Parchment Baked Salmon with Lemon and Dill

Recipe by Robin

At last, fresh dill is available in the market again. Not that it’s exactly in season here in Santa Cruz in April. However, its annual reappearance on shelves inspired a way to use the fresh frozen Alaskan salmon that my  colleague’s kids caught and gifted to me last season. This recipe requires little prep time, minimal ingredients, and just a little finesse with the parchment. Key to its success are very fresh (or flash frozen and thawed) wild salmon and a bunch of fresh dill. Simple is good.

Salmon and Asparagus with Orzo

One Bowl Might Not Be Enough

Recipe adapted from Monday to Friday Cookbook

With new spring asparagus on sale and plenty of sustainable salmon on the market, this one-pot meal was inevitable. The first time I made it, our neighbor Matt dropped by. He loves salmon, but rarely eats it because his wife is a strict vegetarian. Since this recipe makes a large potful, I served him a bowlful, which he greatly appreciated. I encouraged him to have seconds if he liked. He assured me that one bowl was plenty—until he finished it and admitted that a little more would be even better. We agreed. Plan accordingly.

Cold Summer Borscht: Chlodnik

When Stirred, It Gets Pinker

Recipe by The Art of Polish Cooking

Third in a trio of seasonal beet soups, this borscht features the summertime bounty of old world Poland, the country of my ancestors. Simple borscht, a wintery dish served hot, is made from shredded beets and seasoned beef broth. Spring borscht is served at room temperature. It contains young sliced beets with their greens, along with young dill and green onions, lemon, sour cream, and eggs. Summer borscht is served chilled. In addition to the ingredients in spring borscht it contains meat, shrimp, and cucumbers of the plentiful summer season.

Spring Borscht: Bocwinka

Borscht with Springtime Goodies

Recipe Adapted from The Art of Polish Cooking

Until last August, I was afraid of beet soups, and had never eaten them. Early childhood memories of watching my grandmother from Poland make dark, foreboding soups (that I never tasted) made me cautious. Because my cooking goals for both 2011 and 2012 included exploring my Polish family cooking roots, learning to make beet soup was inevitable. Especially since we get loads of beets in our CSA share.

Pureed Red Beet Soup with Dill

Red Beet Soup with Sour Cream

Recipe inspired by Healing Foods

After my unexpected success with Golden Beet Soup with Herbs, I considered an even greater challenge: Red Beet Soup based on Miriam Polunin’s Carrot Cilantro Soup recipe. Inspiration, or more correctly motivation, came from the two bunches of red beets we have from our CSA, with another bunch on the way this week.

Middle Eastern Style Carrot Dill Salad

Simple, Colorful Carrot Dill Salad

Recipe by Bruce

Recently we were trying to use up all the perishable veggies in the refrigerator before going away for a bit. We’d accumulated a substantial amount of carrots for our CSA share, but those would last until we got back home. However, the plump bunch of dill would not. My husband suggested a simple carrot-dill salad. “Tell me more,” I said. 

Fresh Cucumber Pickles

Mom is Gone but her Recipe & Bowl Still Come to the Table

 Recipe by Mom

When my family moved from the country to suburbia, my parents continued to cultivate a vegetable garden, unlike the neighbors. While keeping the lawn neatly mowed and green, in compliance with an unspoken code of conduct for the neighborhood, my parents could not comply with accepted practice of using the back yard for only social purposes. They kept a garden—not for showy flowers, but for food, and I am a better person for it.