Monday, April 12, 2010

Colorful Cooking

Spain's famous white asparagus

The many shades of macarons in Paris

A beautiful workstation at Bill's in Brighton, England

A homemade cheesecake in Vermont

Greek Yoghurt Breakfast in Santorini, Greece

Did you know white asparagus simply never saw direct sunlight as it grew? It's regular asparagus kept buried below a layer of mulch to prevent photosynthesis, or so I learned from Barbara Kingsolver.

Walking through the Boqueria marketplace in Barcelona, it's impossible not to think about how color and taste combine. Red grapes or green? Blackberries or blueberries? Purple or yellow plums? White cheddar or orange? Green olives or black? Asparagus that soaked up sunlight or asparagus grown in the dark?

Since high school, I've designed meals with a variety of color in mind. More colors mean more varied nutrition as well as a happier eye. My favorite meals often hit every shade in the rainbow, or at least almost.

Though I got back from my travels last night, and there are some peanut butter chip bar cookies cooling on the counter, I'm not quite ready to post a new recipe. So instead, I'll link to a few highlighting the two most recent colors of spring food - asparagus and strawberries. Both are just coming into season, hurrah!

Asparagus Risotto from Simply Recipes



Strawberry Shortcake from The House of Annie

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