When the weather is hot and the produce is gorgeous, there’s nothing I like better for dinner than a freshly composed Salade Nicoise.  It’s a French classic, simple, flavorful and substantial enough to make a one dish meal.

The traditional version from Nice on the Cote d’Azur is built around  high quality tuna canned in olive oil, the slender green beans known as haricots verte and a lively vinaigrette.  Potatoes are not included and the vegetables are never cooked. (more…)

Even the most enthusiastic cooks face days when 5 p.m. rolls around and they still haven’t the faintest idea what they’re making for dinner.  The refrigerator is bare, there’s no time to go to the store and ordering take-out is not in the budget.

That’s when I turn to the pantry.  Mine always holds at least one package of spaghetti, a can of diced tomatoes and a can of clams (I like Geisha brand) for this simple but satisfying pasta.  Oh yes, there’s always a hunk of Parmigiano Reggiano in the fridge, too.  A head of garlic waits in a terra cotta jar on the counter and a big bottle of extra virgin olive oil stands in the cupboard.  If I’m lucky, there will be fresh Italian parsley in the crisper but it’s not absolutely essential. (more…)

Once upon a time, fresh salmon made a regular appearance on my dinner table.  The California fishery was still relatively healthy and I could always count on finding fresh, locally-caught king salmon at my neighborhood grocery store throughout the spring and summer.  The succulent orange flesh of the thick steaks and fillets was irresistible.  Prices weren’t bad either.

Fast forward a decade and fresh salmon from local fishing boats has become a rare luxury.  Federal authorities have placed the California coastal king salmon, also known as Chinook, on their list of threatened species. The state closed salmon fisheries altogether for the first time in 2008 and 2009 because the stock of Chinook was so low.  This year, the ocean season was restricted to the month of April and catches were limited to two salmon a day.

Of course, there’s still salmon in the market, but most of the wild-caught fish has been shipped from Alaska with prices to match. Even then much of it is labeled “previously frozen” because most of the Alaskan catch is flash-frozen on the boat as soon as it’s caught.  So I’ve been reconsidering the shrink-wrapped wild salmon in the freezer cases at stores like Trader Joe’s, where prices are about half that of fresh fish. (more…)

I don’t know about you but I don’t eat fish very often anymore, as much as I like it.  Sometimes it seems like everything I want is either threatened with extinction, bad for my body or a blow to my budget.

So it was cause for celebration when I found a great-tasting fish that was easy on my conscience, my health and my bank account.   Who knew that sardines, those oft-maligned little fish, would be so good?

I write about the pleasures of sardines today in the San Jose Mercury News (Story now below).   Although I realize they’re a tough sell in our culture, there’s a reason they’re so popular in Spanish and Italian cuisines. Their deep savor marries well with the bold flavors of garlic, peppers and citrus. (more…)

One of the striking ironies of Alaska is how difficult it is to find fresh fish in the ports serving North America’s biggest fishery.

Frozen fish is everywhere, neatly packaged in vacuum-sealed pouches.  That’s because all but a small portion of the huge harvest of salmon and halibut is destined for markets elsewhere.  The fish are filleted and frozen within hours after they’re pulled from Alaska’s icy oceans.

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