The Walsh Cookbook

 Growing up in Salt Lake City where there is a large Greek community, I have long had a love affair with Mediterranean food, particularly Greek food. My friend Emily Rizzo, and especially her mom Joanne, can attest to my obsession with lemon rice in high school. I had an insatiable desire for Greek food! When I went away to Oregon for college, I was surprised to find that not every city had the amazing Greek food that Salt Lake did. I had to get my fix another way.... While I picked up a new taste for oysters, mushrooms and IPAs in Oregon, I still have this deep desire to eat Greek food as often as possible. That is where Melia Marden's "Modern Mediterranean" cookbook comes in. I have posted... a lot... of her recipes on this blog because I love them so much! Melia grew up part time on the Greek island, Hydra and many of her recipes are based on her childhood memories of the food there. Her recipes are full of bright flavors and the recipes themselves are acces...

You know the "Spring head cold". The one where your alarm goes off and your throat is sore and you can only mouth breathe because you're so clogged up BUT it's too late to call in sick to work. You struggle through the day and you feel like your brain is marinating in snot (sorry for that visual). Thinking is hard. Breathing is hard. And no one seems to want to be near you (how odd!).  The end of the day finally rolls around and you drag your sorry self home. You open up the fridge and that salad you had planned is just not going to cut it tonight. You want soup. You need soup. But you don't have soup. And you don't want to leave to go buy soup. This is where your life will be changed. I'd like to introduce "Almost Instant Chicken and Lemon Rice Soup". Three ingredients and in the time it takes to boil water, soup is ready!  I admit, this soup is not going to blow your socks off. But it is good and, for those of us suffering from t...

Every January/February I sink into an unhealthy ritual of eating a lot of carbs and a lot of meat. I think it's because Christmas is over, it's really cold outside, my car is covered with ice I have to scrape off every morning even when I'm already late to work, the Salt Lake Valley is filled with smog, I'm too busy dreaming of warm weather to actually eat adequate food, (insert endless additional excuses here) AND the produce at the grocery store is generally so unsinspiring. Half green rock hard tomatoes? Flavorless pale pink watermelon? I'll pass thanks.  Then when I've finally my maximum capacity of cheeseburgers and toast, I remember that there are still lots of vegetables that are great year round. Especially the generally underappreciated ones, like cauliflower. My opinion for the majority of my life was that cauliflower was the ugly red headed step child of broccoli. It was mushy when steamed, it was plain white (yawn!), and it tasted too cabb...

There are an awful lot of wonderful spinach salads out there, but this one is truly exceptional.  I got the recipe from the most delightful friend, Rosemary Nelson, who brought it to a soccer lunch waaaay back when our daughters, Caity and Abby were on the Judge Memorial Catholic High School Soccer team together.   Rosemary was the best person to be a sideline soccer mom with; she would pass out scissors and first-grade art work that had been laminated for us all to work on cutting out for her class while we watched the games, and she would tell us the funniest stories about her great students.  I only wished that all three of my kids had been so fortunate to have her as a teacher for one of their years--I think she would have been the most amazing, caring teacher.  Now her daughter, Abby is following in her footsteps and I'll bet she is equally as fun and caring. So about this salad!  I think it's the combination of the s...

  Bouef Bourguignon. If you can say that without doing it in Julia Child's voice, you are a much more mature person than I. If you must do so in her voice, we obviously have a lot in common and I already like you a little bit more. If you have no idea what I'm talking about please watch this SNL skit as soon as possible.  Even if you've already seen it, watch it again!  Beyond all the laughs, Bouef Bourguignon is amazing and while this is not Julia Child's recipe, this classic French dish became popular in the US because of her. It's not just beef stew (which is also great in it's own category). Boeuf Bourguignon builds flavor from the base (meat cooked in bacon grease and deglazed with red wine, yum!). It is quintessential "cold weather" food, I know you'll enjoy it. What is even better is that it tastes better the day after - SO make it on a slow Sunday and save it for a busy weekday! It can be served straight up, or over mashed potat...

An October without a trip to the pumpkin patch is a sad October in my opinion. Yes, you could go to the grocery store and struggle to get your large pumpkin out of the bin while some jerk steals your cart as you say "Oh um... that's actually my cart" and he says "Doesn't look like it" as he continues taking your cart, leaving you struggling with the heavy awkward pumpkin.  Sigh... Apparently I'm still not over it. Pumpkin patches, on the other hand, are great places where you can feast on roasted corn while enjoying a nice cold beer and casually peruse the pumpkin selection before taking a hay ride back to your car.  The  Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie's Island sports a small market where you (or your friend's 5 year old daughter, Lily) can select all sorts of squash you didn't know you needed. Lily chose me a lovely little delicata squash which I am happy to say, was put to good use in this Autumn Arugula Salad. I have complained for ye...

It's still tomato season in Utah!  In our garden we are fortunate enough that they're still going strong.  But I know from some of the food blogs and Instagram accounts that I follow that in some parts of the country tomato season is officially over.  Even if your season is done, perhaps the cherry tomatoes are hanging in there--if not at your house, then definitely at the farmer's markets.  Erin and I went last Saturday to Salt Lake City's huge downtown farmer's market, and the stands there had so many cherry tomatoes in all colors and shapes.  They were all so beautiful!  Here at my house, we definitely still have plenty, though... But you won't catch me complaining.  No way!  Not even when all of my counters, bowls, everywhere--are covered with tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes.  And even though I keep canning them, supplying all of my friends with them, and we keep eating them, we still seem have so, so many tomatoes! But ...