Now these are baby carrots. Scarcely wider than a gentleman's ring finger and half again as long. Look for them at your farmers market and for bunches of hot pink French breakfast radishes. Munch on them raw for a sweet, crunchy snack, or roast them together for a light seasonal meal. And if your carrots have vibrant bushy greens attached? Do not toss them into the trash, nor even the compost pile. Turn them into an earthy pesto and enjoy the thrill of vegetarian nose-to-tail cooking.
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I majored in comparative literature at Harvard in the 80s, when symbolism was in. I was immersed in deconstructionism, from Derrida to Barthes. So some long-neglected part of my lizard brain perked up when I came across Pamela Yung's tantalizing multi-faceted dessert in an Edible Selby feature in T magazine. (Scroll through until you find it.) The grand finale to a loosely-Brazilian-themed lunch cooked by a bunch of groovy food types (Ignacio Mattos, former chef at Isa and Il Buco; David Tanis, of Chez Panisse fame, etc), the dessert combined grilled pineapple, lime sherbet, coconut mousse and a nutty riff on farofa (toasted manioc flour), all casually jumbled together in a clear glass. Reader, I was smitten. These elements might have been composed into a more formal construction, yet in this supremely modern ensemble each one retained its own distinct identity while still contributing to a revelatory gestalt. It wasn't as obvious as when you get all the pieces of a classic dessert spread out on a plate—like the tired conceit that is deconstructed pie, for example. This just felt so fresh and original that I was compelled to copy it right away.
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The last of the tomatillos came off the vine this week. You know they're ripe when the papery husk grows tight. I love how these are tinged with lavender. They're a different kind than the smaller, all-green ones we harvested last year, though they have the same vegetal yet citrusy flavor. I whipped up a large batch of sauce—a slight variation on my usual recipe—some of which I'll use for enchiladas, and the rest will be frozen. The light, tangy sauce is chunky with bits of onion and pepitas (green pumpkin seeds) and is beautifully spiced with jalapeño, garlic, cumin and coriander.

You asked for soup, you got it. This rich and creamy combination of kabocha squash and fennel is a wonderful winter recipe from Suzanne Goin. She's an LA-based chef and I really recommend her cookbook, Sunday Suppers at Lucques. (I hope to eat at Lucques, or at AOC, her other place, when I'm in LA later this week.) The kabocha called for is a rich, sweet and dry-textured squash that used quite a bit in Japanese cooking. It's sometimes referred to as Japanese pumpkin. Like all squash, it's good for you—high in fiber and in vitamins C and A. It has a darkish green, striated outside, sometimes tinged with orange and yellow.This is a hearty vegetarian soup (although you can make it with chicken stock) and, along with some cheese and salad, I think it will leave you quite satisfied.

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