Find Local Food in Season Near You

Finding fresh, healthy foods nearby can extend beyond the produce counter at your neighborhood grocery store. If you want find food grown in your region, these three websites can help guide you:

Local Harvest
The CSA page of the Local Harvest website gives you complete information about signing up for a CSA, and where to find one in your area. CSA stands for “Community Supported Agriculture”, and it generally operates like a subscription to your local farmers market. If you want a constant supply of fresh, local produce, Local Harvest is worth a read.

FarmersMarket.com
FarmersMarket.com is an entire website devoted to, you guessed it, farmer’s markets. Type in your zip code and you’ll instantly receive information about all of the farmer’s markets in your area, giving you quick and easy access to information about local and organic products. FarmersMarket.com also has an informative blog with tips and recipes for using your market purchases in healthy and delicious ways.

Epicurious
This self-described website “for people who love to eat” features information about farm-to-table meats and produce and where to find them in your area, including an interactive ingredient map. Epicurious also employs healthy, seasonal recipes, a tight-knit online community, and articles from chefs and other experts to keep you informed about local foods.

Spring Produce: Seasonal Fruit and Veggie Highlights to Add to Your Menu

As spring begins, gardens are alive with new shoots. The spring fruit and vegetable season adds tons of exciting new options to your cooking. Here are some of the best fresh fruits and vegetables to consider cooking with this season.

Asparagus is one of the most eagerly anticipated new crops every spring. When picked fresh, it’s fragrant and delicious. Cooking it is incredibly simple – steam it, roast it or grill it. All it needs is a little salt, pepper and olive oil for its natural flavor to shine.

Garlic shoots are an unusual but remarkable spring harvest. Before the white garlic bulb that you are familiar with forms, the plant grows a large, green shoot, also called a “scape.” This has a flavor similar to the bulb but milder. It’s great for soups.

Spring is also the best time to harvest new potatoes. Although potatoes can stay in the ground through the summer and into the late fall, harvesting them early keeps the skin from setting, making for sweet, tender spuds that cook quickly and burst with flavor.

In terms of fruit, one of the best bounties every spring is the cherry harvest. Cherry fruit starts growing in the middle of the season, and should be eaten quickly after harvesting for the best flavor.

Panna: An Awesome Digital Cooking Magazine

Panna is an awesome new bi-monthly digital cooking magazine that is delivered directly to your iPad. It's video-based, which makes it easy to enjoy without having to scroll through by hand. That means you can keep it playing while you follow along in your very own kitchen.

To get it, you'll download a free app to your iPad from Apple's online store, then choose a subscription. One issue is just under $6, while an annual subscription with six full issues is $24.95. 

Inside, you'll find recipes with video instructions presented by professional chefs, some of which are cooking in their very own home kitchens. They'll help walk you through each step, so you'll avoid having to spend time deciphering written instructions.

 To learn more about Panna, click here.

Make These Easy Pasta Salad Recipes Tonight!

If the words "pasta salad" conjure up images of mayonnaise and barbecues, you're not alone. But, there are actually a variety of ways to make delicious, savory pasta dishes that won't make you feel like you're picnicking. Below are five pasta salad ideas that break from tradition to provide outstanding flavor!

Caprese Salad — Draw inspiration from the Italian caprese salad, and season your pasta, such as hearty rigatoni, with fresh basil, good olive oil, vine-ripened tomatoes, and chunks of mozzarella. Add a bit of salt and pepper to taste, and you're all set!

Greek Pasta — Taking your cue from Greek Salad, add a mix of cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumber, tangy feta cheese, and robust olives to the pasta. Try using mostaccioli, the small, curved pasta named after the mustache, as the base of the salad so all the elements are comparable in size. Complete it a dressing of olive oil, vinegar, and lemon juice.

Asian Flavor – Prepare a pasta salad an Asian feel by using soba noodles, which are made from earthy buckwheat flour. Season the noodles with soy sauce and sesame oil, and top it with slivers of carrots and diced scallions for a delicious, simple dish that offers take-notice flavors.

Middle Eastern Side — For an alternative to pasta salad, make tabbouleh instead. This side makes use of kernels of bulgur wheat instead of pasta, and seasons them with a combo of finely-diced mint and parsley. It’s a wonderful option if you're tired of noodles!

Sweet Treats: Shortbread Toffee Bars

Looking for the ideal dessert to bring to your next holiday party or seasonal celebration? Look no further — these shortbread toffee bars are rich, buttery, and offer the ideal combination of sweet and salty — with just a hint of sea salt to really kick up the flavor. This recipe makes 12 bars.

For the shortbread:
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour

For the toffee:
2 sticks salted butter
1 cup sugar
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 (10 ounce bag) good-quality bittersweet chocolate chips
Sea salt

For preparation instructions, click here.

Bird Is The Word: Five Quick Chicken Dinners

Chicken is one of the most versatile proteins available to the home cook, and it can be prepared in so many different, delectable ways. In this article, we’ll share five of our favorite recipes that come out of the kitchen in a hurry without skimping on flavor.

Stuff a chicken breast with onions caramelized in a pan until they are golden brown and soft Fontina cheese. Bake in an pan until the meat is cooked through and deglaze the pan with white wine and rosemary to make a sauce. Serve over rice pilaf or quinoa.

Lemon chicken is a classic dish that never fails to impress. Marinate chunks of chicken in soy sauce for a little bit, then dredge it in a batter made from egg yolk and cornstarch. Quickly fry in a skillet and mix with a simple sauce created from lemon juice, water, sugar and a little more cornstarch. Serve over white rice.

Cut a chicken breast into rectangles and bread them with panko, the Japanese-style bread crumbs. Cover with Romano cheese and quickly fry them until the outside is crispy, then serve with a tangy marinara sauce for an upscale take on chicken fingers.

For a simple, hearty meal that will make you think of campfire days, make tinfoil “hobo bundles” with chicken and sturdy vegetables that roast well – try small tomatoes, green beans, and sliced potatoes. Put a little butter or olive oil inside, some fragrant herbs, seal them up and put them in the oven until everything cooks. Unwrap and serve.

For a light, healthy chicken dish, batter chicken cutlets in flour and quickly fry but do not cook through. Then sautee chunks of onion and ginger in the pan drippings. Add chicken broth and bring it to a simmer, then add the chicken and slices of pear for a unique and tasty meal.

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