Two bags of Alaska Grown carrots showed up at the restaurant for the chef to try, courtesy of a local farmer. They had just recently been pulled from the ground, but they were clean and symmetrical, portioned evenly into two clear plastic bags, each with a wooden tag.
This beet salad is much more beautiful and appetizing than the stuff of my past and with this recipe, a tragic food memory has come full circle.
For weeks I’ve been studying pasta salad options, drooling over visions of Hawaii-style macaroni salad, a vinegar forward Italian pasta salad with olives and salami, or an herbaceous pesto salad packed full of fresh vegetables.
What many people don’t know, and what took me years to figure out, is that cooked radishes are a thing, too. A lovely thing.
I am one of the ones who enjoys using rhubarb each spring and summer, and I look forward to finding new ways to use it, some of them downright delicious. Its bright color is captivating and its acidity surprising.
While they may appear fancier and fussier than their larger counterparts, baby potatoes are, in my opinion, quite a bit easier to work with. They cook much more quickly than full sized potatoes and don’t need to be peeled or chopped.