After we began growing most of our own salad greens, we quickly grew bored eating our way though a big bottle of store bought dressing and started making our own. Now I either make a little jar of dressing to use throughout the week, or I whisk together a very small amount of vinaigrette—just enough to dress the salad we are eating right then.

I have found that 2 teaspoons of vinegar or lemon/lime juice whisked with 2 tablespoons of oil yields the perfect amount of vinaigrette to dress 5 to 6 cups of loosely packed greens (this is the amount of greens that fits in my salad spinner and is enough for two lunch-sized salads or 4 small-ish sized side salads). To mix things up, I add in finely minced garlic or shallot to the vinaigrette, or I will whisk in dry ground mustard or a dab of prepared Dijon. Sometimes I sprinkle in spices like cumin, coriander or paprika, or a bit of harissa (a pepper paste), or minced fresh herbs. The vinaigrette literally takes about two minutes to make and has a really lively flavor.

The arugula in our winter garden is beginning to look a bit haggard. The largest leaves are too harsh and stringy for salads (though they taste delicious cooked with pasta), but the smaller leaves are still tender enough to eat raw. I’m especially fond of tossing this spicy green with toasted pumpkin seeds and a Mexican cheese called Cojita. The toasted pumpkin seeds bring out arugula’s inherent nutty flavor and the crumbles of salty Cojita set off the tangy apple cider vinaigrette.  The key to making this salad extra delicious is to sprinkle a bit of sea salt over the top and a good grind of pepper right before serving.

Arugula Salad with Toasted Pepitas and Cojita Cheese

All squash seeds are edible, but my favorites are the small seeds from acorn and butternut squash. They are small enough that you can eat them whole, without having to hull them. I toss the seeds in a little oil and roast them in a hot oven until they are toasted and use them in salads. I also buy pepitas, which are hulled pumpkin seeds, and toast them in a pan as described below. Both the pepitas and the toasted squash seeds add a wonderful crunch to salads. If you can’t find Cojita, substitute crumbled feta.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds)

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 small garlic clove, pressed

Sea salt

Freshly ground pepper

5 cups loosely packed arugula, washed and dried

2 tablespoons crumbled Cojita cheese

Instructions:

Place the pepitas in a dry skillet and set it over high heat. Cook, shaking the pan frequently, until the seeds begin to brown and pop, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, oil, and garlic. Add a generous pinch of salt and ground pepper to taste. Add the arugula to the bowl and toss until the leaves are well coated. Scatter the toasted pepitas and the cheese over the greens. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and more cracked pepper. Serve immediately.

After a long, busy day, this simple split pea soup is my go-to recipe for getting a healthy dinner on the table fast. The soup takes under an hour to make, with only about 15 minutes of hands on work, which gives you plenty of time to relax for a few minutes while your dinner bubbles away on the stove.

Even though I eat pretty much anything, I cook almost exclusively vegetarian, because my husband Jon does not eat meat or fish. Adding smoked Spanish paprika to this soup give it a smoky, savory flavor without the addition of ham. It tastes delicious when made with vegetable broth (or even just water if you are in a pinch), but chicken broth makes a fine substitution, too. Serve the soup with a simple side salad dressed with a lemon vinaigrette, and you’ve got yourself a light tasty supper that will keep your belly warm, something that is especially nice at this time of year.

Split Pea Soup with Smoked Paprika

Serves 4

You can find both dulce and picante Spanish paprika in the spice aisle of most super markets. The most common brand is El Rey de la Vera and it is sold in cute little red tins. I use both of these spices quite bit in soups and as a garnish.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup finely chopped carrot (about 2 large carrots)

1 teaspoon hot (picante) smoked Spanish paprika

1/2 teaspoon sweet (dulce) smoked Spanish paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup dry split green peas

4 cups vegetable broth

2 cups water

1/2 to 1 cups hot water (optional)

Pea shoots (optional garnish)

Instructions:

Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat. When it shimmers, add in the onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent (about 2 minutes). Add the carrot and cook until the onion begins to brown (about 2 more minutes). Stir in the hot and sweet paprika and salt, then add the split peas, broth and water. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down to low. Partially cover the pot and simmer until the peas are very soft and begin to break apart, 30 to 40 minutes. Puree the soup in batches in a blender or with an immersion blender. If necessary, whisk in hot water to thin the soup to your preferred consistency. Divide the soup between bowls, drizzle with olive oil and garnish with a pea shoot, if using.

Outside of Boring, Oregon, on a rural road that winds past tree farms and fence-lined pastures, sits a rustic wooden barn that houses Red Pig Tools, makers of beautiful, classic garden tools. All of the tools in the Red Pig line are made on the property by blacksmith Bob Denman, who is dedicated to crafting smart, handsome, heirloom quality tools.

In my own garden I only regularly use five tools: a garden fork, spade, 3-tine cultivator, trowel, and bow rake (as well as an old steak knife for harvesting). Though I recently added a Red Pig Hand Plow to the mix, because when I picked it up, it felt weighty in my hand, like it was ready to go to work. The plough comes in both right- and left-handed versions, and Bob designed the sharp curved blade for making furrows, digging small seedling holes, tamping soil and uprooting weeds.

Bob and his wife, Rita, are clearly gardeners because all their tools feature smart design details that only someone who uses them regularly would think to make. For instance, the heads of the hoes are sharp on all three sides, which makes it easy to corner around plants. The tools are also very sturdy because Bob hand-forges the blade and shank of each tool out of steel and then rivets them to the hardwood handles.

The Red Pig Tools retail shop is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10:00 to 6:00 and the tools are also available through the shop’s website. You’ll find pretty much every kind of tool you’ll need!

People who know me well understand that my thoughts never really follow a linear pattern. For instance, today I was walking our dog in the park and I saw this gorgeous big leaf maple tree. Its limbs spread out over a playground, shading the swing set and the seesaw. The playground and the tree made me think of my little nephew, Henry, who just moved to Vermont.

Thinking about Vermont naturally made me hope that Henry’s parents will bring us real maple syrup when they visit at Christmas. And once I stumbled upon the subject of syrup I had to consider pancakes, especially this Spiced Pumpkin Pancake recipe, which I found over the summer and filed away for cooler, rainier days, which have officially arrived.

Taking pictures and pondering what to make for breakfast over the weekend also made me think about this blog, which has been so neglected as I finished up my book and helped Jon start our store. For some reason (the tree? the weather? our dog rolling in mud? ) I felt inspired to dedicate myself to writing here again. I’ve drawn up a little plan of posts that have been lingering at the back of my mind gathering dust, and I plan to unveil them starting next week. I have set a modest goal of posting 3 days a week. Thanks for hanging in here with me while I got the whirlwind back under control. I’m excited to share ideas with you again. Happy weekend!

Last week I put up a sneak peek of Andrea from Heavy Petal’s kitchen garden and today I just cannot resist sharing this adorable video of Andrea’s husband, Ben, and their daughter, Lila, making a Cherry Clafouti. Beware. Miss Lila is really cute. She will probably make you giggle out loud. She will also make you want to call up your favorite toddler and ask them if they feel like making a clafouti.

Lila and Ben entered their video in a contest at Better Together, a website that encourages families to cook together. If you want to vote for them, click right here.

It’s canning time! To help inspire you to put away a few things for the winter, Anne Bryant created an adorable preserving-themed desktop calendar.

To put the August calendar on your computer’s desktop, all you need to do is choose the size that best fits your monitor and then click on the link below—the file will automatically download to your computer and then you can set it up as your background image.

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I’ve got the calendar all set up on my computer to help remind me to make pickles this summer! When I was a kid there was usually a great big jar of homemade pickles in the fridge. My mom grew lots of cucumbers in our garden and she pickled them with a recipe that she cut out of the newspaper in the early 1980s. I asked her to send the recipe to me and she copied it out verbatim. The recipe came from a home economics column. We’re not quite sure who the cooking advice columnist was, other than the fact that her name was Polly, but the recipe is a family favorite!

My mom has a crock, but she says you can pack the pickles in jars and pour the brine over them if you don’t have one. She also sometimes added in a hot chile or two.

Polly’s Refrigerator Pickles

Dear Polly:

Do you have a good recipe for pickles—the kind that taste like deli dills? ~ Andy

Dear Andy:

My favorite pickle recipe does indeed taste like the crisp half-sour deli pickles that are so good with a hamburger or a corned beef sandwich—or just about anything else.   These are refrigerator pickles;  I don’t recommend canning them because the short fermentation period and small amount of vinegar in the brine may not contain enough acid to safely preserve the pickles for long storage at room temperature.  Rather, they may be stored in their brine in the refrigerator for several weeks.  The recipe is from that excellent guide to garden-fresh produce, The Victory Garden Cookbook by Marian Morash (Knopf).

Thoroughly clean and halve (or cut into spears) about 2 ½ pound of pickling cucumbers.  Peel and flatten one large clove of garlic (or more if you really like garlic).  Wash six to eight sprigs of fresh dill if you have it.  (If not substitute one-teaspoon dill seeds.)

Place the cucumbers, garlic, dill or dill seeds and 1 teaspoon whole pickling spices in a crock, glass jar, or bowl large enough to allow at least 2 inches of space between the pickles and the top of the container.  Bring ¼ cup vinegar, and 2 ½ quarts of water to a boil.  Boil two minutes.  Pour the brine over the cucumbers and weigh down with a plate and some heavy cups or cans on top.  The brine should be at least one inch above the cucumbers.  Keep the crock at room temperature overnight, then refrigerate either in the crock or in clean jars (fill the jars with the brine and cover until ready to eat).

This formula is so fast and easy to use that you can make several batches during the season.  And refrigerated, the pickles will keep several weeks without becoming very much stronger or more sour.  One bite of the crunchy, tasty pickles will make you a regular pickle maven! ~ Polly

Today I was planning on photographing some small Brussels sprouts tossed with olive oil and mustard and roasted until they turned a deep caramel color. But I forgot to set the timer and ended up carbonizing, rather than caramelizing, the sprouts. I decided to still share the recipe because these sprouts are absolutely addictive when they haven’t been burned to a crisp. If I don’t have sprouts from my garden, I try to buy ones that are still attached to their big, thick stalk. Pulling the sprouts off of the stalk takes a little more preparation time, but I find them to be sweeter and less pungent than those sold individually.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Capers

Serves 2 to 4

Ingredients:

40 medium or 60 small Brussels sprouts, yellow or shriveled outer leaves removed and stems left intact

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Freshly ground pepper

Sea salt

2 teaspoons capers, drained and rinsed

Minced parsley for garnish

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Slice the brussels sprouts in half lengthwise. In a large bowl whisk together the olive oil and the mustard along with several generous grinds of pepper and a pinch of salt. Add the sprouts to the bowl and toss them until they are thoroughly coated with the olive oil mixture. Pour the sprouts out on to a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer and turn then them all cut side down.

Place in the oven and roast. Shake the pan occasionally but do not turn the sprouts over. Remove from the oven when the sprouts are tender, the outer leaves are browned, and the cut sides are a very deep golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes for small sprouts and 30 to 35 minutes for medium sized sprouts.

Place the sprouts in a bowl. Stir in the capers and garnish with parsley.

I don’t often cook the same recipe twice. Partly because I find it nearly impossible to follow a recipe exactly, even if it’s my own, and partly because there are just so many dishes that I want to try (or make up).

That said, I do make these recipes from my archive often during the winter. Of course, I might top this tart with softened shallots and leeks instead of onions, or I might swirl creme fraiche into the potato leek soup instead of the olive caviar, or substitute sweet potatoes for the butternut squash in the tacos.

Even though I definitely fall into the rule follower category in almost all areas of my life, when it comes to cooking, I’d rather have the act of making food be the imperative and the recipe be just a guideline.

Butternut Squash Tacos with Spicy Black Beans

Potato Leek Soup with Olive Caviar

Crispy Dumplings with Garlicky Greens

Arugula Pesto

I started growing beets because I love their greens. Beets and Swiss chard happen to be different varieties of the same species, Beta vulgaris. Beet greens look quite similar to chard, but they have a tender texture and a slightly more refined, spinach-like flavor. We eat the greens all the time in winter. I love to fold feta, dill, and sauteed beet greens into a puff pastry tart shell and serve it with a bowl of soup.

It took me awhile to grow to like, and then eventually love, beetroot. My grandmother canned beets when I was young and served them often. To this day I cannot get over how vinegary, clove-y chunks of pickled beet look like they are bleeding all over the plate.

Based on my dislike of pickled beets, I avoided eating all beetroot, no matter how it was prepared. Then, a few years ago I tried roasted beets with marcona almond butter at Cafe Juanita.

It was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. Seriously. That dish reminded me to never wholesale disregard a food. Now that I eat beetroot, I prefer to roast them. Roasting pushes the earthy quality of beets into the background and brings forth a sweeter, caramelized flavor. I often just chop the roasted roots and drizzle them with a bit of olive oil and salt pepper before serving them. I also toss like to toss chunks of roasted beets with vinaigrette and serve them over arugula with chopped Marcona almonds. Lately I’ve been making grilled sandwiches with chevre and very thinly sliced golden beets. Sounds weird, but it is totally delicious!

Roasted Beets

To prevent the beets from bleeding their brightly colored juice everywhere, twist—-don’t cut—off their leaves and snip the long taproot down to a 1-inch long nub. Peeling and chopping beets prior to roasting causes a huge mess. Instead, I roast the beets whole in packets of foil and then peel off their skins.

To do so, tear off a 12 inch length of aluminum foil. Place a single large beet, or a couple of smaller ones, in the middle of the foil. Draw the long sides of the foil up over the beet and then fold them together. Crimp the short edges together to form the sealed packet. Roast different colored beets (i.e. red, ‘Golden’, or ‘Chioggia’) in separate packets.

Place the packets seam side up on a rimmed baking sheet and roast in a 400 degree F oven until the roots are fork tender (about 45 to 60 minutes depending on their size). Remove the beets from the oven and carefully open the steamy packets. Slip the skins off the roots when they are cool enough to handle. Chop or slice the beets. If working with multiple colors of beets always chop or slice ‘Golden’ or ‘Chioggia’ beets first. Set them aside, each in their own bowl, and then prepare the red beets. If serving the different colored beets together, wait until the last moment before assembling the dish.

This is my favorite time of year to cook because the both summer and fall vegetables share space in the garden. We have tomatoes (finally!), eggplant, and peppers ripening, and delicata and acorn squash, carrots, and beets are ready for harvest. The farmer’s market is full of greens, root vegetables, garlic, broccoli and cauliflower, plus cheese, yogurt and fresh pasta. I thought I’d share a couple of recipes that recently piqued my interest. And I’m curious, what do you like to make this time of year?

Brown Butter Tortelli

(Image via 101 cookbooks)

This recipe comes courtesy of the wonderful blog 101 cookbooks. I love it because it is so simple. Just pasta, butter, cheese and arugula. I often add arugula to pasta because I almost always have it in the garden and it’s spicy, nutty flavor plays well with cheese, butter and olive oil. Be sure to click through and read this recipe’s full post. It is full of beautiful pictures of Rome.

Savory Rugelach

(Image via Dana Treat)

Jon and I don’t have a TV. That doesn’t mean we don’t watch TV, we just use our lack of one as an excuse to visit with friends when we want to watch football or Mad Men. I found this recipe for cheese and olive stuffed rugelach on the wonderful Seattle-based blog Dana Treat. I am definitely using our next TV date as an excuse to make these little appetizers. I just started reading Dana’s blog over the summer and it quickly found its way into my RSS feed. Dana is a vegetarian, just like Jon, so her blog is the perfect resource for anyone looking to cook more vegetables.

Vanilla Apple Baked in Puff Pastry

(Image via Fennel and Fern)

The UK garden blog Fennel and Fern features beautiful garden tours, stunning photography, recipes and variety recommendations, which I always read with interest because the UK has a similar climate to the Pacific Northwest. These baked apples are my favorite kind of dessert—simple and not too rich. I cannot wait to make them!

Roasted Radishes

(Image via Leite’s Culinaria)

I’ve written before about my love for radishes and how I think they are unfairly maligned. So, when I came across this recipe for Roasted Radishes on Leite’s Culinaria a few weeks ago, I cursed our dog, Domino, for digging up the radishes I sowed in late August. Luckily most farmer’s market booths boast colorful radishes at this time of year. Roasting almost always makes any vegetable taste better. Radishes, I’m sure, are no exception.