As we head (hopefully) into the spring thaw, have you sowed your spinach seeds yet? Spinach grows very quickly, and you can even sow seeds over snow cover as it thaws for early spring germination.

High in protein, calcium and iron, quinoa (say: keen-wa) is also gluten-free, making the seeds a fantastic choice for vegetarians and those with celiac disease or on a gluten-free diet, as well as everyone else. When cooked, it is fluffy like rice with a mild, nutty flavor and uncooked can also be ground into a flour for use in baked goods.

As winter meets spring, the warmth of the salad fights the still chilly breeze, and the freshness of the spinach foreshadows the bounty that will soon erupt from your garden. It's my favorite time of year, and can I feel myself get anxiously giddy at the thought of the breeze slowly shifting from cold and biting to warm and soothing. I'm ready to break out the lawn chairs and eat dinner on the grass…if only all this snow would melt.

This salad is the perfect accompaniment to an early spring gardening session, clearing out debris, moving leaves from atop the plants and mixing the winter's compost with the topsoil to get the earth ready for planting. Have you started thinking about your spring gardening plans yet?

Lemon Quinoa Salad with Feta and Wilted Spinach

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 cups fresh baby spinach

4 scallions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups cooked quinoa

¼ cup feta cheese

Juice and zest from one Meyer lemon

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large skillet or wok. Add the spinach and scallions. Cook over medium heat until spinach begins to wilt. Add garlic, toss and cook for 30 seconds more. Add the cooked quinoa and continue to sauté until quinoa is heated through. Squeeze lemon juice evenly over the salad, add zest and feta. Stir to combine and immediately remove from heat. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Makes 2 meal-sized servings or 4 sides.

It's February, and if you're anything like me, now is the time when you start wishing for the thaw.  The snow has come, I had fun, and now, well, now I'm ready to plant my garden.  This time of year definitely has me digging deep into my freezer to pull out the frozen products from last year's gardening efforts.  I use my pesto stash much more freely, and a few days ago, I pulled out a few containers of shredded zucchini that I had parboiled and just slightly and frozen.

While I had been overwhelmed by the amount of zucchini my single plant seemed to produce last year, seeing those white and green shreds packed deep in my freezer were a welcome contrast to my overcast, gray winter days.  If you don't have your own, don't worry.  Just buy a bag of frozen pieces and send them through the food processor.

I had planned on making zucchini bread loaves when I originally took my zucchini out of the freezer to thaw, but my mind was changed indefinitely when I visited Deb's blog and saw these.  I instantly started dreaming of a creamy orange-kissed center inside my favorite quick bread mix.  It didn't disappoint.

For me winter wouldn't be complete without a few good soups...or perhaps more than a few.  There is no better way to warm up on a cold winter day than with a cup of soup in hand, as it warms you straight down to your gut.  If not the main course, soups provide the perfect starter to ease you in to a hearty meal as well.

If you remember, I was just waxing poetic on the virtues of overwinter leeks, but then I left you waiting for an actual soup recipe to use them in and only provided you with a way to turn the parts of the leek you wouldn't use into a broth.  I intend to rectify that today.  A simple leek and onion bisque will make use of all the vegetables we didn't use when we made our vegetable broth.

This soup would make a fantastic starter to a grass-fed braised pot roast dinner, but it makes a meal of itself when paired with a loaf of homemade bread.  It's a winter offering of warmth in a cup.

Leeks are a fantastic vegetable in the winter time because they can be left in the ground until you're ready to eat them. They're a near essential in winter soups. Paired with a broth, a few other vegetables and a bit of cream to fill you up, leeks are sure to become a staple on your winter comfort food list.

What I don't like about leeks and particularly leeks in soups is that most recipes are only looking for the white and light green portion of the leek, discarding the rest.  In fact, most things that require peeling and pitting and seeding and juicing seem wasteful to me.  I like to repurpose.  The good news is that you can salvage the dark green portions along with your other vegetable waste and turn it into a flavorful vegetable broth that will act as the base for those same soups.

Start with the dark green portion of your leek.  Then chop both ends off of a large sweet onion, peel and save both the ends and the papery skin.  Chop half of it.  Remove the leafy tops and the bottom root ball of the celery.  Crush 8 to 10 cloves of garlic.

After heating 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large stockpot, add all of the vegetable scraps aside from the onion ends and skin and the celery root ball.  We can add those later.  Sauté the roughly chopped vegetables for 10 minutes until they sweat and soften up.

Editor's note: We're so excited that so many of you have made commitments to Go Organic in 2010! We hope more of you will RSVP this week, and we're happy to have Shaina sharing 10 great tips with us  here:

Organic living is definitely a way of life, but if you have a family with kids, you may find that buying organic and eating organic often seem to be less than frugal.  It doesn't have to be that way.  In fact, there are ways to live organically that won't break your pocketbook and can even have you living more economically friendly for the New Year.

1.  Buy in bulk.

Buying large quantities is often cheaper per ounce/pound than buying individual-sized portions.  Consider a warehouse membership or just look in your own grocery store for larger packaging.  Look for recipes for interesting and new ways to utilize the larger amount of food to be sure it gets eaten or flash freeze it and store for use later.

2.  Join a CSA.

Look into Community Supported Agricultural shares at a local organic farm.  You'll be supporting a local business and benefitting from seasonal produce during growing season.  Find a CSA near you.

3.  Visit your farmer's market.

Make a habit out of going to the local farmer's market to buy product and meat.  You'll get to know where your food is coming from and you're sure to be buying in season and will cut out the middleman of a grocery store by doing so.  Oftentimes heavy fruits like melons and squash that are paid for by the pound in the store are significantly cheaper at a flat rate from the farmer's market

Hands down, my favorite part of holiday baking is the smells.  Whether it's lemon and rum in my cookies or cinnamon and cloves in a cake, the house is warmed from the heat of the oven and filled with scents of sugar and spice.

Gingerbread is one of those smells for me.  Soft and inviting, this delicious cake is full of all the spices that remind me of this time of year.  What better way to top it off than with a bit of holiday cheer whipped up into a cloud of fluffy white on top?

Black Friday has arrived; the countdown to Christmas is officially in full swing.  The crowds have descended upon the malls and mass merchandisers, and I'm holed up at home, laughing about how my holiday shopping is finished.  Completed.  Done.  The only thing left for me to do is to cook up a storm from the comfort of my own home.



Winter is a hard time to find locally grown produce if you live in climates where the cold temperatures freeze the ground.  Winter squash is one vegetable that is easily stored through the winter and allows you to keep eating local even when the only thing growing outside your front door is the pile of snow at the end of the driveway. 



I had purchased a butternut squash about a week ago with no plans as to how I was going to use it.  Inspiration hit hard as I was digging through a cupboard or two, trying to gain some sense of organization as I planned my baking list.  I saw a lone bag of pine nuts and I instantly knew how to kick off my winter comfort food marathon.



Potato and Butternut Sage Gratin with Chèvre (click on post title for full recipe)

Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and for most families that means pumpkin-based desserts.  This year, rather than purchasing your pumpkin in a can, consider heading out to your local farmer's market or whole foods store and picking up an organic sugar pumpkin to make your own puree for your pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin bars, pumpkin soup or, in this case, streusel-topped pumpkin bread.  It's easier than you think and the results are worth the effort.

Click title of this article to see the full recipe!