Have you seen or tried the packages of cauliflower rice that are all the rage? I picked up a 2-pack at Costco recently to give it a try. I used one package as intended, as a side dish, and honestly, I don’t know what all the fuss is about. If you know of a stand-out recipe, please let me know.

I decided to use the second package for soup. You can never go wrong with soup!

Initially, I thought I’d roast the cauliflower rice for the soup, I had it all spread out on a baking sheet, but then I decided to roast a bulb of fennel I had instead and leave the cauliflower as is. The thought process here was, “I don’t want to have to keep checking on the little cauliflower bits and worry about them burning.” Laziness wins!

Roasted cauliflower or not, this is one delicious tummy-warming soup.

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My dad had shoulder surgery to repair his rotator cuff last Friday. He has been recuperating at our house. His favorite meal is pot roast. Since his every wish and need is my command, I made it for him.

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The second entrée salad of our Spring Reunion Dinner contained farro.  Farro is a type of wheat grain. Regular farro needs to be soaked overnight, but quick-cook and ready-to-use farro is ready in only 10 minutes and can be easily found in most grocery stores, including Trader Joe’s. Be sure to find a quick-cook package.

A grill basket is also a must for this recipe. Grill baskets are the only way to go when grilling small items, such as shrimp and cut vegetables.

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We had a surprise addition to the Tapas Dinner Party when Peggy’s 17-year-old son, Stevo, came home a day earlier than she expected from a week-long camping trip in Yosemite National Park.

While Peggy busy was cooking for us, I was able to snap this cute photo of the two of them.

Thank you, Peggy, for such a fun and relaxing night.

This recipe is super easy and superbly delicious. It will disappear before your very eyes!

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This gift from the kitchen would be perfect to give my best friend, Jennifer. Coincidentally, today is Jen’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Jenny Jen, I love you and I’m thinking of you today! xoxo

This would be the perfect gift because Jen loves smoked salmon and this fennel-cured salmon would make her so very happy.

On the eighth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me:
Fennel Cured Salmon
Spicy Guinness Mustard
Two Jars of Mustard
Pumpkin Pie Spice
Homemade Kahlua Liqueur
Lemon-Sugar Hand Scrub
Cranberry Citrus Vodka
and a bottle of Tomato Dust

Gravlax is similar to lox, which is cured salmon that has been cold smoked. You want to make this food gift within a few days of giving it away. Home-cured salmon has a shelf life of 7 days after the cure is removed. It can also be frozen and will keep for about 90 days before it begins to deteriorate in the freezer. So if you finish curing on Christmas Eve and you give your gift on Christmas day your gift tag should say something like:

Homemade Fennel Cured Salmon
Please enjoy by New Year’s Eve
or
Place in the freezer and use
by Valentine’s Day

I learned to make this recipe back in 1993 after attending the Sonoma County Wine Auction. Dave and I attended the Sonoma and Napa County wine auctions several times. This recipe and the memory of those events make me want to go again in the coming year.

BTW – You may substitute the same amount of dill for the fennel fronds… if that is easier for you to find… of course, then it would be Dill Cured Salmon. 

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Since today is Saturday, I am back to being plain old Linda, instead of Juror #7. But on Wednesday morning, after arriving in the jury room with my fellow jurors, the bailiff entered and requested that Juror #7 come with her to the Judge’s chambers. I am sure the remaining 8 thought I was in trouble, but I knew what it was about. Of course, I still can’t tell you, but stay tuned, I’m certain that you will find it quite entertaining.

What I find entertaining is how each time we (The Jury) enter and exit the courtroom, all remaining people in the room are told to “rise for The Jury.”  Like we are royalty or something. The 9 of us, who are being paid $12 a day (plus mileage) get the royal treatment.  You know what I would honestly appreciate so much more? If each person in the room would just put a dollar or two on each or our chairs every time we enter or exit. That would be preferred to having them stand, and it would more double our compensation. I’m considering making that request… On second thought, that might result in me being called into the Judge’s chambers again, and this time I would be in trouble, probably for contempt.  I’ll keep that suggestion to myself, for now at least.

For you, today, I have a delicious partially roasted and partially fresh cherry tomato and fennel salad using the fennel frond pesto from yesterday. I hope you enjoy the salad and the long holiday weekend.

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For far too long, I have been discarding fennel fronds.  You know, those pretty dill-like leaves attached to the stalks of a funnel bulb.  Sure, I’d pick off a few fronds and use to garnish a dish, but then I’d toss out the remaining fronds still attached to the tough and inedible stalks. What a shame! I decided to see if the fronds could be made into a pesto, and sure enough, delicious! Use this vibrant pesto in a pasta, as a dip with crudités, or drizzled on a fennel salad.  Salad recipe to follow tomorrow. If the fennel you purchase does not have a full 2 cups of fronds, cut the recipe in half and use only 1 cup of fronds.

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This quick and delicious vegetable side dish just screams “Mediterranean” to me. I love every single distinct flavor here. I served this with the mahi-mahi from yesterday’s post, but it just as easily compliments pork or chicken as it does fish. And it takes literally, only about 7 minutes to put together, well OK – depending on your knife skills! So sharpen your chef’s knife and have a wonderful weekend!

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This recipe was requested by the mother of one of my former (all grown-up now) students to be placed on the blog. We made this fresh and full-flavored bruschetta during a summer session several years ago. It thrills me when people put in requests for specific posts. Moms, you know what I mean, every night you have to think of something to feed your family, sometimes it comes to you easily and other times, you struggle. Same here!

The people who request items most often are my own two darling kids. Marissa usually asks for something specific and Connor… well Connor usually wants chocolate or bacon! So to appease him, you have the option of garnishing these tasty toasts with crumbled bacon… there you go Connor, your request was not denied! Oh, and that gorgeous yellow tomato in the picture below… from my garden…I’m just a little proud of it!

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I don’t know if you’ve figured it out yet, but I LOVE soup!  Honestly, I could have soup for dinner five nights a week and be as happy as a clam. You’ll find that just about all of my previous soup recipes call for chicken stock or broth (not sure what the difference is between broth and stock? Click HERE to find out). But now that I’m working towards the goal of eating more vegetarian, more often – I will be using vegetable stock, more often. Of course, vegetarians already know to substitute vegetable broth in any recipe, soup or otherwise, that calls for chicken broth. I will be going back and putting that option into all my previous soup recipes posted here and then listing them in the new “Vegetarian” category on The Recipe Index, for those of us who may need a little reminding.  You can purchase vegetable broth in boxes or cans beside the chicken, beef, and fish broths, or make your own. My favorite recipe for a rich roasted vegetable broth is posted here, right below the soup recipe.

Since not everyone in my house in on-board with my goal, I do have added the option to place some chopped smoked salmon on top of the soup as a garnish. It is pretty darn tasty that way, so do as you please.
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