Summer

In case you’re wondering who Mateo is, that’s me. That’s my name in Spanish, a title only used at home by my grandparents and when I did something terribly wrong as a child.

I’m sure you can hear it now: “MATEOOOOOOOOOO!”  For some reason it has more zing that just “oh Matt, quit falling out of 2 story windows and take off your sister’s dresses while you’re at it!”

With that out of the way I can proceed to this snappy little dressing and dip I have been calling Diosa Verde. Diosa Verde is nothing more than a literal translation of “Green Goddess”, that tangy creamy dip of yesterday that has been back in vogue for the past few years. But this isn’t just a literally translation of the recipe, no sirreee, but Green Goddess with a Mexican twist.

From the New York Times

Summer may not be the best time to cook, but it’s certainly among the best times to eat. Toss watermelon and peaches with some ingredients you have lying around already, and you can produce a salad that’s delicious, unusual, fast and perfectly seasonal.

That’s the idea behind the 101 ideas found in this section. In theory, each salad takes 20 minutes or less. Honestly, some may take you a little longer. But most minimize work at the stove and capitalize on the season, when tomatoes, eggplant, herbs, fruit, greens and more are plentiful and excellent.

This last point is important. Not everything needs to be farmers’ market quality, but it’s not too much to expect ripe fruit, fragrant herbs and juicy greens.

Read article...

Forgive me, Whole Foods, for I have sinned….

It’s been 2 months since my last confession…of taking one of your best dishes and taking out more than half the calories…

But before you make me count a dried bean rosary–or peacefully protest on my lawn– let me state my case…

I was in desperate need of a “Southwestern” dish for the pot luck dinner before the school play.

(It was sort of “How the West was Won”…but, occasionally, seemed to happen in real time…)

And, in old timey days (when I weighed 34 pounds more), I would have felt pretty good about picking up your original dish, just as it is. Like all dried legumes, lentils are loaded with nutrition…providing protein, folate, even iron. And, according to Dr. Perricone (and Oprah), lentils are a “superfood” that we want to make part of our diet.

I have no children, not even a dog or a cat. But I'm considering adopting. Adopting a peach tree that is. Near Fresno, farmer Mas Masumoto and his family grow lovely heirloom varieties of peaches including Sun Crest and Elberta. Their peaches are organic, fragile, absolutely delicious and only available by adoption.

Now I have to admit, I am totally and completely biased towards peaches. They are high in dietary fiber, Vitamin A, Niacin and Potassium, and a very good source of Vitamin C but that's not why I love them so much. Soft, juicy, fuzzy, fragrant and ever so pretty to look at, peaches are the sexiest fruit around.

Because the Elberta variety is so delicate, Mas Masumoto sells his peaches in a most unusual way, he allows people to adopt a tree and harvest all the peaches for personal use. That means a commitment to go to the farm and pick peaches the moment they are ready.