“And then on May fifteenth, a balmy sweet day if ever I saw one, my seeds went into the warm, welcoming earth, and I could agree with an old gardening manual which said understandingly, “Perhaps no vegetable is set out in greater expectancy…for the early planting fever is impatient.”

A week later I put in another row, and so on for a month, and they did as they were meant to, which is one of the most satisfying things that can possibly happen to a gardener, whether greenhorn and eager or professional and weatherworn.

Then came the day with stars on it: time for what my grandmother would have called “the first mess of peas.””

-M.F.K. FISHER

When I settled on the title of this site, I had been poking around some works by M.F.K. Fisher quite a bit when I hit on that little passage in An Alphabet for Gourmets. It was perfect. Tracing that little slice from her life that would come every year. It said everything that I needed it to. Sure, it nods to the embrace of change in the fields, bringing that shift into your home and being grateful for what you can grow right where you find yourself in this world (total freedom, in other words). It says a lot more about how I find myself here, traipsing along with all of you too.

I generally eschew the designation of “expert” in any context, including food and food preparations. I screw things up a lot: not getting a recipe concept nailed in the initial trials, adding too much salt, forgetting that something is under the broiler, swearing at the waffle iron in a predominantly chill brunch setting. I post things here that people straight up tell me they do not like. I value that engagement too. If you recognize me on the street and tell me that some salad recipe from here was shit, I will have that conversation candidly. First attempts, first forays, first fuck-ups, first harsh criticisms, first rationalizations… They all have their place here and in life.

Any instance of mess means having your feet on the ground, and your hands in the work. That one was obvious, but hey.

It addresses this weird spot I’m finding myself in, worrying that buying and owning a home to make many future meals in will change my brain on a cellular level. Those rooms and floors that can hold us up, the land that we’ll find ourselves on… they might force a protective response. I worry that my scattered idealism will fade and stretch towards obsessive safeguarding of what will become undoubtedly 100% ours, that any ideas on what can be in a future sense will be scratched out. Mostly, that we will change fundamentally, that it will be observed.

It weirdly highlights my preference for a Coors Light in some casual drinking situations. Sometimes I want to slowly drift into hot-messyness over the course of an afternoon with marginally hydrating refreshment, rather than volunteer tasting notes on some Mercenary Vortex Triple IPA that’s been exposed to wild yeasts in upstate New York. I’ll take a relaxed sinking-in over instances of who’s-drank-what when it comes to beer-hangs. Read also: french fries, iceberg lettuce, Nescafé, ZZ Top and Jim Beam. All of those things are great in context and you know it.

It also points to creative engagement for me. I started this project after much deliberation, all with high intention because, seriously, if people are going to let you into their lives in some tiny sense you better make it good. I seek other channels to fuel inspiration for this space often, and it helps tremendously. A real-life scheduled job, music, books about alternate realities, films about wars, travel, extreme landscapes; there’s always something there. Right now, I’m certain that if I abandoned the site, I would be a person without dreams (is that corny/dramatic? Whatever.). When you push yourself to live and die by the project, the approach feels new and refreshingly frenzied every time. It’s helped me grow a lot.

Anyway, all of this is just to say thanks for sticking with me. Two years of many kinds of messes later, and it feels like we’re doing just fine :)

Big hugs,
Laura

a salad with all of the peas, potatoes, acidulated shallots + creamy dill dressing
serves: 2-4
notes: The dressing is your homie here. It’s so good. Tangy, lightly sweet, flecked with dill, creamy but not in a ew-it’s-still-coating-my-tongue kind of way. Make it for this salad or make it for other stuff, seriously. I also “acidulate” the shallots to soften their bite a bit–just covering them in vinegar while the rest of the salad happens. Super simple technique, super delicious results.

acidulated shallots ingredients:
1 small shallot, cut into thin half moons
1/4-1/3 cup red wine vinegar

creamy dill dressing ingredients:
1/3 cup mixed raw cashews + sunflower seeds (I’d say 3/4 of that should be cashews), soaked in water for at least 2 hours
juice of 1/2 a lemon
splash of the vinegar from the shallots
1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
2 tsp – 1tbsp raw agave nectar/honey
splash of water (enough to get the motor of your blender moving–like 3 tbsp-ish)
fat pinch of salt
lots of black pepper
3-4 sprigs of dill, leaves removed and chopped

salad ingredients:
1 small shallot, cut into thin half moons
1/4-1/3 cup red wine vinegar
8 small new potatoes
4-5 big handfuls of pea shoots
1 cup shelled fresh peas
1-2 cups snap peas, cut in half down the center
handful of snow peas, chopped
additional sprouts if you feel it (I added some radish sprouts)
extra dill to garnish
more salt + pepper

Place the sliced shallots in a small bowl and cover them with the red wine vinegar. Let the shallots soften up in this until you’re ready to serve the salad.

Make the dressing: throw all of the ingredients except for the dill into a blender and blend on high until you have a creamy, homogenous mixture. Thin out with additional water until you get an appropriate dressing consistency. Pour the dressing into a jar and stir in the chopped dill. Set aside.

Place the potatoes in a small saucepan and cover with cold water. Place them on the stove over medium heat and bring to a boil. Simmer until potatoes are just tender, about 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes, run some cold water over them and set aside to cool.

Arrange the pea shoots on the base of your serving platter. Scatter the acidulated shallots, shelled peas, snap peas, and chopped snow peas on top of the shoots. Cut the cooled potatoes into quarters and arrange them on top. Season the whole thing from up high with salt and pepper. Drizzle the dressing over top. Garnish with additional sprouts and extra dill sprigs and serve it up.

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But there is growing evidence that ramps/wild leeks are over-foraged. A more direct way of explaining this: since their glamorization of recent years, less thought is being given to their sometimes 18-month germination stage (kale is 5 days by comparison) and multi-year growth period necessary to produce an edible bulb. I sprialed down the rabbit hole reading blog posts and articles about dwindling ramp populations, stories of families that would look forward to gathering a few every year, having to go deeper and deeper into the forests for them as time has worn on. Those gorgeous photos of leafy bundles piled high at a farmer’s market table seem to capture a myopic worldview to me now. Fortunately, there are plenty of pieces that detail on sustainable harvesting techniques. In the discussion of local eating (whatever it may be defined by in whatever circle you find yourself in), entitlement, movements of excess and the need for more thorough investigation always seem to come up in an ethics tug of war.

Anyway, as with all things we take into our bodies that become a part of us, there has to be some serious thinking involved. I enjoyed these first bits of spring to the brim of fullness, from painstakingly washing away the grit and forest-y attachments to the actual enjoyment of the end product. Taking them in slowly and approaching the food with thought means a longer-felt sense of satiation for me. Very simply stated: I’m good for the year. Bring on the peas, strawberries and garlic scapes too please? Today I’m sharing two things I made with my little bundle of the alliums with you. There’s a brilliantly simple asparagus soup that capitalizes on that sweet onion flavour and a rustic spelt bread with some chopped greens folded in. Enjoyed together? Yes, yes.

I’ll also add a few notes on asparagus soup. I have to tell you, I’ve had some awfully crummy versions of it over the years. Ones where the sweetness of the perennial is overwhelmed by salty stock. Or the vegetable is very clearly overcooked, that damp funk ringing loud and clear. Sometimes its lightness is smothered in parmesan or truffle to the point of obscurity. With some trial and error I’ve learned a few key principles to follow when simmering up a soulful pot of this goodness. The seeming main point of this dish is to preserve and glorify that spring vegetal sweetness. Here’s how you do that: utilize acid in the form of white wine and a fresh squeeze of lime at the end. The lime adds a perfect sour lift that doesn’t turn the dish into asparagus + citrus soup. It serves the soup without overwhelming. Also, use a bit of heat, but not to the point where you can feel it. I add cayenne near the beginning of the cooking process and it merely serves to heighten sweetness. Lastly, enrich your stock with some wilt-y asparagus bits. Asparagus sweated out, simmered and puréed with asparagus stock? That’s the Platonic ideal of clean asparagus flavour right there. This is important.

Lastly, I made you some bread with chopped up ramp greens. Any sort of herbs would be nice in this (although in lesser amounts if you’re using rosemary, oregano, thyme + the like). The recipe is pretty simple and forgiving. It does require about 2 hours of mostly inactive time, but as with all warm and fresh bread-like things, it is certainly worth it.

simple asparagus + ramp soup recipe
serves: 4-6
notes: As I mentioned, I like to simmer my vegetable stock with a few chopped up pieces of asparagus prior to making this to really amp up the sweet asparagus flavour. Inevitably a few spears go off/wilt-y in a bunch, so I just chop those up and toss them in with the stock until they’ve gone a little past the bright green stage.

soup ingredients:
2 tsp grapeseed oil
12-15 ramps/wild leeks, cleaned + chopped, white bulbs + greens divided
1 medium waxy potato, peeled + 1/2 inch dice
1 bunch of asparagus, woody base ends removed, stalks cut into 1-2 inch lengths
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
heavy splash of dry white wine
salt + pepper
4-5 cups vegetable stock/asparagus stock
juice of 1 lime

garnishes:
kale chips (kale tossed in oil, salt + pepper and baked in a single layer at 400 degrees F for about 10 minutes or until crisp)
cooked quinoa
diced avocado
extra virgin olive oil
fresh pepper
chopped chives/chive blossoms
violet flowers (SO optional, guys. They’re all over our lawn and I shot this outside and whoa, there they were :))

Heat the grapeseed oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the chopped white ramp bulbs to the pot. Stir them around and cook them until slightly softened. Add the diced potato, asparagus and cayenne. Saute the vegetables for a minute or so. Add the white wine, let the alcohol burn off a bit and stir the vegetables some more. Season everything with salt and pepper. Keep cooking the vegetables until the asparagus is bright, bright green.

Add the vegetable stock to the pot (enough to cover by an inch or so) and bring the mixture to a boil. Simmer the soup until the potatoes are just tender, about 10 minutes or so. Remove from the heat.

Carefully blend the soup in batches in your blender to puree. Add the lime juice to the pureed soup and stir to combine. Taste the soup for seasoning and adjust if necessary. To serve, bring the pureed soup to a boil and serve with any garnishes you like and slices of the spelt bread.

spelt bread with ramps recipe
barely adapted from Nigel Slater’s recipe in The Guardian
serves: makes 2 small loaves
notes: You could experiment with ratios of whole spelt to hard bread flour, but I tend to go with this recipe when I want a no fuss, lightly grainy bread. Of course, you can use other add-ins you like or just enjoy it plain.

2 1/2 cups/300g whole spelt flour
1 1/3 cups/200g hard bread flour
2 tsp fine sea salt
1 package of instant yeast (8 grams)
1 cup chopped ramps/wild leeks, green leafy parts only
1 1/3 cups water
oil for greasing a bowl

In a large bowl combine the spelt flour, bread flour, salt, yeast and chopped wild leeks. Stir them to combine. Add the water and stir until a dough starts to form. Bring it together with your hands. Dump the dough out onto a floured surface and bring it together. Knead for 8 – 10 minutes or until a supple and smooth dough forms with the slightest tackiness to it. It should feel warm and alive. It isn’t necessary to knock yourself out kneading this–just slowly keep on rolling it off the wrist until it feels good.

Form the dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl, rolling it around to coat. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let it rise in a warm spot for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Punch the dough down, cut it in half and form both pieces into round ball shapes by gathering/pinching dough on the bottom of the ball with your fingers. Once you’ve shaped both breads, place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover the sheet with a damp towel and let the bread rise for 30-45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and secure a rack in the middle of the oven.

Once you’re ready to bake, use a very sharp knife to cut a slit into the top. Nestle a whole ramp leaf in there if you like. Bake the loaves until golden brown and hollow-sounding when tapped on the bottom, about 25 minutes. Allow loaves to cool slightly before enjoying.

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In the past couple weeks I’ve made not one, but two things that were complete and utter failures. I am certainly capable of making a lot of delicious things, but I won’t have you believing that everything my hand touches turns to gold on the first try. I have a lot of working experience and knowledge when approaching food, but a little exercise in humility never hurt anyone. The first error was a batch of gluten free and vegan cinnamon buns that was so improbably vile. My expectation was high (as it often is with cinnamon swirly things), so the sting was bitter sharp on that one. The second mishap was a flax granola that was, as I suspected it would be, much too flax-y for my liking. One taste of each elicited a highly dramatic and exasperated “I CAN’T EVEN” kind of dismissive hand wave and head shake to any inquirers. Those things simply weren’t meant to be in my world right now. Some day they will come (but not actually on that flax granola tip). Tenured Chefs get it wrong sometimes and the thought of this provides comfort, a laugh and the motivation to move on.

So I moved on to something I knew front to back and all through the dreamy middle. I used to cook at a little café and when I made it up, this soup was always received with a certain surprised approval. Cauliflower, potatoes, and onions on that soup of the day sign… sort of peasant-sounding fare on the surface (there is a charm to that for some). The rosemary fragrance and deep-warming nature of it brought people around I think. I go kind of wild with toppin’s on this (like everything I eat), but the soup is lovely in its simplest form with a little black pepper sprinkle.

Hope you’re all having some cozy and easy days by the oven or wherever you like to be. I had a brief glimpse of sunbeams and chirping birds on an outing today, so I know that the world is at work on something wonderful for us all over again in the coming months. Be warm in the meantime :)

vegan roasted cauliflower soup with roast-y onions + rosemary
serves: makes a large batch
notes: I tend to be of the “More lemon! More brightness!” mindset, but I’m telling you: reservation will pay here. You want just a faint brightening instead of an outright lemony-ness. It will bring out the caramelized qualities instead of burying them in acidity. Also, if you aren’t using homemade stock, most definitely use a no-salt-added variety. I advise on liberally salting the vegetables pre-roasting, so being in control of this factor throughout is ideal.

soup:
1 large head of cauliflower, trimmed
1 lb yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed (I use yukon because of the waxy/creamy quality)
2 cooking onions, papery skin removed
1 sprig of fresh rosemary (mine was particularly lush, so perhaps 2 normal sprigs is advisable)
2 tbsp oil
salt and pepper
juice of 1/3 of a lemon (like 2 teaspoons)
5-6 cups vegetable stock

optional toppin’s:
some kind of flavourful oil (truffle, extra virgin olive, walnut etc)
croutons
toasted + chopped nuts
chopped leafy herbs
balsamic reduction
squeezes of lemon
sriracha
flaky sea salt or fresh pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Remove the core from the cauliflower and chop it into rough florets. Place the florets into a 9 x 13 glass baking dish.

Chop the potatoes into pieces about half the size of the cauliflower florets and toss them into the baking dish as well.

Chop the onions into rough 1-2 inch pieces and toss them into the dish. It doesn’t matter if the layers stick to each other.

Remove the leaves from the rosemary sprig and chop/mince them up. Sprinkle the rosemary over the vegetables in the dish. Liberally salt the vegetables and season with pepper to taste. Add the oil and toss the vegetables until evenly coated with the oil, herb and seasoning.

Roast vegetables for about an hour, flipping and tossing them here and there with a metal spatula/spoon to promote even browning. When done, remove from the oven and squeeze the 1/3 lemon over the hot vegetables (I just drop the lemon into the warm pan when I’m done so that it can release some oil too). Using your metal spatula, toss the vegetables with the lemon juice, scraping the browned bits off the bottom.

Once the vegetables are cool enough for you to handle, start blending them in batches with the stock. Purée until smooth and pour into a big soup pot. Continue blending in batches until you’ve used up everything. Heat the large soup pot full of purée over medium heat until it boils. Add more stock or water to thin the soup out if necessary and adjust seasoning to taste. Serve hot with optional garnishes.

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I would call my overall cooking style simple in that I love to bring out the best in any particular ingredient I’m loving at the time. It speaks to eating with the seasons, which seems natural to me. I’ll roast a whole, sweet squash with hearty herbs at high heat for at least an hour. Similar to the long and hot cooking time, the squash takes a whole, humid summer to fully develop and the herbs I pair it with can grow right alongside the whole time. Gorgeous ripe tomatoes appear after about 7 weeks and taste perfect just sliced with salt and quick-growing fresh basil torn on top. They both love sandy soil and hot summer days. These preparations are simple in that they just make sense. There’s a thought process behind them that comes from experience. The approach is one of care, reverence, awareness and love. That is the heart of simple food.

So with that I give you these delicious and reasonably healthy frites made in the oven (less than a tablespoon of oil per serving! I know, right?). 2 potatoes, a bit of oil and a good pinch of salt gives you some pretty crispy and convincing little potato sticks of joy. I’ve learned a few basic principles of perfect french fry-making over the years. When I started working for a Canadian chef that was known for his version of my favourite dish, you have no idea how stoked I was to take in some of that knowledge. In brief, I’ve learned that cooking the potatoes in two stages, one to soften the interior and one to crisp the outsides, is key. Soaking the potatoes to get the starch out, a thorough in-between drying and tossing the finished product with salt while still crazy hot are all important components of french fry success. I figured the same wisdom would translate from fryer to oven and surprise, it kinda did.

And the mayonnaise! Originally the idea of dipping something so perfectly crunchy in the stuff grossed me out. I was eventually shown the way through (repeat) consumption of a clean tasting apple cider mayonnaise. Mine has a pine nut base, some garlic and smoky paprika thrown in for good measure. It’s a tangy and delicious compliment. But feel free to stick with classic ketchup or malt vinegar if you want to take refuge in crispy, golden and beautiful simplicity.

Oh, and thank you for all of your lovely birthday wishes last week. Big hugs!

oven frites with smoky paprika & garlic mayonnaise
serves: 2
special equipment: a blender for the mayonnaise
notes: This is an exercise in knife skills! Getting those potatoes into little matchsticks is so key.

frites:
2 large potatoes (russett or yukon gold are great)
1.5 tbsp neutral oil (grape seed, sunflower etc)
5 sprigs of thyme, leaves removed and chopped
salt (lots)

mayonnaise:
1/2 cup pine nuts, soaked at least 4 hours (or cashews, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds etc)
1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
3 tbsp water
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
juice of half a lemon
1 clove of garlic
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp smoked paprika (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 1 large baking sheet with parchment. Fill a large bowl with water and set aside.

Peel the potatoes and wash them. Slice them lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices. Julienne the slices lengthwise, placing the matchsticks into the water as you finish. Allow the potatoes to soak for at least 15 minutes.

Make the mayonnaise: combine the pine nuts, dijon, water, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, salt and paprika (if using) in a blender pitcher. Gradually bring the speed of the blender up to high. Mix on high until thoroughly pureed. Scrape sides of pitcher down if necessary. Once smooth, scrape mayonnaise into a container and place in the fridge to set up a bit.

Drain the potatoes and dump matchsticks onto a clean kitchen towel. Fold excess towel over the potatoes and dry them thoroughly. Toss the potatoes in a large bowl with the 1.5 tbsp oil and a fat pinch of salt (you’ll be salting them once finished so exercise moderation). Place the coated potatoes on the prepared baking sheet, ensuring that they aren’t too close together. Cook in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are very soft and just starting to brown on the edges. Remove tray from the oven.

Bring the oven temperature up to 425 degrees F. Place tray back in the oven once up to temperature. Cook for another 15 minutes, flipping the frites at least once. Remove from oven when potatoes are golden brown and crispy.

Using the same bowl (with a thin coating of oil remaining on it), toss the hot frites with another fat pinch of salt and the minced thyme. Serve immediately with the mayonnaise.

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There was a heaped schmear of creme fraiche on the bottom of the plate, lovely cooked beets all diced on top, capers, rough chopped parsley and fresh horseradish. It was really simple, gorgeous to look at and delicious in an easy way. I say easy because you could just scoop it into your mouth and enjoy all of the flavours and textures making sense together. It was balanced and flavourful without too much effort. These ingredients were pretty much made for each other and I can’t believe it took this long for them to get together on a plate in front of me.

A little snag: I can’t eat creme fraiche every day. It’s expensive and my stomach would hate me, so I came up with this version that I can eat all day, every day with avocado and sweet little yukon gold potatoes. Beets tend to have a love affair with anything that’s creamy, tangy or rich so this all works out pretty nicely. The horseradish and shallot vinaigrette punctuates everything with a strong, vinegary bite. It’s just a hearty, composed winter salad. I’m not craving lettuce much these days, but boiled root veggies and potatoes with brine-y stuff and chives on top? Yes please. And lots.

beet, potato and avocado salad with horseradish and shallot vinaigrette
serves: 4-6
notes: dice the shallot as small as you can so that the vinaigrette gets all in there and softens the pieces up.

vinaigrette
1 small shallot, finely diced/minced up
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
salt and pepper
2 tsp prepared horseradish
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/3 cup grape seed or other neutral flavour oil

salad
1/2 lb mini yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed
2 medium beet roots, scrubbed
1 medium avocado, just ripe, not too soft and smushy-messy
10 blades of chives, finely sliced
juice of half a lemon
2-3 tbsp capers
salt and pepper

Make the vinaigrette: Combine the minced shallot and vinegar in a small bowl. Add salt and pepper and whisk well. Add the horseradish and mustard and whisk to combine again. Drizzle the oil into the horseradish/vinegar/shallot mixture slowly as you whisk it vigorously until thoroughly combined. Alternatively, you can throw the whole works except the shallots into the blender and put it on high for a few seconds and add the shallots to the mix after. Set aside.

Place the potatoes in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water by about an inch or two. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until potatoes yield to a paring knife easily, but not so easily that they mush. About 12 minutes. Remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon and set aside. Place the beet roots in the boiling water and cook until you achieve the same knife-yielding tenderness of the potatoes. This should take longer, about 20 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and peel as soon as you are able, without burning your fingers of course. Cut potatoes and beets into small wedges and set aside in separate bowls.

Peel and pit the avocado. Slice it into 1/4 inch thick pieces and lay onto your serving plate. Squeeze the lemon over top of the avocado slices and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle a bit of the dressing here too. Arrange the beets on top of the avocado. Drizzle some of the dressing on top. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and some of the chives. Arrange the potatoes on top of the beets and drizzle with more dressing, salt, pepper and the remaining chives. Scatter the capers on top. Serve.

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I was never crazy about potato salad. There’s obvious health woes involved, but the overall, squishy, non-varying texture didn’t work for me most of all. That’s where these delicious and hearty croutons come in. They make it unique and fun. You get a bite of creamy potato all slicked with that amazing dressing, some fresh, peppery herb and a crisp crouton to finish it up. All in one bite! Also, the decision to add croutons stems from my love of their presence on um… everything.

Suffice to say, this is cold weather food. It’s deeply satisfying and satiating. It was perfect for the rainy, windy and cold weekend we had here. Definitely putting forward that whole food-as-love thing. It’s the starchy side dish that hugs you back. Also a bonus: everything can be obtained locally (at least around my neck of the woods) and inexpensively for sure. Oh and if you grow herbs, your parsley and chives should be flourishing in the slightly cool weather right about now. Go get ‘em!

warm potato salad with creamy dijon dressing & pumpernickel croutons
serves: 4-5
notes: I only restrained myself with the croutons for photo appeal. The recipe makes way more and you should definitely fully enjoy them all.

3/4lb small potatoes (I used yukon gold)
3 cups cubed pumpernickel bread (or any old bread you like)
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
2 leeks, cut in half, cleaned and cut into 3/4 inch pieces
1.5 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
juice of half a lemon
1/4 cup reserved cooking liquid from potatoes/leeks
salt and pepper
3-4 sprigs flat leaf parsley, leaves finely sliced
10-12 blades of chives, chopped as small as you can manage (or green onions)

Make the croutons: heat oven to 350 degrees F. Toss croutons with 1 tbsp of the olive oil, salt and pepper. Arrange in one layer on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place in the oven. Stir croutons up periodically for even browning. They take about 15 minutes.

Start the potatoes: place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water and a fat pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and keep at a lively simmer for about 15 minutes or until tender when pierced with a knife. Remove potatoes with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Bring the water back to a boil and place the leeks in. Simmer for about 10 minutes or until soft. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a blender.

Make the dressing: to the cooked leeks, add dijon, white wine vinegar, lemon juice, 1/4 cup of potato/leek cooking water, remaining oil, salt and pepper. Blend until thoroughly pureed, being careful with the whole warm liquid blending thing. Pour into a small saucepan and keep on low while you cut the potatoes.

Cut potatoes into little wedges or dices (they should still be warm). Place in serving dish and drizzle warm dressing on top. Place croutons and chopped herbs on top and serve.

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frites with dip + simple food

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It’s so impressive looking, while the flavours are comforting and appealing to almost anyone. Also, casually mentioning that it’s a provencal kind of thing will put you into too-cool territory, guaranteed. Most of the work is in the assembly, then you push it into the oven and get on with the rest of your things for an hour or so. It takes a little while, but the results are so worth it. The smell of thyme, garlic and tomatoes bubbling away while some cool, late summer breezes float in is cozy and homey. Maybe you’ll want to eat this outside with some warm barley, greens and a glass of wine (like me!). And maybe you could enjoy it with a warm knobby blanket hanging over your lap, perhaps with someone you like… seriously, I always get sentimental this time of year.

summer vegetable tian
serves: 4
special equipment: A mandoline makes quick work of the zucchini and potatoes, but isn’t necessary.
notes: Sometimes eggplant is featured in this particular dish. If you have some smaller, Japanese eggplant, they would go really well in here. A little parmesan or pecorino grated on top of this would be yummy too.

1 medium onion, cut into thin slices
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tbsp olive oil, divided
6 sprigs of thyme
1 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/4 inch thick rounds
5-6 small new potatoes, sliced into slightly thinner than 1/4 inch thick rounds
7-8 small-medium tomatoes, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a medium saute pan over medium. Add the onions and 3 whole sprigs of thyme. Stir them up or flip them around occasionally until the onions are soft and slightly browned. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant and garlic loses its raw-ness, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, remove mixture from the heat and set aside. Remove any twig-y bits left behind from the thyme sprigs.

Grease a 2 quart baking dish with some of the olive oil. Place the sauteed garlic and onions on the bottom of the dish. Layer the zucchini, potato and tomato slices in the pan in rows or circles, whatever works for you. Arrange them around until the dish is full (there might be leftover slices of vegetables). Drizzle the remaining tablespoon of olive oil on top. Remove the leaves from the remaining 3 thyme sprigs and scatter them around the surface. season with salt and pepper and cover with foil.

Bake for half an hour. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes. This would be the point to add some parm or pecorino if you’re feeling that. Once the veggies are all soft and a bit browned on top, it’s ready. Serve immediately.

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