Easy Being Green (Gumbo z'Herbes)

Cajun cuisine may be stereotyped as all pork fat and crawdads, but gumbo z'herbes stands as a saucy testament to the cardinal importance of vegetables. While no dish would be complete without "the Holy Trinity," a blend of celery, onion, and green bell peppers, gumbo z'herbes raises the stakes by rounding up a potful of fresh greens and letting them rock out front and center. This recipe is extremely timely as April rains coax new shoots of tender green from the warming earth and budding leaves form misty plumes of color painted along the limbs of trees. Gumbo z'herbes is a fun, family-friendly dish that packs magnificently satisfying body and flavor with nary a shellfish nor ham hock in sight.

Flavor-full

Mad About Saffron (Saffron Risotto)

When we visited my family in Chesapeake for Christmas, of course I was excited to see them... but I was also excited for the chance to visit a Trader Joe's for the first time in six months. My lifeline throughout college, it's decidedly lacking in the Montoursville/Williamsport area. Cackling gleefully to ourselves, we raced around the store grabbing everything we could that didn't require refrigeration, including a surprisingly inexpensive bottle of saffron.

That golden glow