• This Pistachio Asparagus Pesto on Linguine from Serious Eats uses spinach and asparagus instead of basil and pistachios instead of pine nuts. And I can’t wait for asparagus season to start so I can make it.
• I saw blood oranges at the coop last week, and wanted something to make with them. This Warm Rice Salad with Chard, Feta, Walnuts and Blood Orange from Yummy Supper might just fit the bill.
• I see signs of a chard phase on the horizon, because this Peppery Whole Wheat Pasta with Wilted Chard from the Kitchn also sounded delicious to me. And it’s a good excuse to try a new soft creamy cheese to incorporate into the sauce.
• I am totally making this Kale, Carrot and Walnut salad from Vampire Gran once we start seeing more kale.
• We get lots of celeriac from our CSA, and I use it almost all winter in lieu of celery with onions and carrots as the foundation for recipes starring other ingredients. But I look forward to making the humble, cthulu-looking celeraic the star of the show, as in this Celery Root Remoulade from David Leibovitz.
• These Garlic and Sun Dried Tomato Corn Muffins from Eat, Drink, Pretty look like a great side to the zucchini-riffic soup I’ll start making once we start getting a majillion zucchini from our CSA in a few months.

To me, that means one thing: soup. Soup is comforting, warming and delicious. It’s always a great way to load up with healthy veggies, and can be incredibly simple to make. What more can you ask?

One of my favorite soups is split pea soup. I only figured this out last year, but now I am super convinced of this fact. It’s the 8-ingredient pathway to deliciousness and satisfaction.

Split Pea Soup

• 1-2 tb olive oil or bacon fat
• 1 med yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 1-2 good sized carrots, diced
• 1 medium potato, diced
• 2 c split peas, rinsed and checked for debris
• 1 c ham, diced
• ~4 c stock or water
• salt, pepper

1. Melt the fat of your choice (bacon fat does really nice things in this, I swear) in a dutch oven or stock pot over medium heat. I love my Le Creuset for making soup.
2. Add the onions, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and stir. I like kosher salt.
3. Turn heat down to medium-low. Simmer the onions, stirring occasionally, until they are very soft and beginning to caramelize.
4. Add carrots and potatoes and stir. Add split peas. Stir again.
5. Add water or stock until veggies are just covered.
6. Turn heat to high until it comes to a boil. Then, turn down heat to low and simmer until veggies are cooked and split peas are softened.
7. Blend soup. I like to use an immersion blender, but you can also use a regular blender with great care (filling less than half way, and covering top with a towel). I like to blend the whole soup, because then I can chop my veggies less precisely, but you can also blend a portion of it.
8. Add ham.
9. Eat. Yummy!

Now, I still may struggle, but I’ve got a couple of go to delicious recipes, and the firm confidence that I really like fennel a lot. It’s so crunchy! And liquorice-y! But not TOO liquorice-y! So full of fiber, Vitamin C, Folate, Potassium and Manganese.

We got a bunch of fennel when we went to work at our CSA farm a few weeks ago. At our CSA, members need to work one day during the season. The day you work, you can take home the veggies left over after all of the farm share bags are filled. It is one of the great pleasures of my farm workday. This year, I scored some fennel.

This salad is easy (if you can chop and stir, you are golden), cool (minimal cooking), and highly nutritious. Hurray!

For another super delicious fennel recipe, try this Tomato, Avocado and Fennel Panzanella from Two Blue Lemons. I wish I had this in front of me right now!

Fennel, Quinoa and Carrot Salad

For salad, use approximately equal amounts. Or not. It’s your salad:

• Fennel – including stalks, sliced finely (use a mandolin or just practice your knife skills).
• Cooked Quinoa – I just get salted water boiling (double the volume of the quinoa), throw in my rinsed quinoa, and cook over low heat until the water is absorbed.
• Carrot – peel (or just scrub, if you are using yummy fresh carrots) and grate.

Just mix it together.

For dressing (this is how I make my cumin dressing, but if you have a recipe you like more, it will still be delicious):

• Juice of one orange (plus some zest if you feel the zest love), or equivalent
• Juice of one lemon (zest if desired), or equivalent
• Juice of one lime (zest if desired), or equivalent
• 2-3 tablespoons of cumin
• ~3 tablespoons olive oil, more if desired
• salt to taste

Just whisk it together. And pour it on the salad. And mix it in.

I like to garnish this salad with cashews. They add nice texture, nice flavor, and some protein. I have eaten this salad warm (from the residual heat of the quinoa) or cool, and it’s been yummy either way.