A Caribbean flu hit our household in Haiti this week. First Paul, then me, now the kids. Sigh. During times of illness, my go-to comfort food is the reassuringly simple, cool, and refreshing cucumber. Cucumbers are my vegetable equivalent of chicken soup. As I gradually felt better throughout the week, my cucumber salads became more elaborate and flavorful. This Crisp Thai Cucumber & Peanut Salad, a Thai-inspired riff, is crunchy, sour,  and salty, with a hint of coconut sweetness.

When the winter chills set in, this colorful tangerine hued salad, with its bright splashes of pomegranate, feta, and cilantro is a full flavored pick you up. This is a long-standing recipe in our repertoire, with a captivating citrus and spice vinaigrette. 

With Thanksgiving past, our departure date is just 2 days away. This last month we've had a wonderful time visiting with family and friends and saying goodbye. Now, our belongings are safely tucked away in storage for the next 5 years, our house and cars are sold, and we have some pretty enormous duffel bags sitting packed at the foot of our bed. Last night we completed the last item on our Haiti-bound check-list, and stayed up late chatting excitedly about the new things to come; a baby, learning a new culture, cuisine, language and job, traveling, hosting friends and family. Life feels pretty vast right now!

Lest we digress too long from the ever important topic of food, and with a mind to Thanksgiving leftovers, we're sharing our favorite spunky and updated curried turkey salad today. This is a vibrant and flavorful recipe Paul has been perfecting for the past year, and a delicious lunch as you laze around after the holiday. Think of this recipe as a guide, and freestyle with whatever ingredients you happen to have on hand.

In high school while browsing for recipes for a Mother’s Day brunch, I was struck by a colorful sounding 'Stoplight Salad' in my Mom’s copy of Simply in Season. My sister and I added it to our Mother’s Day menu that year, and it became a family staple. Through the years, I have created my own version with a bit more of a Southwest flair, swapping in a potent lime-cumin vinaigrette and handfuls of herbs and fruit for contrast. In college, when I needed a dish for a potluck with some Amish friends, I didn’t think twice before whipping up my Southwest Black Bean Salad…what had seemed like a good idea in my dorm room started making me nervous when I saw my garishly bright salad sitting amidst a table of creamy noodle casseroles. Before I could withdraw my food offering, the head cook stuck her spoon in my salad, and I was given a nod of approval, I quietly let out my breath and tried to act nonchalant. Southwest Black Bean Salad is a pungent, bright, and refreshing salad with corn, tomatoes, herbs, and a customizable base of seasonal vegetables and fruit. It has been my most requested recipe over the years, and is an infinity adaptable salad that will be devoured every time. I’d love to hear your favorite combinations! To read more about Simply in Season and our other favorite cookbooks, check out our Bookshelf.

It’s a holiday week, and we’re eating hotdogs. To be honest, hotdogs have long been a favorite of mine, and our freezer is stockpiled, prepper-style, in case of a global shortage. We got sick of the soggy, too large buns and obvious condiments, and for this grilling season we’ve gotten creative and kicked out the bun, brought on the tortilla, and seriously ramped up the flavors for gourmet Loaded Hotdogs. We wanted to share our favorite flavor combination; where ketchup and mustard are supplanted by tart homemade quick pickled red onions, tangy guacamole, creamy queso fresco cheese, and if you are feeling decadent, crispy bacon.

On a holiday weekend famous for feasting and barbecues, we wanted to share one of our favorite burgers. These healthy Turkey Feta Burgers with Yogurt Curry Sauce are quick to make, light on fat, and big on flavor. If you are feeling adventurous, you can also substitute the turkey in this recipe for another lean meat like lamb, buffalo, or venison. To top these burgers, we ditch the usual lettuce, and opt instead for the crips fresh accompaniments of cucumber, tomato, and homemade pickled red onions. 

We’ve been taking our meals outside and the on the road recently, with sunny skies and weekend trips.  This supremely Crunchy Broccoli Stem Slaw with Hoisin Vinaigrette is a portable salad win. We love this slaw for its deeply satisfying crispness, starting  the brilliant use of thinly sliced broccoli stems, slivered red cabbage, bright carrots, crunchy peanuts and baked tortilla strips top off this slaw, with a punchy Asian inspired vinaigrette featuring hoisin and ginger. With a base of sturdy veggies, this slaw only improves as it sits, making it a prime work or school lunch, travel salad, or potluck dish. To cut down on prep time, you can grab a bag of pre-cut broccoli slaw mix at your local grocery.

Kale Cobb Salad with Avocado Green Goddess is Paul's favorite salad. Let me back up a step to highlight the significance of this statement. To say Paul is not 'saladly inclined,' is to put it mildly. In fact, the one time I saw Paul order a salad in a restaurant, to my slack-jawed amazement, it turned out he was sick. But Paul's disinclination to eat raw leafy greens has not stopped me in my quest to make a salad that he will love. A few years ago I whipped up this cobb salad, and to my delight, Paul liked it... so much that he requests it for his birthday menu each year. Kale Cobb Salad with Avocado Green Goddess is not a traditional cobb salad, but uses our favorite elements, greens, tomatoes, cucumber, bacon and eggs, and adds avocado and a punchy green dressing loaded with herbs.

Inspired by a fantastic lettuce wrap my sister made for a family dinner, we created these Thai Spiced Turkey Lettuce Wraps for a light weekend meal. These quick to make Thai lettuce wraps are healthy, filling, and flavorful, with the characteristic Southeast Asian flavors of garlic, ginger, crunchy water chestnuts, and vibrant fresh herbs. 

We woke up this April fools morning to a fine dusting of frost covering our spring crocuses. The joke, it appears, was on spring. It is a fickle time of year for food, we crave the soft colors and zippy flavors of spring, but still desire the hearty textures of winter. We bridge the seasons with our Lime Edamame Dip, a bold, herby dip with a buttery hazelnut taste and hearty texture. Edamame beans are green soybeans removed from their pods and eaten prior to ripening.  Edamame is typically found in Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Indonesian cooking. This dip is a fantastic crowd pleaser, and well worth sourcing edamame.

Think of this Sweet Potato, Chili and Lime Soup as a sweeter tortilla soup, a spicier butternut bisque, or a limey chowder. This silky textured soup eats like a hearty cream soup gone funky with chili and lime. Given the natural richness of the sweet potatoes, we found that sour cream, lime, cilantro and tortilla strips are a must for both flavor and textural contrast. Our soon-to-be brother-in-law had the inspired idea of adding a dollop of Chimichurri Sauce to the soup, he was right, it’s a winner! Serve with some homemade bread and a bright beet salad, and you have yourself a colorful and light winter meal. This recipe is adapted from James Peterson.

Its the season for resolutions, and food trends are emphasizing the lean and green. In this spirit, I suggested a kale salad for dinner last night. Paul smirked, and countered with a suggestion of loaded nachos. So goes marriage. Our brilliant compromise, Citrus Pulled Pork Tacos with Feta, pairs Yucatán Citrus Pulled Pork with a cumin and garlic red cabbage salad, cilantro, and briny feta, for a satisfying and light main.

“What kind of weird orange tomato is that...” the check-out clerk wondered aloud, as persimmons made their way up the conveyor belt at the grocery store last week. Ten minutes later, there were two mangers involved, a low buzz of grumpy conversation in the line, and toes tapping impatiently. Finally, with the arrival of a third manager, and no persimmon on the produce list, I was told to name my price and take my strange fruit home. Victory! Persimmon Citrus Salad is worth the trouble to track down persimmons in your area, it is a festive and zippy salad, featuring winter's most vibrant colors and textures, bathed in a lime mint vinaigrette.

Persimmons are a fall fruit in season between September and December and there are a number of varieties of this fruit. We prefer the pumpkin orange, tomato shaped Fuyu persimmons, as they can be eaten at all stages of the ripening process, unlike other varieties which are astringent and incredibly bitter until they fully ripen.  

In a holiday season notorious for sweet potato casseroles topped with marshmallows and candied nuts, we play it unconventional. We love the warm spices and fresh herbs of this Moroccan Roasted Sweet Potato Salad. A fragrant dish with a nod towards North African seasonings, the sweet potatoes are roasted until they are lightly crisped, flavored with an aromatic, garlic, and lemon infused Charmoula vinaigrette, and topped with feta, cilantro and pomegranate. Charmoula is a traditional Moroccan, Tunisian, and Algerian marinade that  is traditionally used in fish and vegetable dishes. Moroccan Roasted Sweet Potato Salad is a winner with guests and an unusual twist on the seasonal sweet potato.

Rebecca's all-time favorite sandwich is the Vietnamese Bánh Mì. Our take on this Vietnamese-French fusion classic uses unctuous grilled chicken, tangy pickled vegetables, heaps of cilantro and jalapeno, and a robust mayo sauce. Despite the long ingredient list and exotic heritage, Grilled Chicken Bánh Mì Sandwiches are straightforward to make and can win over even the pickiest of eaters.  

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What is your favorite sandwich? Where did you eat your favorite Bánh Mì sandwich? 

Food has the power to connect us to people and places around the world. In 2007, Rebecca and I spent three months traveling through South East Asia together. Leaving Cambodia on the back of moto-bikes, we arrived for the night, hot and dusty, in a small village in rural Vietnam. After dropping off our packs, we sat down on the rickety plastic stools of the town's only food stand, famished. Without asking what we wanted, two pungent bowls of Phở Gà, Vietnam's famous chicken noodle soup, were plunked down in front of us. We were hooked! As we made our way north over the next several weeks, we enjoyed many local variations of Phở: from the dark, rich, and beefy to bright and spicy with shrimp. Our favorite Phở, on which our recipe is based, was eaten from steaming bowls one early morning overlooking Hạ Long Bay. This version used chicken that had been marinated and grilled, rather than boiled in the soup, giving it a crispy texture and sweet charred flavor. 

Each sip of flavorful broth reminds us also of the people and culture that created it. Phở is an aromatic and visual dish, one that we like to serve in our  Vietnamese blue petal bowls made in the Kinh family workshop in the famous pottery village of Bat Trang, Vietnam. By partnering with a local non-profit and Ten Thousand Villages, women potters are able to make a living for their families, continue a rich cultural tradition, and gain access to tools, education, training, interest-free loans, and literacy classes. We buy many of our dishes and gifts from Ten Thousand Villages each year, and appreciate their commitment to ethical partnerships with local artisans around the world. 

Quick Mexican Tomato Salsa is a perfect summer food: fresh, spicy, and casual. While it is easy to be seduced by the beautifully packaged jars of salsa lining the grocery shelves, nothing beats the flavor of homemade. Quick Mexican Tomato Salsa is a breeze to make, and this simple salsa lets the quality of the ingredients come through without the need for gimmicky "new" flavor combinations. It is tomato season, and this is our favorite summer salsa. Quick Mexican Tomato Salsa is adapted from one of Paul's favorite cookbooks: Food of the Americas by Fernando and Marlene Divina.

Andean Corn and Cheese Salad is one of our quickest, easiest, and most delicious vegetable salads. In the tradition of Andean cuisine, this dish relies on the simple flavors of local fresh vegetables to create a balanced and vibrant dish. I love the way the bright fresh flavors in this salad are contrasted with soft salty chunks of creamy queso blanco. This recipe is adapted from one of our favorite cookbooks of the year: Gran Cocina Latina by Maricel Presilla. This beautifully compiled and thoroughly researched tome is an incredible resource for people interested in exploring the diverse and vibrant food of Latin America. 

Food is one of the most powerful ways that we connect with people, places, and cultures. This weekend we had a festive gathering of old and new friends: a perfect venue to debut Paul's new sandwich. Our Scratch-Made Cubano starts with mojo marinated pork, slow smoked to moist tenderness.  This citrus and smoke laced pork is then thinly sliced, and piled high on fresh baked sourdough and topped with garlicky pickle slices, Swiss cheese, mustard and our house cilantro sauce. This Scratch-Made Cubano builds on the classic Cuban sandwich, with amped up flavor and unique home-made ingredients. Try this sandwich, and you may never go back.

Louisiana is the home of many excellent things; delicious foods, our good friend Jeff, and the inventor of these exquisite Cajun Crab Cakes with Jalapeno Remoulade.  Whenever we travel to a coastal area, Paul starts researching regional takes on crab cakes, a particular favorite of his.   Our time in New Orleans last year was a definite button busting success of a food vacation, with one exception, Paul did not find the one perfect crab cake.  We returned home and proceeded to immerse ourselves (read: obsess) with Cajun and Creole cooking,  It was through a Louisiana native chef and cookbook author, Donald Link, that we found this dynamic crab cake recipe.  Cajun Crab Cakes with Jalapeno Remoulade feature some of the classic Cajun flavors with an incredible punchy hit of flavor.  These crab cakes are unique in their minimal use of filler and binding ingredients, making for a very loose cake and which allows the sweetness of the crab to shine.  These crab cakes do rely heavily on the quality of your crab meat, so make sure to get the best quality you can find.   

Creamy cumin lime coleslaw is a dynamic coleslaw: intensely flavored by garlic, mellowed by a base of mayonnaise and buttermilk, perked up with a strong jolt of lime, with aromatics of cumin and cilantro perfuming each bite. This coleslaw came into my life when I was 16, my Mom made it for dinner one night and our whole family quickly became obsessed with it.  At one barbecue, I even went so far as to earnestly tell every single guest, what an outstanding coleslaw this was, noting, with the only the gravity a 16 year old can muster, that it was the best coleslaw they would ever eat. I recall one guest stopped me as he was leaving to thank me for my pointed food recommendation noting that I had indeed been correct and that it was the best coleslaw he had ever eaten.  This, slightly tweaked version of my mothers’ coleslaw, is certainly on our favorites list and may just be the best coleslaw you will ever eat!

With all our spring work efforts we thought some guacamole and chips were in order to keep up our energy, especially after the 38 wheelbarrows of mulch down our steep yard.  This Charred Onion Guacamole is creamy, smoky and garlicky, you really don't even need chips to eat it. This Guacamole is the reward you deserve after a long spring day of work.  If you are like us, and don't always plan ahead to buy your avocados in time to ripen, Paul has a neat technique that works well to ensure you have access to this addictive dip.  1-2 days prior to use (the longer the better) Paul puts unripe avocados in a brown paper bag with a very ripe apple.  The apple releases ethylene gas, which gets trapped in the paper bag to fast forward the avocado ripening process. It's cool science.

Kale and Red Leaf Salad with Apple Mint Vinaigrette is an unusual and delicious salad that we made this evening with our first spring batch of local green kale.  Kale is the quiet gawky kid in the corner who landed the starring role in the school play and never looked back. Kale has a serious following of die-hard fans who devour it in all forms; chips, smoothies, ice cream, brownies, pesto.  Kale is a cancer-fighting super-food loaded with beta-carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, calcium, and antioxidants. To learn about the many ways to use kale and its nutritional value check out Deborah Madison's new book Vegetable Literacy.  This Kale and Red Leaf Salad is a tasty example of raw kale serving as a base for this distinctive crisp apple mint vinaigrette. 

Following a weekend of holiday feasting, we usually find ourselves craving something light, and refreshing.  After we had stuffed ourselves to capacity,  these Crab Lettuce Wraps with Spicy Lime Vinaigrette were the refreshing light meal to bring us back from a carb induced holiday daze. While crab is a splurge, this dish allows the sweet and delicate flavor of blue crab to shine. It is worth every penny. If you're truly adventurous, you can buy crab fresh, cook it and remove the meat.  We generally buy a high quality canned crab, which is quick, easy and consistently available. To make these crab wraps, Rebecca used avocado, some stunning watermelon radishes, cucumber, and a sweet and spicy lime vinaigrette. She used hydroponic Bibb lettuce fresh from our CSA for the wraps.   We found these cute little lettuce cups were a neat way of holding this light and healthy crab salad together.