almonds – The Kitchen Illiterate

Tortellini and Avocado Salad

Update: The giveaway is closed. Thanks to all who entered!

Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Every Day is one of these books. It’s just so lovely, and Heidi has a gift for thinking up original, creative vegetarian recipes that go beyond sauteed kale and tofu stir-fry. Even when I don’t follow her recipes exactly, I find so much inspiration just looking through this book. I probably do so at least once a week.

This tortellini salad is one example of how inspiring this book is. I love that all of her recipes encourage variation and substitution, based on what’s available for you. What she really encourages is playfulness in the kitchen, and a willingness to experiment. Heidi’s recipes often remind me that the best times in the kitchen are when you’re trying something new and untested, because frankly, even when things don’t turn out the way you expect, they almost never turn out inedible, and you usually learn something new. Food is fun and nourishing and satisfying even when it’s imperfect.
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Wild Rice Salad with Peppers and Carrots

I spent the first 10 days of July back in Boston, the land of steamy air, unexpected thunderstorms, sticky skin, and at least for me on this vacation, no cooking. We ate nearly all of our meals in restaurants or at friends’ houses, and while it was certainly a treat (Indian food! My favorite pasta at Delfino! Pizza!) it was awfully nice to get back into my kitchen last night. It’s been pretty hot here in Walla Walla, although the lack of humidity is a vast improvement on the Northeast right now. Still, I wasn’t feeling a strong inclination to stand over a stove for too long, or eat anything too hot. And I felt a pretty desperate need for vegetables after all that pizza and pasta and grilled meat in Boston.

This Wild Rice salad is perfect for that kind of evening, and is even better the next day, straight out of the fridge cold, when all the flavors have had a chance to get better acquainted. It does involve a fair amount of vegetable chopping, and unless you think to cook the rice ahead of time, there is some stove time required, too, but it’s nice, hands-off stove time, for the most part. And the mix of cooked and uncooked ingredients is surprising and lends some good variety to this salad.
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Moroccan-spiced Braised Root Vegetables

The end of February is a time when I start getting really tired of root vegetables. I’m longing for heirloom tomatoes and berries and fresh leafy greens. But this delicious bowl of spicy braised potatoes and squash brightens up gloomy February a little bit and makes me less resentful toward the tubers. As I try to eat more seasonally and more locally, I’m learning just how much more creative you have to be when it’s winter in New England. I generally roast root vegetables, but I started getting a bit bored with roasted potatoes, so I thought I’d try my hand at braising. And I am glad I did. This was fast and easy, and it could be a very versatile dinner: Different seasonings could make this a totally different meal. But these flavorings were spot on for cold, wet, windy winter.
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