Bulgur-Lentil Salad with Preserved Lemon, Cucumber and Mint.

true love salad days.
Bulgur-Lentil Salad with 

Preserved Lemon, Cucumber & Mint.

its a forever kind of thing.

I couldn't live without cucumbers. Or, more accurately, I could live without them but their absence would cause me to spiral into an deep, dark food-based depression from which there would be little to no chance of recovery. I'd shuffle around the kitchen, muttering about how good things used to be between us, cucumbers and I. About how I was sure from the first time we met that it was gonna be a long-haul kind of thing. I'd bore my friends with old stories of our perfect summers together, all vine-y, gourd-y love. Of dirty fingernails and straight-from-the-garden goodness. Of Maine vacations spent biting into lemon cucumbers like apples. Love would begin to feel foreign and alienating and I'd stay up nights wondering
how I could have been so wrong in thinking we were forever.

The point of all this rambling is to say that you are my everything, Cucumis Sativus.
Don't ever leave, I'd be lost (and probably pretty annoying) without you.

And not to take anything away from this epic love manifesto,
but preserved lemon and fresh mint are pretty dope, too...

Bulgur Wheat Salad with Pan-Seared Grapes and Walnuts

because WALNUTS.
and because MOLLIE KATZEN.
(also, because everyone likes free stuff, GIVEAWAY.)
Bulgur Wheat Salad with 

Pan-Seared Grapes & Walnuts.

you wanna try this. trust me.

The Moosewood Cookbook was one of the first vegetarian cookbooks I owned (thanks, mom!) and it remains in my collection to this very day, albeit a lot more food stained and dog eared. So, when I was offered the opportunity to join a walnuts.org virtual salad party and put my own stamp on one of Mollie Katzen's recipes (rice salad with walnuts & grapes) I leapt at it for three reasons.
1) WALNUTS. I will eagerly seize on any opportunity to cook with 'em.
2) FREE COOKBOOKS. One for me and one for you, dear reader. I will be giving away a copy of Mollie Katzen's newest cookbook, The Heart of the Plate. Leave a comment with your contact info below telling me why YOU deserve it to enter.
Earn a bonus entry by joining the slow club on twitter.
Contest closes on June 16, 2014. Hooray for free things!
And 3) MOLLIE KATZEN. This lady kind of changed my life.
Almost 20 years ago I cracked open The Moosewood Cookbook for the first time and learned that vegetarianism could be beautiful, contemplative and,
most importantly for a 14 year old, pretty damn easy.
I never looked back.

Now, time for a little confession. My initial enthusiasm was fueled by an admittedly misguided notion that she'll see my loving interpretation of her recipe and we'll become fast and inseparable friends. Meeting up in some gorgeous, rustic Berkeley kitchen we'll clink our glasses and wax poetic about vegetarianism, art and the soulfulness of seasonal produce with endless plates of
perfectly prepared salads and roasted vegetables before us.
Hours will melt away and all will be right with the world.

A girl can dream.

roasty, grapey goodness. scallions, too.

if you don't love walnuts you don't love life.

Bulgur Wheat Salad with 

Roasted Grapes & Walnuts.
Adapted from Mollie Katzen via Walnuts.org*

(serves 4-6)

2c medium traditional bulgur wheat, dry

1/3c + 2tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 lemon, juiced

1/2tsp sea salt

1tsp finely minced garlic

1Tbsp agave nectar

1 large bunch of scallions, about 5-6, 

white and green parts thinly sliced

1/2c fresh mint leaves, minced

1lb (about 2c) very crisp seedless red grapes, halved

1c raw walnuts, chopped
sea salt and cracked black pepper, to taste

Israeli Couscous Salad with Za'atar-Roasted Radishes and Greens

sprung.
Israeli Couscous Salad with Za'atar-Roasted 
Radishes & Greens

you are my sunshine.

After all the time I've spent lamenting the long dark winter in
multiple (vaguely) melancholy blog posts, spring has finally sprung.
THE RADISHES ARE HERE and the world feels right again.
It may be cold and rainy (yet again...blech) as I type this,
but warmer and sunnier times are ahead.
I can feel it deep inside of my slowly defrosting winter bones.

So, this a defiant salad.
A "screw you cold weather, spring vegetables are here and
I aim to eat the shit out of them" salad.
It is also a "root-to-greens, every damn part of the radish" salad.
Because if we're going to spring forward,
we might as well do it with reckless abandon.

fresh chickpeas and breakfast radishes- dressed and ready for roasting.