It’s that time of year. Farmer’s markets are overflowing, it’s hot, and you don’t feel like turning on the oven for dinner. Seems like someone’s grilling every weekend, and it never hurts to have a fantastic side dish–that isn’t a dessert–in your back pocket, ready to bring. I’ve been craving this simple, light shrimp and orzo salad all summer long. It’s healthy, lemony, and can be both a great side dish and a main (and a great leftover lunch… just sayin’).
The May Gray and June Gloom have mostly burned away; the Fourth of July is almost upon us and summer is in full swing. I don’t know how it happened so fast, but there you go.
Summer brings with it a slew of weekend cookouts loaded up with burgers, dogs, ice cream, potato salad–I could go on–suffice to say, with so many irresistible delicacies of the season, during the week, I like to cook pretty light and healthy to balance things out.
You might be able to tell that I’m on a little bit of a baking bender lately. Maybe it’s the cold weather (for LA!–I know, I know; I’ve become pathetically warm blooded, as they say), but I keep finding every excuse to whip up some batter and fire up the oven. Bran muffins seemed like just the thing the other day, when I needed something portable and breakfast-y for an early morning drive
Whenever I’m feeling a little under the weather, this is what I crave. It’s light and yet hearty, rich and yet not overwhelming, healthy and yet feels indulgent; it’s a gorgeous combination of flavors and textures that I can slurp by the bowlful. It’s a simple soup that makes a huge quantity to have on hand in the freezer and fridge, that requires only a few
Well, Memorial Day weekend has come and gone, it’s June, and it’s officially summer. To so many of us, that means eating a little bit lighter. Whenever it got really hot when I was growing up—too hot to turn on the oven or the stove, when a hot meal seemed as unappetizing as anything in the world—my mother would throw a whole bunch of marinated and fresh