Parsley

French Lentil Salad with Goat Cheese and Walnuts
Salade de Lentilles au Chèvre et Aux Noix 

This green-on-green pasta is the essence of springtime, and I start to crave it as soon as the first crocuses appear. The combination of asparagus, nutty Parmigiano-Reggiano, and the delicate accent of basil is perfection.

In the United States, we don’t usually see ground meat on skewers, but it is typical throughout the Middle East and Africa. The trick to this dish is not to overmix the lamb, so it doesn’t become mealy. I like these meatballs nice and small so the bite you get is fully caramelized—lamb on the outside, onion on the inside.

Ingredients

Often called shrimp al pip-pil, this northern favorite can be either spicy in the sense of piquant, with plenty of cayenne pepper, or spicy in the sense of heavily seasoned, with garlic, cumin, sweet paprika, and a pinch of cayenne pepper, plus plenty of fresh cilantro and parsley. This recipe is the latter, though you can add firepower as desired. The shrimp can also be prepared in individual terra-cotta dishes and served as an appetizer.

The smaller fennel bulbs at our farmers markets tend to have a more pronounced licorice flavor that pairs nicely with the tang of good tomatoes.

This salsa fresca comes in handy when someone is intolerant to cilantro and the mint and parsley mixture gives it a very unique flavor that goes well with grilled meats.

Drain mushrooms. Mash cheese with small amount of cream. Add salt and Worcestershire sauce. Add mushrooms and mix. Chill thoroughly so mixture will be easy to handle and then shape into ball and roll it in finely minced parsley. Serve with melba toast rounds.

Don't have a clue what to fix for dinner tonight? This dish is always a great solution to that problem. The tomatoes and parsley are the only fresh ingredients you need; everything else is probably in your fridge or pantry. For a splurge, use Spanish tuna in olive oil; for a bargain, try Genova brand, also in olive oil but half the price.