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…)

One of the great joys of spring is the debut of fresh fava beans at the farmers market.  The shiny green pods look for all the world like pole beans on steroids and the skin is quite tough. But tucked inside are some of the most delectable legumes you’ll ever eat.

If they weren’t so wonderful, I’d certainly begrudge the time it takes to get to the edible portion of the beans.  I like to think of it as a rite of spring, however. Stripping open the pods, removing the beans, then blanching them and peeling each one by hand is a meditative process that slows time and allows me to savor the pleasures of the season. (more…)

It’s only natural to envy Patricia Wells.  The American journalist has lived the fantasy of many a food lover since she moved to Paris in 1980.

As the restaurant critic of the International Herald Tribune for 27 years, she made her living by eating and writing about some of the best food in the world.  Now she splits her time between Paris and Provence, teaching small groups of students how to shop, eat and cook like a French woman.  Hard life, eh?

The rest of us are grateful that Wells shares her good fortune in a string of  terrific cookbooks, starting with “Bistro Cooking” (Workman, 1989), which revealed the secrets of the small family restaurants of France for soul-satisfying dishes such as celery remoulade and pot-au-feu.  Now, just in time for the salad days of spring and summer, William Morrow has released “Salad as a Meal,” her ninth collection of recipes. (more…)

Although I’ve always liked sweet potatoes, I’ve never really thought of them as anything but holiday food.   Once Christmas is past, they’re out of mind.

All that changed a couple of weeks ago when my  friend Susan Cohen took me to Poulet, a take-out/eat-in deli in Berkeley,  before her poetry reading.  There in the glass case among the salads was an intriguing dish pairing sweet potatoes and black beans.  It looked so appealing, I had to try it.

The first bite was amazing.  A spicy jolt of lime and chile dressing banished all the usual associations with brown sugar and cinnamon.  Suddenly, the familiar sweet potato was exotic and exciting.  Its earthy sweetness played the essential bass note in a jazzy riff of lively flavors. (more…)

The first time I saw watermelon radishes, I grinned.  What could be more welcome amid all the leafy greens and dull root vegetables at the  winter farmers market than these aptly named little gems, their bright fuchsia centers proclaiming the promise of spring to come?

Not only were they cute and cheerful, they were crisp and mild, the perfect addition to a salad or a platter of cruditès.  Now, every time I see them at the market, I pick up a few. (more…)