Dill... the hardest working herb in cooking

Nice to see yo again Dill. Lovely, feathery, frondy, flavorful dill... I've missed you. I've used you dried all winter long and it just wasn't the same. But, when a lady really needs some dill she'll take what she can get. Ahhhh... does dill really make every thing better? Is it just me? It is one of those things for which there is no passable substitution so I look forward to the long, abundantly dilly weeks of summer all year. It is really a beautiful and useful plant in the garden, bees and butterflies love the pungent, pollen heavy flowers when it blooms. The flowering heads are really pretty in floral arrangements. And while dill refuses to be disturbed or transplanted, it reseeds vigorously and it those seeds are super tasty. I can't share my super favorite use for dill just yet... but perhaps later on a recipe page.... as the cucumbers and green beans tumble in. I do believe that my failure-proof lacto-fermented dill pickles are in our future. You WANT that recipe. But for now a quick to prepare rub for veggies, tofu, potatoes, meat, fish, anything you want to grill. When  fresh dill is exposed to high heat it chars beautifully and caramelizes opening up a big mouthful of complex flavor. What I like to do is choppity chop chop a bunch of dill on the coarse side, smash a clove or ten of garlic, and toss that with the juice and zest of one lemon (because you know dill and citrus are best friends), a pinch of salt, a pinch of sugar, a good squeeze of dijon mustard, a shake of crushed red pepper flakes and a teeny little bit of olive oil, just a bit to help things stay juicy as they soak up all these good flavors. Rub or toss that on seriously just about anything that isn't nailed down. Wait a while, overnight if you can possibly stand it. And then you are in grilling nirvana. As an extra, super bonus this rub mixture can also be blended into ground beef or chicken in place of other traditional meatball ingredients or brushed over a sliced open baguette that is then grilled or broiled for bruschetta. I just dare you to try and not top that with some gorgeously, drippingly, juicy tomatoes in July.  Happy Dill Days to everyone eating at your table.

Scallions

If you ask me scallions' purpose in life is to be a baked potato's best, best friend. I insist upon scallions on nights when we have salad and a baked potato for supper. But they also lend such beautiful pungency to any simple meal with Asian flavors. One of my favorite weeknight leftover revival meals is quick fried brown rice with bok choy and scallions (which I do believe many of us have on hand at the moment). Here is goes: Left over, cold brown rice (You just cannot cannot cannot make fried rice with freshly cooked rice it will be slimy, gummy, starchy and just plain gross. The beauty of fried rice is that everything goes into one big wok-y type pot and comes out deliciously, steamy and fragrant in mere moments.), a bit of minced garlic and ginger, as much bok choy as you care to see on your plate torn into biggish pieces, a big bunch of scallions sliced on the diagonal, a tablespoon of brown sugar, sesame seeds, tamari, salt and oil with a high smoke point. Get everything prepped before starting and this goes fast. Heat the oil in the wok-y type pan until it is screaming hot and throw in the ginger garlic and scallions. Stir, stir, stir.  Let that go for about ten seconds. Stir, stir, stir. Throw in the sesame seeds give them about five seconds to toast. Stir, stir, stir. Add in the greens and allow to just wilt and become vibrantly green. Stir, stir, stir. Rice. Stir, stir, stir. Season to taste with salt and tamari. Stir, stir, stir. Serve, serve, serve.

Kohlrabi

I do love a challenging new ingredient, a novelty or an oddity every now and then but I know what everyone eats day in and day out are veggies that are flavorful and easy on the palette. I have found kohlrabi to be both. The texture is crisp and snappy and the flavor is slightly broccoli-ish. Turns out this little  green or purple garden weirdo is mild and very versatile. It likes to stand in for grated cabbage or broccoli in fresh slaw and is lovely shaved over a salad of tender greens and say, celery. I hear tell that some folks go to the trouble of peeling and cooking kohlrabi much as you might treat a potato or some other starchy root vegetable. But one day when I was out of crackers but had kohlrabi on hand I simply sliced it thinly into rounds an spread it with a fresh, soft goat cheese. It was springy and light and crunchy and refreshing, exactly what food should be as we wander into warmer summer weather

Cliantro...hello lover

Salsa, oh yes. Guacamole, oh yes, yes. Thai curry, oh, yes. Raita, salsa cruda, fajitas.... Cilantro is freshness and vibrancy and a little springtime fiesta in my mouth. Is there poetry about cilantro? If there isn't, there should be. I'll work on that. But in the meantime let's have a cocktail to celebrate this springy, zesty little herb. How about and good old margarita, with a glass rimmed in coarse salt, sugar and finely minced cilantro. Ole! Not a tequila drinker?  How about a Bloody Maria? Muddle some fresh sliced jalapeno, a bit of garlic, and some minced cilantro in the bottom of a pitcher and pour over a good glug, glug, glug of vodka. Fill with tomato juice and stir. Serve in tall glasses over cracked ice a nice squeeze of lime juice and another sprinkle of cilantro. Say hello to your new summertime brunch cocktail.

Sugar Snaps and Shell Peas

I never need to worry about what I'm going to do with my peas. My three year old is happy to relieve me of the task and even though the outer pod of a shell pea isn't meant to be eaten he is undaunted. However, I do know that the pods of shell peas are perfect for stashing in a bag of veggie scraps in your freezer until you collect enough odds and ends to put on a batch of stock. A vegetable stock made with peas would be wonderful base for a pea or celery soup on a deep, cold winter evening. Just toss all the veggie scraps and pods with a bit of olive oil and roast in a hot oven until they get a good bit of color and caramelization. Then cover them with water in a stock pot and simmer very gently for about three or four hours, then strain and refrigerate for use within a week or freeze.

Spinach

I hardly think anyone needs help thinking of a way to use spinach, but I won't let that stop me. It is so sweet and mild and versatile and completely packed with nutrition. Spinach is always in our fridge and a favorite salad green of mine. I also use it as a replacement for basil in pesto since I must hang my head in shame and admit that I do not like basil.  My husband loves it. My three year old son calls basil "eating leaves" but we can all agree on spinach. And we start the morning with it nearly every day in summer in a  gloriously green smoothie. Get out your blenders, it goes like this: Ice lots of it. Three bulging handfuls of spinach. A banana or two. Two heaping tablespoons of peanut butter, almond butter, soy nut butter, whatever blows your dress up really. Some kind of milk, almond is our favorite. Flip the switch, pour, chug, ahhhhhh. You just might be back for another at lunchtime. I cannot imagine any child turning this down. Should a little one be a bit averse to drinking something green you could tell them that it is super healthy power slime (which my boy loved) or just give it to them in an opaque cup until they're hooked.

Kales and cooking greens

I will do my best to hold back here but I can't promise much restraint as my love affair with bitter cooking greens goes way back to my Texas childhood. In my birth state a love of greens like collards, mustards and turnips is deep and religious in its fervor. They were on the table more than one night a week, tender, flavorful and lovingly prepared. Usually with a lot of fat, porcine in origin. Texans are not fearful of the ham hock. Luckily and later in life I found my way to cooler climes in the foothills of Virginia where delicious greens like Winterbor and Curly Kale flourish. I wasn't familiar with them but I thought I couldn't go wrong with a cooking method I'd learned from the adorable mother of an old boyfriend. She was also from Texas and knew good greens without them having to slap her in the face. However, she was also a practitioner of holistic medicine and a yogi who had long ago sworn off animal products and unhealthy fats. She showed my the way and I have not looked back. This is my favorite method for cooking hearty greens of any kind. Wish I could take credit for it.  Wash and chop everything into a very large bite size and fill a large cooking vessel with just enough water to cover the greens about two thirds of the way. Salt and pepper the cooking water  generously, you want the cooking liquid to be flavorful as the salt helps to leach and mellow any bitterness. Add is a good shake of crushed red pepper, a glug of olive oil and five or six garlic cloves peeled and smashed with the side of a knife. Cook on a high simmer for about ten minutes and then turn the fire down to medium low and continue cooking for another ten to fifteen minutes until the greens are tender but not mushy. Pour in a good slug of cider vinegar and serve. Preferably with cornbread and a mess of blackeyed peas. But if you happen to hail from Texas then you were going to do that anyways.