March 01, 2014

Celery Salad with Dried Cherries + Almonds

March 01, 2014/ Mary McDonald

I’m not sure that I heard of a celery salad prior to dinner at Ava Gene’s. I didn’t have the salad when we had dinner there but it didn’t leave my mind. I did a search for celery salad recently and came across a recipe on Bon Appetit, and as it happens this recipe was part of a series of salads from Ava Gene’s!

February 14, 2014

I Heart Salad

February 14, 2014/ Mary McDonald

I know Valentine’s Day can be full of cliches, red, chocolate, all things heart-shaped, but I couldn’t resist making this salad. This year we’re going to have dinner at home, with this salad, and some homemade strawberry chocolate chunk ice cream, champagne and…

February 10, 2014

Stuffed Mushrooms

February 10, 2014/ Mary McDonald

Every once in a while I get a mushroom craving, and this is one of those times. I haven’t really posted anything mushroom specific since my very first blog post about a year ago, a Mushroom Soup.

January 29, 2014

Soba Noodles with Eggplant + Mango

January 29, 2014/ Mary McDonald

This is the type of recipe you know you will like just by reading the ingredients. Mango. Eggplant. Hot pepper. Cilantro. Thai basil. I’m sold, and still working my way through Ottolenghi’s Plenty cookbook,

January 23, 2014

Sweet Potato Wedges with Lemongrass Dip

January 23, 2014/ Mary McDonald

Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite vegetables. They’re so versatile and tasty, it’s nearly impossible to mess them up. And they’re full of nutrition as well. What’s not to love here?

January 17, 2014

Pear Fennel Salad with Colatura + Pine Nuts

January 17, 2014/ Mary McDonald

Colatura? Maybe you’re familiar with this but I had never heard of it until a recent dinner at Ava Gene’s here in Portland. It was in a salad named “Pear. Fennel. Pine Nuts. Colatura. Scallions”, the salad was delicious with surprises of fresh mint and hot pepper.

December 05, 2013

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon + Pomegranate

December 05, 2013/ Mary McDonald

It’s quite cold here in Portland, a serious deep freeze fell upon the city and I’m in baking mode, keeping the oven going really warms up the place. But I can’t keep baking pies, well maybe I could, but I had a hankering for something a bit healthier, like roasted vegetables.

November 25, 2013

Cranberry-Pear Relish

November 25, 2013/ Mary McDonald

This is a wonderful simple relish that comes together quickly and I wanted to share it with you, I think you’ll love this. I’ve been finding more gems in the Field of Greens cookbook and this one was just too easy. The combination of tart berries, sweet pear and tangy orange really come together well.

November 11, 2013

Butternut Squash Crumble

November 11, 2013/ Mary McDonald

This is my first savory crumble and will no doubt go down as a favorite side dish. I haven’t explored much in this territory outside of the sweet berry crumbles but I’m thinking to try more of these.

October 31, 2013

Tomato Orange Soup

October 31, 2013/ Mary McDonald

Tomato and Orange Soup? Yep. Sounds weird but it’s really really tasty. I had a similar soup from Zupan, a local market here in Portland, and I’ve been itching to try and make it ever since. It was the first time I’ve ever heard of this combination of flavors.