Mouthing Off

Barley is served at room temperature in this terrific salad with walnuts,
parsley and salty bits of ricotta salata cheese in a lemon-garlic
vinaigrette. © Kana Okada.

Food & Wine's senior recipe developer, Grace Parisi, is a Test Kitchen superstar. In this series, she shares some of her favorite recipes to make right now.

My Diet Secret: Well, it may be no great revelation, but once I started adding whole grains to my diet at every meal, I began to trim down, have better energy and actually lowered my cholesterol. I (mistakenly) thought that as a distance runner, I could eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted with impunity. But slowly the weight crept up, as did my cholesterol, at an inverse relation to my energy level. Yeah, aging has a lot to do with it, but that’s all the more reason to be a bit more diligent. I’m not fanatical, though. I eat cake and candy and meat and dairy and butter, but not a lot and not often.

For this salad, I picked ingredients that are: A. easy to find; B. delicious; C. and pack a tremendous health punch. Walnuts are probably the healthiest nuts, with high levels of omega-3, antioxidants and fiber; parsley is high in anti-inflammatories and vitamin K, which is believed to help prevent cardiovascular disease. And the ricotta salata adds a bit of lean protein richness. Without getting preachy—because nothing’s more annoying than an overly zealous reformed anything—making a big batch of grain salad and eating it over the course of a few days is a real game changer. SEE RECIPE »

Related: Salads with Grains
Barley Recipes
Great Ricotta Recipes

Photo © Stephanie Meyer.

Celebrate St. Paddy’s Day with a whiskey-spiked bread pudding. I know, it’s a big fat cliché wrapped in a stereotype inside a whopping pile of ethnocentrism. But it’s amazing—the dish is a winner. SEE RECIPE »

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Courtesy of Island Creek

The phenomenal team behind Island Creek Oysters in Duxbury, Massachusetts, and Boston’s Island Creek Oyster Bar is two months into the construction of a new, rustic, seafood restaurant called Row 34. “Island Creek Oyster Bar was inspired by the majesty of Duxbury Bay,” says partner Garrett Harker. “Row 34 is a workingman’s expression of the oyster farm.” Here, a sneak peek at the new restaurant plus tips for shucking oysters at home. »

Courtesy of California Olive Ranch.

F&W food editors apply their incredible cooking knowledge to explaining what to do with a variety of interesting ingredients.

“Whoa, did you splurge on spendy olive oil?” my husband asked me recently while eating a very simply dressed salad. I hadn’t, actually. I had just tossed the greens with the California Olive Ranch (COR) Everyday oil I had picked up on a whim for about $10. The oil was so fresh and fruity—it really did taste more expensive.

On the back of the bottle, I noticed a harvest date—something most olive oil producers leave as a mystery unless you’re paying top dollar. That harvest date—it matters. In general, the more recent the harvest, the better the oil tastes. For example, I once tasted COR’s 2010, 2011 and 2012 oils at the same time. The 2010 was definitely more muted. The 2011 was still delicious, but the 2012 was even more vibrant.

It also helps that COR rushes its olives from the fields to the presses so they’re turned into oil within hours. I may never spend more on olive oil again.

Related: Great Recipes that Use Good Oil
100 Best-Ever Salad Recipes
Healthy Green Salads

Paul Qui standing in front of his original food trailer, with his partner, Motoyasu Utsunomiya. / © Jay B Sauceda

Organizers for Austin’s massive annual music, film and technology festival, South by Southwest (which kicks off Friday), tapped Top Chef: Texas winner and former Uchiko executive chef Paul Qui to curate a selection of 16 food trucks for SouthBites, the event’s first official food court. Qui currently operates three East Side King trucks, and last December he parlayed their success into a brick-and-mortar restaurant. When choosing businesses for the project, he looked for diversity beyond hot dogs and burgers, such as the famous Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams and South African local favorite Cazamance. Here, Qui reveals the secrets to operating a fantastic food truck and his picks for the best food at SouthBites.

Courtesy of Organic Avenue.

Yikes, didn’t you realize that Spring Break was just around the corner? Or is already here? And you haven’t started your diet yet? There’s not a minute to waste. It’s time to do a cleanse. If you need help figuring out the best one for you, here’s a little Q & A that might help. 5 cleanse options to prepare you for the beach. »

The Archduke © Brent Herrig

Lightly sweet and fresh, fennel is the perfect bridge from winter to spring. Like a lot of chefs, many cocktail experts are fans of both fennel bulbs and the plant’s herbaceous fronds. At New York City’s The Third Man—Edi & The Wolf’s little, boozier sister—Austrian chef-partner Edi Frauneder uses fresh baby fennel juice in the Archduke. Frauneder first dehydrates fennel fronds with a quick blast of liquid nitrogen, then adds ice, Laird’s Apple Brandy, bittersweet Cynar, fresh fennel juice made from the delicate bulb and Peychaud’s bitters. He stirs the anise-scented cocktail, then strains it into a rocks glass with one large, hand-cut ice cube and garnishes it with a fresh fennel frond. Here, more fennel drinks that offer a taste of spring. »

Courtesy of Sierra Nevada

There are now more than 180 craft breweries putting their brew into cans (out of about 875 total, not counting brewpubs). And that’s a fine thing. I mean, it may be 20 degrees outside, but you’ve still got to drink something at the beach, right? Here are 5 great canned craft beers. »

Photo © Richard Owyoung

Biondivino, San Francisco
The Russian Hill shop hosts frequent winemaker tastings and sells hard-to-find varietals and bottlings. biondivino.com.

Italian Wine Merchants, NYC
Specializes in rare, high-end wines and cellar management for collectors. italianwinemerchants.com.

DeLaurenti, Seattle
This shop has an impressive selection of half-bottles. delaurenti.com.

Wine Expo, Santa Monica, CA
This store and wine bar focuses on Italian and sparkling wines, especially inexpensive bottles. wineexpo.com.

Related: Italian Value Wines
An Italian Wine-Pairing Summit

Photo © Stephanie Meyer.

This dish is in my head more often than not. That’s saying something. It’s one of our monthly meals at the Zimmern house, and its yet another brilliant way to do chicken for a crowd that includes kids. Paired with a bright citrus punch and salty capers, this chicken entrée makes everyone happy. My son starts screaming “butter chicken” and runs up and down the hallways when he comes home from school and learns what’s for dinner. I first ate this dish 30 years ago, served for a family meal one night at a restaurant in Florence where I was a stagiaire. I hadn’t seen butter during my first few weeks in Italy and almost fainted when I tasted this. You will too—please put pillows on the floor the first time you make it. SEE RECIPE »

See More of Andrew Zimmern’s Kitchen Adventures