In my quest for finding simple, fresh, and delicious recipes, I’ve re-discovered one of my favorite cookbooks: The Complete Tassajara Cookbook. I love the way Edward Brown approaches food and cooking. He is, after all, also a zen buddhist, so his calm and straightforward demeanor is really appealing to me. Brown infuses his recipes with stories and reminders to taste, touch, feel, and smell–so that the food turns out just how you would like it.

This is how a typical day has been going for me lately: work, meeting, teach class, meeting, work, work, oh, it’s dinner time! I’m STARVING! What do I EAT? Think about cooking? I’m too hungry to think! What do I have on hand? Nothing! Damn these whole grains! They take too long to cook!….and the digression continues until I end up making a cheese quesadilla or sauteing some kale in garlic (still not a bad option in a pinch and are looking for some greens!). So, The Complete Tassajara Cookbook now lives next to my bed. Each night I’ve been flipping through it to find 2-3 recipes I would like to make the next day and it has been a fantastic rescue. The nice thing about this book is that I have most of these things on hand. When I grocery shop, I try to avoid the “middle isles” of the store and stay on the periphery where there is fresh produce, dairy, the deli, and not a lot of processed junk. The other side to this is, well, it all needs to be made each night. Cooked. And sometimes I get overwhelmed by this.

Brown takes the guesswork out of simple yet amazing combinations of flavors and textures. He’s made it his life’s work to honor food and all of us who eat, and he’s done a great job at it! The other day I made his Garden Salad: red butter lettuce, minced shallot, spearmint, chives, avocado, salt + pepper, roasted sunflower seeds, and an olive oil balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Incredible.

Today I made his Apple Salad. In the book, it’s true title is Excellent Apple Salad which caught my eye. If Ed says it’s excellent, I’ve got to try this! was my first reaction. And it really did knock my socks off. Brown is a magician with flavors and making sure that all of them are present and delightful in a meal. Plus, most of the ingredients are things you probably have around your kitchen or in the bottom of your vegetable bin in your fridge. I know that my celery more often than not gets mushy before I actually use it! But I’m determined to change that. Enjoy this one of a kind salad! It’s like a flavor explosion, and truly excellent.

Apple Salad

3 apples (gala, pink lady, anything crunchy) 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 3 stalks celery, thinly cut into diagonal pieces 1 cup pistachios, walnuts, or almonds roasted* and chopped 1/2 cup raisins or currants 2 tablespoons honey 1 1/2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or apple cider vinegar 1-2 pinches of salt 1/4 cup fresh spearmint, minced

Slice the apples into quarters lenghtwise and cut out the cores. Then cut into 1/2 inch chunks, and toss with the lemon juice. Combine with remaining ingredietns,reserving the mint for garnish. Check seasoning: salty? sweet? sour? Garnish with the mint. *Note: to roast the nuts, put into a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes. Chop in a food processor or toss them on whole!