Pan Fried Asparagus with Romesco Sauce

Summer flew by more quickly than I anticipated. It was a whirlwind of post-graduation stress and job hunting that culminated in last week. A week consisting of four job interviews, three offers, hours of negotiation, and waaaay too many decisions for this gal to handle. The good news is it's over, I'm starting a new job next week! Thus starting a new routine of commuting to midtown Manhattan every day and finally being able to pay rent again (as exhilarating as the last year has been, I am Ready, with a capital R, to get some stability back in life). But for now, while there is still time left, I am taking it easy and enjoying the last of the waning summer produce, starting off with some asparagus, sweet peppers, and tomatoes.

This recipe, though it features asparagus, is really a love ballad for romesco sauce: a roasted red pepper sauce that packs huge flavor in a few simple ingredients. Romesco is one of those things I didn't really notice until a few months ago. I was aware of its existence, but didn't give much thought toward actively seeking it out. It was kind of like that kid who you went to school with but never paid much attention to until they did or said something one day that catches your eye, and then you're hooked, the obsession begins.

Leek, Asparagus, & Ramp Quiche

Hi friends, I know it is the end of ramp season and I have been gone for a good while, but hopefully this recipe makes it to you before these beautiful alliums leave us for another year. The past few weeks, besides going to school and stressing out about the days being far too short, I have been tinkering with a recipe for a delicious, sky high, and structurally sound quiche (three things which are surprisingly difficult to achieve in harmony).

Ramps are about as fleeting as the spring season here, coming and going in a matter of weeks. So this quiche is my attempt to stuff as much spring produce as humanly possible into one recipe before it's too late. The ramps are paired with some lightly cooked leeks, fresh asparagus, and gruyere, bound together by an egg custard, and nestled in a flaky pie crust.

My Favorite Pasta Salad

You know in life, when things happen, they all happen at the same time. And though it's really exciting and wonderful, a little part of you wishes they were spaced out a teeny bit better. It has been over two weeks since my last post, and I promise I didn't just abandon this space right after my exciting announcement. As some of you know, the exact same day the Saveur finalists were announced, I started school. A full time 9-am-to-6-pm-plus-homework kind of school with the hopes of having a better, brighter, and more fulfilling career at the end of it. Thankfully it only lasts 12 weeks, but never have I had to actively use my brain for such an extended period of time each and every day—not in my previous jobs, not in college, not in high school. There is no such thing as "zoning out", or "free time" here (besides the hour we get for lunch), it's exhilarating, my classmates are amazing, I'm never bored, but goddamn, I am tired. I come home exhausted, and can barely muster up the strength to make dinner each day, so for the first two weekends after school started, I didn't blog. I felt awful because I had been given such a great honor of being a Saveur finalist, and I wanted so badly to give back and make more recipes, take more photos, and reach out to all of you, but I needed that time to decompress (and catch up on homework!). Now that we're starting our fourth week of school, there is finally a rhythm to the madness, and yesterday I managed to pull together a recipe I have been making and packing for lunch quite frequently as of late.

But before we move on to the recipe, if you haven't voted in the Saveur awards yet, I would really appreciate your vote in the Best New Voice category <3. Click the link here or in the sidebar, and make sure to cast a vote in the other categories as well so we can recognize all the wonderfully talented finalists.

Spring Pea & Asparagus Salad with Crisped Ramps

There are ramps at the Grand Army Plaza farmers market! You know what that means: spring is finally here. After the worst winter this homegrown Texan here has ever had the displeasure of enduring (case and point: the day we left Chicago for good, April 14th, it was snowing...snowing!!!) I am lapping up this warm weather and sunshine like there is no tomorrow.