Ahh, the cooler weather has finally arrived in the desert. I am desperately craving fall foods in the worst way, especially this wonderful dish that Dave and I first enjoyed nearly 13 years ago, on our first trip to France. What a trip it was…

We arrived in Paris on a crisp mid-October evening and were in awe from the very first second. After spending two days in the “City of Light”, we boarded the EuroRail (high-speed train) headed for Cannes in the south of France. There, we rented a car and drove to our destination for the next week, a cooking school in Julia Child’s former Provençal home, La Pitchoune.

I shall share more of our story throughout the month of October, (my favorite month of the year) but for now, the recipe for Gratin de Courge Provençal.

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Aubergine, better known as eggplant, is a favorite of mine, although you wouldn’t know it by searching for it on this blog. In more than a year, this is only the fourth time it has appeared. That is due to the fact that Dave doesn’t think he really likes eggplant and I know a lot of people who feel the same way. But each time he has it, he skeptically says, “that was pretty good.”  I have a theory as to why that is usually the reaction. Dave, and many people, have had eggplant prepared badly. Sadly, it is a common phenomenon, because eggplant can be a huge greasy bitter mess.

Eggplant is like a sponge, it will soak up as much oil as it gives it.  And the flesh can sometimes be naturally bitter. Like cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, and tobacco; eggplant is a member of the nightshade family and it has much more of tobacco’s bitterness than the other family members.  The remedy for the bitter sponginess is to salt the flesh first. Salting, also known as degorging, accomplishes two goals: it pulls out juices that carry bitter flavors, and it collapses the air pockets in the eggplant’s sponge-like flesh, thus preventing it from absorbing so much oil and becoming greasy. The salted eggplant may be placed in a colander for an hour (best done with cubes) or placed in a single layer out on paper towels (best with slices). After the degorging is complete, rinse off the salt and squeeze dry before continuing. Eggplant can be cooked with the peel on or off. Unfortunately, the gorgeous aubergine color does not remain once it is heated, if it did, I would never peel it.

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Asparagus is one of my family’s favorite vegetables. I generally make Parmesan Roasted Asparagus, but it’s been too hot and humid this past week to even think of turning on the oven, so we’re back to basics. Not only with the recipe but also with the technique.

What technique? Trimming and peeling the stalks, that’s what!

At the market, choose asparagus with tightly closed tips. The stalks should be bright green and firm. If you aren’t cooking the asparagus that day; stand the bundled stalks in a tall glass or vase with about an inch of water, as you would fresh flowers, and refrigerate.

Asparagus comes in all different thicknesses, from pencil-thin to nearly an inch in diameter. The bottom woody inch or two of any asparagus should be discarded. Whether or not you peel the stalks depends upon their thickness. If you were to peel the pencil-thin size, you would have nothing left. I generally peel if the stalks are 1/2-inch in diameter or thicker.

Begin by snapping off the bottom end of each asparagus stalk. It will naturally break at the spot where it is tender. Cutting the ends off with a knife makes it impossible to estimate just how much to take off since tenderness varies from one stalk to the next.

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A happy coincidence, meant to be, just by chance, lucky, a fluke, a quirk, or a twist of fate… whatever you call it, I like it! And I love that word, happenstance, awesome word! What, by chance, was the fateful occasion for me?

I had about 1/2 head each of green and orange cauliflower from the Colorful Cauliflower Purées of 5 days ago and was trying to decide what to do with it. Of course, I could just make a vegetable side dish or purée and freeze it for later use, but that felt mundane. I was leaning toward cauliflower soup, but it’s so dang hot outside. Instead of pondering it any longer, I decided to waste time on Facebook and, as luck would have it, there staring me in the eye was a recipe for a frittata using cauliflower, delivered directly to my home page from my Facebook friend, Food & Wine! Problem solved, and proof that perusing Facebook isn’t always a waste of time.

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Green is one of my two favorite colors, blue is the other. When asked, the majority of Americans will state that their favorite color is blue. But I digress, there is no blue in the recipe, just green and orange. And that second color, orange, is my least favorite color. Not that it matters, just saying…

When I saw the striking orange and green heads of cauliflower at the market, I had to have them. I then cooked and puréed each to the consistency of baby food, and used them as the bed for a light and lovely fish fillet. Broccoli, fennel, celery root, potato, sweet potato, and such, may be used in the same manner, so don’t fret if you can’t find these colorful cauliflower orbs!

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One of my many favorite things from Costco is their large bag of sugar snap peas. It’s nearly impossible for me to walk through the cold produce room without snagging a bag!  And it is really c-o-l-d in that room. I see people shivering and little kids in shopping carts whining to their parents about it.  I linger, take my time and try to soak it up! I’m the same way at shopping malls and movie theaters. Other people (including my dear daughter, Marissa) endlessly complain and even plan ahead and bring along sweaters to warm their little bones. It’s 110 degrees outside and they are carrying a sweater! And they say I’m the crazy one, go figure.  But I digress – in that sweet produce room, I get my bag of sugar snap peas (and it’s a really big bag!) come home and either eat them raw and straight from the bag as a snack or cook them up into an “easy-breezy” worthy dish such as this.

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One important lesson quickly learned by the summer students these past few weeks… it takes a bit more effort to not only eat healthily but also to cook healthy. That may seem obvious to most adults… cruise through the drive-thru window vs. grilling a burger yourself – obvious. But how about throwing fat and juicy T-bone on the grill vs. grilling vegetables? A bit more effort with the vegetables, but effort well worth it, not only for the fabulous color and flavors – but also for your heart and soul!

Feel free to tweet and add to this recipe all you want. I would have included zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, etc., but those were already on the menu of the day in a variety of other vegetarian dishes. So scour the farmer’s market or pluck from your own garden and heat up the grill – enjoy!

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Each Thursday this summer during kids’ classes, the menu is vegetarian. It’s a healthy note to end each series of classes. And by Thursday, all the students are well versed in slicing and dicing. The past two weeks it was also a nice and colorful note because on Wednesday the theme was ‘breads and sandwiches”.  Talk about a monotone plate – all white, beige, and brown – didn’t turn out to be as eye-appealing as one might wish for. This pretty “confetti” speckled side dish would help brighten up any old dull sandwich plate.

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It’s the second day of “operation refrigerator clean-out”. Today I found a bag of parsnips I purchased at the Scottsdale Farmer’s Market from the McClendon’s Select booth 2 weeks ago. I bought them with the thought that my boys might like to use them for their Mother’s Day dinner, but the boys had other plans for the vegetable course. It actually didn’t surprise me, in my opinion, parsnips are one of the most underrated root vegetables. For example; if you search for potato recipes on epicurious.com, over 2100 entries come up. The search for carrots brings forward nearly 1600 recipes. And for parsnips – a mere 209 entries. That’s not right! Like potatoes and carrots, parsnips are a root vegetable. And a delicious one at that, they are related to carrots, and they resemble carrots but have a paler, light tan peel. Until the potato arrived from the New World, parsnips were the root vegetables of choice in Europe and elsewhere around the world. Parsnips are naturally sweet and can be boiled, roasted, pureed, or used in stews, casseroles, and soups.  Additionally, they are rich in potassium and are a good source of dietary fiber. So, I give you this recipe as I give out props to parsnips!

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For Mother’s Day, Dave and my adorable son, Connor, made me not only breakfast but dinner as well! So when our Phoenix Suns swept the Spurs to advance in the playoffs, it was as if I hit the jackpot yesterday!

Breakfast was thick-cut bacon, mimosas, and cinnamon-pecan waffles with fresh strawberries, bananas, and whipped cream! And for dinner, they made lamb, chicken, and beef kabobs (picked up at Whole Foods), our favorite parmesan asparagus, toasted garlic-olive bread, and sea salt roasted fingerling potatoes with whole fresh herbs.

Since the asparagus has been featured here a couple of times already, we’ll share the very easy potato recipe. You can use the fingerlings as the recipe calls for, or if fingerlings are hard to find or too costly, just use russet or Yukon gold potatoes cut into wedges. Both choices are pictured below.