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Minestrone Romagna Style

Minestrone Romagna Style by John Spottiswood

This is the way minestrone is made in Romagna. It's not a lot of prep time, but you simmer the soup for a long time until all of the vegetable flavors mellow into one mild but delicious soup. The subtle flavors of this soup are even more delicious the next day, so it is a good dish to prepare in advance of guests arriving for a…

14 votes
21619 views
Italian Spinach Soup

Italian Spinach Soup by John Spottiswood

Suprise, surprise. Another amazing recipe adapted from Marcella Hazan's Essential's of Italian Cooking. This is one of my bibles. Not only did I love this spinach soup, but all four of my kids did too! Everyone had mutiple servings. We served it with simple sourdough toast, though Crostini (Italian croutons) is what Marcella…

11 votes
39441 views
Creamy Lentil and Broccoli Soup

Creamy Lentil and Broccoli Soup by John Spottiswood

This is a creamy, flavorful, and incredibly healthy soup. The next time you're in the mood for split pea soup (also very healthy), try this instead. It has a wonderful body and a great hearty flavor. If you haven't had sumac before as a seasoning, this is a great dish to try it with. Sumac is commonly used in the middle east to…

8 votes
4074 views
Famous Nagano Kabucha & Shitake Soup

Famous Nagano Kabucha & Shitake Soup by John Spottiswood

When I lived in Japan for 2 years I was introduced to many delicious foods. One of my most distinct food memories is of a hot, piping Kabucha (Japanese Pumpkin) soup I had in Nagano Prefecture after a very cold day of skiing. As is common in Japan, this was a small restaurant which was famous for and served almost nothing other than…

6 votes
7490 views
Moroccan Butternut Squash Soup

Moroccan Butternut Squash Soup by John Spottiswood

This is a fantastic winter soup to serve at home or for a party. It's got the sweetness of butternut squash soups you've had in the past, but with some spice and salt to counterbalance the sweetness. I loved it and hope you will too.This is adapted from Paula Wolfert's The Food of Morocco.

6 votes
4902 views
Chilled Italian Zucchini Appetizer

Chilled Italian Zucchini Appetizer by John Spottiswood

This is a fantastic recipe that I adapted from Marcella Hazen. She recommends serving this at room temperature, but I've had a similar broccoli appetizer at a great local Italian restaurant and they chill it, so I thought I would too. I think it would be great either way. If it's hot out, and a chilled appetizer would be nice, then…

6 votes
4450 views
Garlic Ginger Green Beans

Garlic Ginger Green Beans by John Spottiswood

These are an excellent, healthy side dish to any grilled meat. I highly recommend them with the Chinese BBQ chicken recipe below, but honestly these would go well with just about anything. Unfortunately these were tapped out long before our chicken, so make more than you think you need. They are great the next day too!

6 votes
6284 views
Spinach and Ricotta Balls - Gnudis

Spinach and Ricotta Balls - Gnudis by John Spottiswood

I've been looking for tasty ways to cook spinach and wild greens because they are so healthful. This one is fantastic. These are called Gnudis in Florence because they are "nude", e.g. missing the pasta on the outside. These are sort of like a spinach ravioli without the pasta. If that doesn't sound all that flavorful to you, wait…

6 votes
6703 views
Eggplant and Peas Stew

Eggplant and Peas Stew by John Spottiswood

This recipe was invented by my good friend Brian Bedrosian. He recommends that you "Should drink red wine while cooking and eating for best results." I haven't tried this one yet...but every other Armenian concoction I've tasted of Brian's has been outstanding!

5 votes
4635 views
Moroccan Beet Salad

Moroccan Beet Salad by John Spottiswood

This is a classic beet salad. If you like beets, you're going to really enjoy this. My personal preference is to boil the beets as little as possible That way they still have a crunch to them but aren't as hard as raw beets. I think raw beets are perfectly delicious, and I don't like them soft, so I boil them just enough to soften…

5 votes
3858 views
Ricotta and Greens or Spinach Pasta

Ricotta and Greens or Spinach Pasta by John Spottiswood

This is another excellent dish that takes advantage of delicious and healthy greens. This is a Sicilian dish that I absolutely love. Our kids all went back for seconds. It's also quite beautiful...the lousy picture I took does not do it justice. A healthy and yummy treat! This is also adapted from Red White and Greens by Faith…

4 votes
2540 views
Warm Brussles Sprouts Salad with Almonds and Parmesan

Warm Brussles Sprouts Salad with Almonds and Parmesan by Nancy Miyasaki

I adapted this from a Oprah recipe. She makes the salad with raw brussel sprouts. I couldn't quite trust that, so I blanched them lightly before slicing. This produced a delcious and slightly warm salad. I should have tried some raw and some cooked to see which method is best. Maybe one of you can do that and let us know?

4 votes
6959 views
Butternut Squash and Apple Soup (with Pressure Cooker Option)

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup (with Pressure Cooker Option) by Salad Foodie

Inspired by a recipe from New Paradigm Cooking (Sandbach, Terranova and Ware), I chose to forego the cookbook’s recommended 30 minutes simmering time in a stockpot, for a pressure cooker rendition which cut the cooking time to well under 10 minutes…

3 votes
7719 views
Moroccan Split Pea Soup

Moroccan Split Pea Soup by John Spottiswood

This is a delicious and beautiful recipe I adapted from one in Paula Wolfert's beautiful book "the food of morocco". The split pea soup has wonderful Moroccan flavors, and it gets a beautiful touch when you drizzle homemade pepper oil on top. This is a super easy trick which adds a nice kick to the already flavorful soup. It's…

3 votes
7226 views