried, but would add pungency, are sliced red onions or snipped chives. Enjoy!

Citrus Chicken Salad

Marinade Ingredients:
2 cups orange juice
zest from one orange
juice from one lemon
1-2 tsp. spicy brown mustard
1-2 tsp. sesame oil
black pepper

Salad Ingredients:
1 bunch green leaf lettuce
2-3 kinds of mixed citrus fruits, peeled and sectioned (I like mandarin oranges and tangerines.)
1 cup toasted pecans
¼ cup toasted walnuts
½ cup dried cranberries
2 chicken breasts
chèvre cheese

Reserve half of the marinade. You will use this half to dress your salad greens. Pour the remainder over your chicken breasts and marinate for a minimum of two hours. Remove from marinade and grill until done. (Or pan cook if you’re feeling lazy. Or if it’s too cold outside. Or you’re out of propane.) Once the chicken is done, let it rest, then slice thinly. Let cool.

Chop pecans and walnuts and toast until golden and aromatic. The oven, toaster, or even stovetop works fine for this. Use a low heat, and watch carefully. Once they start to release their oils, they will burn quickly. Let cool.

Wash and dry salad greens. Toss with reserved marinade in a large bowl. Add sectioned citrus fruits, dried cranberries, toasted nuts, and sliced chicken. Toss again. Sprinkle chèvre over top. Add fresh ground pepper, and any additional ingredients, if desired.

Serve with warm sourdough bread, dripping with butter. Mmmmm.