did anyone out there read the food issue of the NYT book review? i’m running straight out to buy Saucepans & the Single Girl looks hil-arious. aside from that, i found myself irked, as usual, by the absolutely closed, middle-aged, white, upper-class, repetitive nature of the authors on display. anthony bourdain was a great fringe character–for about 5 minutes. now he’s dating a ‘page six’ gossip columnist and has about 14 TV shows. his in-the-trenches chef crap is all a pose. a lucrative, and sometimes entertaining ruse but…come on. where’s the fresh blood here? do only 5 people in america write cookbooks? Read on… »

well, the prettiest thing going right now seem to be GREEN BEANS. the ones at the store were all shriveled and gross (and $4/pound) but at the farmers market, the blue lakes were like beautiful fat green caterpillers. so i took a load home and made a variation on masha’s green bean salad. (masha’s a food writer and genius cook based in san francisco...) anyway, the recipe i’m offering is fast and loose…eat it with grilled steak:
*plump delicious green beans, stems removed (my guideline is 1 handful per eater, plus one for the bowl)
*a generous mound each of chopped dill, italian parsley, scallions
*zest of 1 lemon per 4-5 diners
*a scattering of toasted sliced almonds
*a tangy (key word!) dressing made of lemon juice, white vinegar, olive oil, S&P
cook the beans in boiling water until crisp-tender. make your dressing in the bottom of your serving bowl (roughly 2/3 oil to 1/3 acidic stuff). throw in the herbs and then the hot beans. toss it all with the almonds and zest. serve warm!

once i get going with this, i will be posting my farmers market report each week after i go. here in santa monica, the main, downtown farmers market is wednesday & saturdays. in new york city, there’s a market somewhere pretty much every day of the week. they aren’t that great, however. new yorkers are very proud of the union square farmers market, and it’s certainly a nice place to go. however, the SM market blows that one out of the water. we may not be as culturally advanced, stylish, or cosmopolitan as new yorkers–but damned if we westsiders don’t have the best produce in the nation! this week was a spring fantasy–globe artichokes, gorgeous asparagus, fava beans, english peas, strawberries & lilacs like mad. i bought all organic & all way below retail prices. (NYC farmers market produce will set you back as much as a whole foods shopping spree. so lame.) once i get a digital camera, i can post some food porn. for now, take my word for it. my purchases (favas, strawberries, asparagus, tiny shiitakes) will be made into a mama’s day brunch. stay posted for recipes!

welcome noshers! i will be posting recipes, notes, photos, and thoughts from my culinary adventures…i hope they are fun and useful. if you have recipes, notes, photos, or thoughts to share, please send them along…food’s always more fun with company.