The great thing about oregano is that it makes everything taste like pizza. I know that sounds like a 10-year-old boy thing to say, but it’s true. I love Greek Salad but I often find that if I don’t have some feta with each bite, it starts to taste a bit dull. However, pairing it with a slightly punchy (but not too overpowering) Garlic and Oregano Dressing makes every mouthful amazingly satisfying. GREEK SALAD WITH GARLIC AND OREGANO DRESSING (Serves 4) GARLIC & OREGANO DRESSING Ingredients: Directions: GREEK SALAD Ingredients: Directions:

Maple-glazed walnuts are a heavenly addition to salads. Their sweet crunchiness contrasts well with bitter salads such as escarole (chicory), blue cheese salads, or leafy green salads with fruit in them. You can buy candied walnuts in jars, but they are so easy and inexpensive to make at home. I guarantee you that the first time you make these maple-glazed walnuts, they will all be eaten before they even have a chance to get close to a salad. Hopefully, some of your second batch will make it into your salad! MAPLE-GLAZED WALNUTS (makes 1 cup) Ingredients: (recipe can be doubled) Directions […]

As you enjoy your freshly brewed coffee, there are a wide variety of ways to customize it for your own personal taste. From milk and sugar (or an artificial sweetener) to flavored coffees and creamers, there are endless possibilities! Experiment with adding spices or extracts like vanilla or cinnamon, replacing milk with cream or changing up the type of sugar you add. You can also vary the strength of your brew by adding more or less coffee grounds if desired. The options don’t end here. For the daring at heart, try a cold brew! This method involves steeping coarsely ground […]

Now that you’ve selected your preferred roast, it’s time for the fun part: serving! Brewing coffee correctly is an art, so always make sure to follow the instructions that come with your brewer. Some experimentation may be required in order to find the perfect balance between flavor and strength. Whether you use a percolator or a French press, always be sure to use fresh beans that have been ground prior to brewing. If possible, grind them just before use or invest in a grind-and-brew machine. Coffee can be served black or you can enhance its flavor by adding milk, cream, […]

I only discovered fresh figs by chance in my early twenties. Having been forced to eat Fig Newtons as a school snack (grainy, sticky sweet yet musty at the same time), I always had quite bad associations with figs. After those school encounters, I would never have dreamt of going to a restaurant and torturing myself by ordering a fig tart or a goat’s cheese and fig salad. But one day, I ordered a cheese board for brunch and was presented with a chunky oak board with five types of cheese and a fig sliced into quarters. I fell in […]

At my house, some fruit gets eaten faster than others. Mangoes, plums, grapes, clementines, conference pears and melons usually disappear within 48 hours. Bananas have been known to get over-ripe at my place, but they are easy to throw into smoothies so don’t end up getting wasted. But apples tend to linger. I’ll buy six apples at the beginning of the week, and by the end of the week there will probably still be four sitting in the fruit basket. It seems they come pretty low down on the preference list around here. So, I’m always happy when I can […]

Panzanella is a rustic tomato and bread salad which originates from Tuscany in Italy. The origins of the salad are thought to date back to the 1500s when a Florentine poet named Bronzino first described the merits of a dish of onions, oil and vinegar served with toast. It was not until the 1900s that the onions were substituted with tomatoes as the main ingredient. Panzanella is best made in the summertime with the ripest tomatoes you can find. Although the recipe itself is very easy, it does require a little planning to buy a loaf of country bread a […]