As clutter-haters and city-dwellers, Andrew and I do our best to not accumulate many possessions. Two notable exceptions: my cookbook collection, which is currently overflowing into a file cabinet, under the bed, and pretty much everywhere else I can stash them, and Andrew’s massive box of cords, cables, and other electronic doodads (I thought I was pretty clever when I coined the term, “corder” as in cord hoarder).
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Seafood
Mussels Puttanesca
Between keeping track of sustainability guidelines and preparing it within a fleeting window of freshness, cooking seafood can feel like a bit of a bother. Add in that it tends to be pretty pricey, and it’s easy to see why fish and shellfish often get passed over for other proteins. One completely-underrated exception: mussels. Aside from the somewhat-pesky — meditative, if we’re being generous — task of cleaning them, these bivalves are quite winning. Simple to cook, budget-friendly, and sustainable, they’re a killer choice for a fancy-feeling dinner.
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One-Pan Salmon and Asparagus With Spring Onions
It may not be as apparent as with produce, but seafood has its seasons. With the rise of aquaculture, frozen fish, and globalization in general, it’s possible to buy salmon all year long, but, like berries, wild salmon is at its peak during the spring and summer months. This recipe pairs beautiful salmon fillets with two other seasonal ingredients: asparagus and spring onions.
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Shrimp and Quinoa With Mango-Avocado Salsa
After years of living in San Francisco, where beautiful farm-fresh produce is practically a given year-round, the adjustment to New York’s seasons has been a bit of a shock. The snow and cold hardly phased me (granted, the past winter was freakishly-mild); grocery shopping was a different matter. I’m not particularly proud of it, but I basically gave up on the farmers market after a couple depressing mid-January trips where I came home with naught but a couple sad, wrinkly onions and a few pounds of storage apples. On the flip-side, this seasonality makes the first peeps of spring produce all the more exciting. Absence makes the heart grow fonder?
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One-Pan Sesame Salmon With Shiitake Mushrooms
Over five years, my boyfriend Andrew and I have shared too many meals to count, but this simple, elegant salmon dish is one I’ll always remember. One of the first things I cooked for him, it felt like an unequivocal success, a meal enjoyed by all parties. Years later, when I made it again, Andrew gently revealed that he wasn’t too keen on it that first time; to his tastes the salmon was a bit too rare, something he was far too polite to point out at the time.
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