Ready for Radishes

By Lori Powell
For One or Two Bites, a blog for singles and couples

One of my favorite late-afternoon snacks at this time of the year when the weather starts to heat up is radishes, spread with a little high-quality unsalted butter at room temperature and sprinkled with flaked sea salt. The natural peppery bite of the radish offers a great contrast to the sweet, creamy butter.

I keep radishes at the ready by cleaning them, trimming the stems (keeping a little bit on the end as a handle) and storing them in a container in water in the fridge, covered. This way, they keep crisp and cold. Also, you always have something on hand for an impromptu visit from a friend or neighbor. Simply pat the radishes dry and cut them in half, if desired.

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Salad, Many Ways

By Lori Powell
For One or Two Bites, a blog for singles and couples

I was back at the market this past weekend to make all things with salad. I often whip up a small salad to have with dinner but on other nights, salad is the star of the plate.

Radishes, salad greens and fresh herbs are ingredients that are popping up super-fresh at markets everywhere. So my recipe this week is basically a celebration of leafy greens with some adornments. Think of the salad as a supporting cast to the main dish.

Topping a grilled chicken breast or steak with salad is simply delicious…you get the crisp texture of fresh greens and veggies, and then the acidity from the vinaigrette, which results in a perfect compliment to the rich flavors of the grill and the meatiness of a steak.

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Dip or Dressing or Marinade or Sauce…which is it?

By Lori Powell
For One or Two Bites, a blog for singles and couples

I’m in love with the carrot sesame ginger salad dressing at my local Japanese restaurant. If you order sushi, they’ll give you the option of miso soup or a salad. I usually go for the salad, simply because of that delicious, pulpy orange dressing.

The main ingredient in this recipe is carrots. Baby carrots – the real deal, not the shaved down, bagged versions sold as “baby carrots” at the grocery store (some have the aroma of a damp basement that I can’t get past) – are available in spring and early summer.

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Mushroom Fever

By Lori Powell
For One or Two Bites, a blog for singles and couples

This past Memorial Day weekend, I stopped at a roadside stand and saw two gorgeous ingredients that I just had to have… the most perfect looking shiitake mushrooms and some flowering scallions that I had never encountered before.

Interestingly, the buds of the flowering scallions are similar in flavor to chive blossoms and like them, are perfectly edible. The blossoms have a slighter milder, if not sweeter taste.

I already had grilled salmon and burgers on the menu so I thought, why not turn these two lovelies into a side dish for the meal? Normally I sauté sliced shiitake mushroom caps but since I was going to fire up the grill anyway, I decided to grill the mushroom caps whole.

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Steamed Asparagus and Dips

By Lori Powell
For One or Two Bites, a blog for singles and couples

A little late this year, local asparagus is just showing up. You can find them at the farmers’ market upstate in many sizes; from super-thin, wispy stalks to medium ones.

I used to believe that the thinner the stalk, the sweeter, but I have come to see differently…as long as the stalks are fresh and not withered (shriveling), the ends are not dry or the heads/tips are still tight and not frayed… it’s simply all about the cooking.

I have written about this delicious spring veggie in prior posts but feel it needs to be repeated or at least presented again. You see, I grew up with the canned variety, which is in a whole different class than the fresh. And by that, I mean the canned one simply cannot compete.

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