Snap Pea Pasta

This summery pasta dish is light and healthy. Roast a bunch of chopped asparagus and sugar snap peas (ends removed, but whole) on a cookie sheet with olive oil and salt for 15-20 min at 425 degrees (until a little charred but still crunchy). Combine these veggies in a warm pot of cooked and drained whole wheat pasta, as well as a half bunch each of fresh chopped cilantro and basil. Mix it all up with olive oil, salt, pepper and shaved parmesan. Enjoy!

Recipe, Photos and Illustration by Erin Gleeson for The Forest Feast

Memorial Day BBQ Potluck Menu

To kick off summer, yesterday we had some friends over for a Memorial Day BBQ. People brought the most wonderful things to share like tzatziki potato salad (yogurt instead of mayo, brilliant) and a raw kale salad with shaved parmesan and tofu. My husband fired up the grill . I had some fennel from our CSA box to use up so I combined cauliflower, fennel and onions with lots of spices and olive oil and roasted them until they were carmelized. I also made up a light arugula salad with shaved raw fennel and oranges. Welcome, summer!

Photos and Illustrations by Erin Gleeson for The Forest Feast

Passover Seder in the Woods

Spring has sprung in the woods! Passover is this week and to kick it off, we hosted a first-night Seder.  We spent 2 days cooking all the traditional Jewish dishes: Matzah ball soup, Haroset (a paste of dried fruit and nuts), Farfel (quiche-like squares), Tzimmes (a sweet potato carrot dish), plus a roasted chicken with rosemary and lemon. The seder plate has items that represent different parts of the meal and the Passover story of slavery and freedom, including a hard boiled egg, horseradish, parsley, matzah, a shank bone and the modern addition of an orange. In this story of Exodus, when the Jews fled Egypt, they didn’t have time for their bread to rise, so this week we eat matzah instead of bread as a reminder that there are still people today who seek freedom. Chag Sameach and Happy Passover!

Photos and illustration by Erin Gleeson

Root Vegetable Pizza

With so many winter root vegetables in season, why not roast them up and throw them on a pizza!? Golden beets are a stunner if you can find them. Get some pre-made whole wheat dough at the market if you don’t have time to make your own. I like to mix some tomato sauce with ricotta for a ‘sauce-cheese-combo’ that’s lower on the guilt scale. Roast the veggies on their own first for extra crispiness.