Recipe: Risotto with Tomato and Goat Cheese

Risotto gets a bad rap as a laborious and time-consuming dish, but the truth is, I secretly enjoy making it. Maybe it has something to do with the the fast pace and busy workload of a typical weekday, but I find that the whole process of infusing hot liquid into rice is incredibly relaxing. For twenty minutes, all I have to do is stand in front of the stove, wait, and occasionally stir. The best part? At the end, I get to enjoy a creamy, rich risotto.

I almost always have Arborio rice in my cupboard, but I rarely have chicken stock. For a long time, this kept me from making risotto as often as I'd like. For some reason, it never occurred to me that a quick vegetable stock - or even hot water! - could create risotto equally as well as chicken stock. A couple of weeks ago, I read a Mark Bittman article on how easy it is to make risotto with any hot liquid. Lacking chicken stock (as usual), I decided to take his advice and make garlic stock.

Recipe: Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho

For a quick summer meal that's fresh and seasonal, there's nothing tastier and easier than gazpacho. The term 'gazpacho' usually refers to a tomato-based soup which doesn't require cooking and is served chilled; beyond that, there are infinite variations. More often than not, gazpacho recipes include liquids like chicken stock, tomato juice, or even water to thin out the vegetable puree. Because it's August and the farmer's market is filled with truly wonderful heirloom tomatoes right now, I wanted to make a gazpacho that would allow their flavor to shine through. I added a little olive oil and red wine vinegar for texture and taste, but all the rest of the liquid in this recipe comes from the tomatoes themselves rather than from stock or purchased juice. Because it highlights the flavor of the fresh vegetables so well, it's the perfect vehicle for my best farmer's market finds.

Herbs! Herbs! Herbs!

This is my favorite time of year. Why? Drumroll, please... it's farmer's market season! Once May rolls around and the farmer's market is open for business, I can finally clear out last year's herbs from the freezer and get some new seedlings growing.

Fresh herbs make everything taste better and can elevate even the simplest recipe to new heights. Food tastes fresh, vibrant, and revitalized. Herbs even work magic with leftovers - add fresh rosemary to yesterday's mashed potatoes and you'll have a brand-new dish on your hands.

Though I would much prefer to grow herbs in the ground, it's not in the cards right now due to some prickly HOA stipulations, so a tabletop herb garden will have to do. Luckily for me, last year's thyme and chives have survived the winter and are already beginning to grow back. On our first trip to the farmer's market, we rounded out the rest of the slate with parsley, tarragon, basil, cilantro, rosemary, mint, and sage.

Add some pretty white pots, and I'm ready for a season full of fresh herbs. Bring on the summer!