Cranking Up the Heat with Chipotle Coleslaw

It's well known that when it's hot outside, eating spicy food will cool you down. That's why notoriously hot spots serve up some of the hottest food around.

I'm thinking of all those delicious and fiery Indian and Thai curries, Mexican salsas, Jamaican Jerks, North African Harissa and of course, my adopted Cajun eats.

Adding heat to food isn't only about kicking up your metabolism and firing up that internal air conditioning (hot foods cool us off), but peppers and pepper products have immense health benefits.

Capsaicin, a natural property in hot peppers, is a know anti-inflamatory and adding hot peppers to your diet can provide relief from rheumatoid arthritis, lower your blood sugar and cholesterol, prevent heart disease, heal an ulcer, and even promote weight loss. An added benefit is capsaicin releases endorphins, creating a sense of well being; it's also a natural pain killer and it stimulates your circulation.

So if you're hot today, whip up a batch of my highly addictive and super hot (you can tone it down) Chipotle Coleslaw and give your taste buds an awakening.

Gazpacho and Hot Summer Nights

Okay, so part of that title is a big fat lie. It hasn't been hot at all (but it was) and we are in fact enjoying some pretty darn gorgeous, albeit, cool summer weather. But it's July and I always make gazpacho in July--August, too--so in spite of 70 degree weather, I concentrated on the blue skies and sunshine and got my blender out.

What I'm sharing with you is the simplest, tastiest, and best of the best gazpacho recipes. It's not only delicious, but super healthy, so you'll definitely want to make some soon.

Grilled Caesar Salad

I know people who are so obsessed with Caesar salad that they will do shameful things to get their fix. Of course, I don't know any of these people personally, at least I don't think I do, but nonetheless, I always think of them on those rare occasions when I whip up a bowl.

Organic Romaine was a hot ticket sale item last week, so I bought a few heads in anticipation of a good chopped salad and a Caesar salad and on a day when the Mercury headed to the triple digits, I marinated a thick steak and gave Ken a halved head of Romaine to toss on the grill. Yep; grilled Caesar salad is definitely in my summer repertoire.

Oh My, It's Time for Cherry Pie

Every year, come June, I say goodbye to my comfortable pants and eat my way into a semi-conscious state of bliss. Weeks before it happens, I try to cut back on calories, hit the gym, and even press myself to do a few extra laps in the pool. I feel victorious; strong; almost as if I might, at least once, avoid the (pardon the pun) pitfalls of cherry season. But no sooner do I feel able to withstand the short harvest, that I fall by the wayside and happily succumb.

Ken is supposed to be the strong one, but once I start talking about pies and turnovers, he forgets, and then he starts asking the question, "Is it pie day today?" But he knows as well as I do that we always start talking pie weeks before we start eating pie. I'm not sure why it takes us so long, but I figure it must have something to do with the sheer labor intensity of pitting five pounds of cherries. Yep. Five pounds--for two people. You must be wondering if my pants are ever comfortable, but I assure you, some things just must be done with passionate vigor and I'd say cherry pie is one of those things.

For the Love of Tomato Soup

I know. It's May; almost Memorial Day, and here I am, waxing poetic on tomato soup. In my defense, allow me to point out that we had a rash of rainy and cold weather (cold enough for me to kick on the furnace and pull out my sweater) that gave me a real craving for soup.

The problem was that by this time of year, the ingredients in my fridge have shifted, leaving me very little to make soup. But while rummaging in the deep freeze for a lost ham hock, I came across two containers of fresh tomato puree that I had lovingly and painstakingly put away back in late October. I remembered these tomatoes well, for I had let them stay on the vine and reap the last of the fall warmth and the nightly temperature dips all in the hopes of harvesting the sweetest tomatoes of all. By the time I picked them, most of the leaves had fallen away and the fruits were nicked and not anywhere near the beauty bombshells of the earlier crops. But they were tasty and made me long for tomato soup the way they serve it up in Yountville (very near Napa) at a little French bistro called, Bistro Jeanty.

Eggs and Greens with Thick Spaghetti

Sadly, even with the overexposure to "unusual" foods, when it comes to vegetables, most Americans still eat the basic few. For me, however, I can't think of a single one that isn't, at least on a rotational basis, in my diet. One of my favorite by far is kale.

Rick in vitamin C and K, calcium and beta carotene, kale often makes the top of the list of healthiest foods, most likely because it contains lots of carotenoids (pigments that carry oxygen) and is a natural anti-inflamatory. Basically, people who eat diets high in these dense nutrients live longer lives without disease. If this information isn't enough to sway your thinking, then a bowl of my hearty pasta should do the trick.

I call it peasant food because it's cheap to make and sticks to your ribs, but it's also very dense in nutrients and good for your heart fats (olive oil and walnuts). There's a nice balance between carbohydrates and proteins, which gives one sustained energy, and it's serious comfort food that is simple and rewarding to make.

Secret Meetings and Brown Paper Bags

A few weeks ago at the Farmer's Market, I found myself hanging back in line, keeping a fair distance from the other shoppers. It was way too cold for a late February Saturday morning in California and all I really wanted to do was have a quick, but private chat with the vendor and take myself home. Finally, the line died down and I seized the opportunity to corner Lamb Lady behind her table. "I don't see it on your board, but don't you have some Marguez for sale?" I asked as calmly as possible.

She eyed me a bit suspiciously and after a long pause, repeated, "Do I have any Marguez for sale?" The wind kicked up a bit and my patience started to flag, but she was the only one (to my knowledge) who had Marguez, so I had to keep my cool; I nodded and then she went on into a long soliloquy that covered, in turn, raising lamb, a secret recipe, and an FDA crackdown. I nodded my sympathies and then, in whispered voice, she confided that while she didn't have any with her that morning, she just so happened to have two half-pound packages back at her ranch and could bring one the following week. It took a lot for me to get her to agree to giving up both packs, but after a few more minutes she agreed. It would have to be secret, though, and she wouldn't list them on her board, so if I wanted Marguez, I needed to be there the following Saturday. Period.