One End, One Beginning

A month or so before the official start of spring, after the trees have started blossoming, and all the daffodils have come up I start to crave peaches and peppers something fierce.  The end of February/ beginning March is a pretty bleak time for food.  Not as bleak in Northern California then most other places in the US, as we have a year around growing season, we always have plenty of greens, but I want squash!
We got lucky the other night and found the very last of the winter squash at our local farm stand.  We love butternut squash.  We eat them all winter.  As with anything delicious we don't need to do much to it, our favorite way to eat butternut squash is simply roasted, usually in a warm butternut squash salad.

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad
Peel, cut in half, and scoop out the seeds
Slice the squash and toss with a little olive oil and a little maple syrup (the maple syrup is optional, but the syrup really helps to bring out the sweet butternut flavor) just enough to lightly coat the squash
Spread out on a baking sheet or two and roast in the oven at 400 until tender, and browning on the edges (I usually check every 20 minutes or so)

When the squash is done we lay them over a bed of greens lightly dressed with some kind of mild vinaigrette, sometimes with a soft cheese, whatever we have and whatever sounds good.

Now for strawberries and fresh peas!

Salads For Breakfast, Breakfast For Dinner

I like a big breakfast, and I have one almost every day.  Eggs in the morning are more essential than coffee, which I love, but believe it or not, I could take or leave.  My love for breakfast extends beyond breakfast and can easily spill into lunch or dinner. 
One of our favorite anytime breakfasts is tonight's dinner : poached egg salad.

 

Make any sort of simple green salad, fry some bacon and then chop it up.  Dress your salad with whatever dressing you like (we make a vinaigrette), then toss in the bacon.  Poach an egg and place it on top.  Toast a hunk of your favorite bread, serve it on the side, and voila:  Breakfast Dinner is served.

 

So Cold We Eat Our Salads Warm

It has been so cold that all I seem to think is warm warm warm, especially when it's time to prepare dinner.
It is easy to neglect our leafy greens and vegetables when you think like that.  So I made leafy greens and vegetables dinner, only warm.

Peel and chop some carrots and beets (and garlic), drizzle with olive oil and roast until tender, 30 minutes or so.

When they're ready and still hot, toss them with arugula- so the leaves wilt just a little- and fresh goat cheese. I drizzled the whole mess with a little balsamic and served it warm (alongside a sausage, of course).