Homemade salad dressing is a particular passion of mine. Usually quick and easy to make from a few pantry ingredients and whatever fresh herbs are in the CSA box or growing out in the garden, it is almost always better than anything I can purchase pre-made from the store.
Another one from The Commonsense Kitchen, p 327. How can anyone resist a meal with a name as fun to say as "Rico's Tacos?" It rhymes. And rings of a party with warm sea air where fairy lights hover over tables lit by flickering colored votives. The 1970's version of these candles, that I remember from my toddler-hood on the island paradise of Aruba.
Funny that almost exactly a year ago I was using this same cookbook. The Commonsense Kitchen must have some sort of connection to the Spring for me. Yesterday the weather was a beautiful mid-70s and sunny. This morning started out foggy, cleared to an even better day, but now at 4pm the fog has come back and I'm left contemplating grilling steak out in the cold.
In California citrus grows all winter long. Here in San Francisco backyard lemon and lime trees reliably produce good fruit and require very little care. All year long I dress salads with olive oil and lemon juice from our tree. On cold days we eat soup with our salad, and on warm days we make lemonade and drink it out back while the grill heats for fish, to eat with our salad.
A slightly new take on an old standard, I'll use Hudgens' recommended spice rub, inspired by his days at Chez Panise, from p. 346. His recipe for roasted potatoes is also right up my alley - simple! It is on p. 247. And I'll try cooking the broccoli with butter, salt and 2 Tablespoons of water, on p. 219. A complete Commonsense dinner.
Jenny Nelson is my old college roommate, who made this delicious grilled salmon for my husband and I way back before we were married. More than 12 years later, I still make it all the time - it is my kids' favorite and whenever the weather warms up enough to use the grill we eat it. If warm weather and citrus season coincide, we serve it with lemonade. My favorite recipe for lemonade is from The Commonsense Kitchen, p. 183, which is a book chock-full of good ideas. I'll serve sautéd Cabbage on the side.