Four Nights A Week

Adventures in Eating

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Amy’s Writing, Photography and Art can be found at amybisson.com

06 January 2026: Mediterranean Shepherd’s Pie

January 6, 2026
In our family, we have shared kitchen duties, so full disclosure, this recipe was prepared by Adrien and engineered to use lots of our Clark Farm organic produce and their ground lamb. The recipe was so unlike the shepherd’s pie recipes that found their way into our school cafeterias and even quite different from what Adrien grew up with.

Dorie Greenspan‘s version, from Everyday Dorie (page 161), is filled with vegetables and some pretty non-traditional spices. Also true, those mile-high mashed potatoes are delicious. Carbs be damned, that’s the best part.

As needed, Dorie makes suggestions for altering the dish to your preference.

Mediterranean Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients (* from Clark Farm Carlisle CSA Share)
- Potatoes *
- Butter
- Milk
- Ground lamb, turkey or chicken *
- Hot or mild sausage meat (we used Andouille – if you dare)
- Onion *
- Garlic *
- Chicken broth
- Cumin
- Ground Sumac
- Za’atar
- Harissa paste or powder
- Crushed tomatoes
- Butternut squash * (we used a Honeynut)
- Baby kale or spinach
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04 January 2026: Roasted Salmon, Red Cabbage, and New Potatoes

January 4, 2026
I freely admit to making changes to recipes to reflect whatever we have in our pantry. This roasted salmon, one-pan dinner is no exception to that – we’ve received an abundance of potatoes from our Clark Farm Winter CSA Share, so in place of buying new, presumably red potatoes specifically for this recipe, I used actual new potatoes that are organic and fresh from the farm.

The red/purple cabbage was also part of our share and we’ve used it in several meals this past week. The cabbage, cooked alongside the potatoes and salmon, made this easy and fast to get on the table.

The original recipe can be found on Martha Stewart’s website and is readily available. One tweak I’d consider given that I likely used larger potatoes than those called for in the recipe: cut the potatoes in quarters so that they are more tender and cook more quickly.

Roasted Salmon, Red Cabbage, and New Potatoes

Ingredients
- red cabbage
- new potatoes
- skinless salmon filets (avoid farm raised)
- grainy mustard
- horseradish
- fresh lemon
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01 January 2026: Red Cabbage and Grapefruit Salad

January 1, 2026
Our Winter Share from Clark Farms Carlisle included a beautiful head of organic purple cabbage. Cabbages, especially the purple variety are great nutrient dense foods, excellent for reducing inflammation. After the past few weeks of holiday eating and indulging, this salad was a great way to incorporate some more, shall we say, nutrition-friendly foods into our meals.

This recipe comes from America’s Test Kitchen and is available to subscribers. I made a couple of adaptations: first I used shallots in place of red onions because I had them from an earlier CSA distribution and second, I left off the pepitas.

The grapefruit along with the shredded cabbage is a tasty way to re-set those eating habits. ATK also suggests green cabbage will work with these ingredients, but honestly, who can resist the beautiful color and sweeter flavor of purple cabbage? Not me.

Ingredients
- red grapefruit
- olive oil
- white wine vinegar
- honey
- cabbage
- red onion
- cilantro
- pepitas
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29 December 2025: Jamie Oliver’s Simple Celeraic

December 29, 2025
Part of our Clark Farm Winter Share this past week was the root vegetable, celeraic. I can say with a fair amount of accuracy that I’ve never cooked this vegetable before, and although there are times when I’ve walked past it in the produce section, I wouldn’t have had a clue what to do with it. Gnarly and oddly shaped, celeraic just wasn’t on my list of things to try.

However, when you get a celeraic knob in your CSA, you have a golden opportunity to try it out, and so I did. Deceptively easy to trim, the texture of cooked celeraic reminds me of a cross between potato and celery; the texture of a creamy potato and a hint of celery flavor. It’s pretty tasty on its own, but many cooks mash it or turn it into a thick delicious soup.

For this recipe, I turned to Jamie Oliver and a simple preparation of cubed celeraic sautéed in olive oil and thyme. That’s it. Cook time and suggestions for going beyond Jamie Oliver’s simple preparation are included on his website.

Jamie Oliver’s Simple Celeraic

Ingredients
- celeraic (aka celery root)
- olive oil
- thyme
- salt & pepper
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27 December 2025: Stuffed Delicata Squash

December 27, 2025
After indulging for the holidays this week, we have come to the conclusion that we need to take a beat with the rich foods. In fact, I recently became aware of a new America’s Test Kitchen book, The Complete Anti-Inflammatory Cookbook. This delicious offering comes from that book (page 163).

Substituting and eating more whole grains like bulgar along with balancing veggies and proteins, seems like a good fit for us. We grew up on Diet for a Small Planet, so using more balanced nutrition makes sense, not that we haven’t gone off on food tangents from time to time.

After a week filled with all the traditional food memories, this is a welcome break – and it allowed us to make use of some of the wonderful veggies from our Clark Farm Winter Share (for locals, sign-up for 2026 on their website) which is sadly drawing to a close next week. I’ll have a lot more to say about our experiences later, but for now, if you can, get your hands on this cookbook and nutrition guide, available through America’s Test Kitchen or from your favorite local independent bookstore.

Stuffed Delicata Squash

Ingredients:
- Delicata Squash
- Bulgar
- Mushrooms
- Onion
- Spinach
- Thyme
- Pecans
- Cheddar (or use plant based cheddar if making vegan)
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14 December 2025: Crispy Roast Potatoes

December 15, 2025
When I finally got a taste of freshly dug potatoes, I couldn’t believe how different they were. Over the last couple of weeks our Winter Share from Clark Farm Carlisle has included potatoes; potatoes are definitely on Adrien’s list of favorites and so I was off to find new ways to prepare them.

I’ve made French Fried potatoes – actually baked, so fake French fries? – and used potatoes in soups, but I needed a surefire way to roast them. Serious Eats, to the rescue.

While I have to admit I did not follow the recipe from Serious Eats to the letter, the core and the cooking techniques were there. For me, the technique is the key; no one wants to eat undercooked potatoes.

The addition of rosemary, a classic herb to pair with potatoes, along with garlic and olive oil made for a spectacular side. Note the use of baking soda in the parboiling step; that’s the key to success.

The Best Crispy Roast Potatoes Ever from Serious Eats

Ingredients
- baking soda
- potatoes (of course) – I didn’t peel mine
- oil or fat (I used olive oil)
- fresh herbs, like rosemary
- garlic
- pepper, salt
- fresh parsley to finish
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11 December 2025: Winter Squash with Chickpeas & Tahini Sauce

December 11, 2025
A cold winter day seems like a perfect time to enjoy baked stuff squash, which is exactly what we did here on a cold New England afternoon. We’ve received several new-to-me squash varieties in our Clark Farm Carlisle Winter CSA share, and this one, called Wintersweet, is a type of kabocha squash. The flesh is flaky, but nice and sweet, and the color is a beautiful yellow-orange.

Using Chefsbliss.com as a resource for recipes that stuff squash varieties, I found 30 – count ’em – 30 different ways to use all varieties of squash. While the squash pre-baked, the filling and tahini sauce are made. After ensuring that the squash are tender, stuff and pop them back in the oven to finish.

For this warming lunch, we also roasted caraflex cabbage and romanescu – two other delights from our CSA share. A healthy hot lunch using locally grown organic bounty is exactly what we needed dto combat the cold temperatures.

Stuffed Winter Squash with Chickpeas & Tahini Sauce

Ingredients
- winter squash
- chickpeas
- olive oil
- cumin
- smoked paprika
- tahini
- lemon juice
- garlic
- cilantro
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09 Dec. 2025: Roasted Carrot Hummus

December 9, 2025
We enjoy a transition period from working to relaxing at the end of each day. Even as retirees, we’ve kept up this habit which in French culture is called Cinq à Sept. Throughout COVID, when we were isolating, we got pretty darn good at mixology (spirit-based or mocktail) thanks to some YouTubers and books (shoutout to Anders Erickson , David Lebovitz and JM Hirsch). We also enjoy supplementing with something other than cheese and crackers.

There are several great veg-based hummus recipes found on the Internet; in fact, my first introduction to vegetable-based hummus came from a friend, Ann Marie, who is a creative and great cook (also a stellar teacher). This one, however, comes through Food Network via Valerie Bertinelli. Yup, that Valerie Bertinelli.

With a supply of carrots in our Clark Farm Winter Share, I put together this version of Carrot Hummus which, due to roasting carrots and garlic slowly, is sweet and flavorful.

Our advice: Don’t wait for a family holiday to pull out appetizers and drinks. Find your own Cinq à Sept traditions to slow down and transition into a more relaxed evening with family and friends.

Valerie Bertinelli’s Roasted Carrot Hummus

Ingredients
- carrots
- garlic
- olive oil
- salt & pepper
- tahini
- cilantro
- lemon
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07 Dec 2025: Shaved Brussel Sprouts Salad

December 7, 2025
We love Brussel sprouts. We love them roasted, steamed, pan-fried, and raw. We love them the day they are cooked, and we love them for leftovers. I know you may not share our enthusiasm, but bear with me.

I’m used to finding Brussel sprouts in our local grocery store, but they always are in a mesh bag or one of those paper cup things topped with cellophane. Our Clark Farm CSA share though, included a stalk of Brussel spouts. That’s right, they grow on a stalk!

One thing belonging to a CSA, even in the Winter months, has taught me is that farm fresh is truly a different level of food from what one finds even in a high-end organic store (you know which one I mean). These spouts had a few flaws, sure, but they were an unreal shade of green. I did not dicker with the color of those raw sprouts pictured above. Knowing our food source and when things have been harvested – and knowing they are organic, for real, is incredibly powerful.

This recipe for a Shaved Brussel Spout salad comes from Caitlin Shoemaker at From My Bowl. It is more raw and crunchy than others I have tried; definitely vegetarian, but if you are vegan, subbing in a plant-based parmesan is a quick and easy substitution.

Shaved Brussel Sprout Salad

Ingredients for Dressing
- olive oil
- lemon juice
- dijon mustard
- shallots
Ingredients for the Salad
- Brussel sprouts
- Italian parsley
- parmesan cheese
- hazelnuts (I omitted)
- dried cherries or cranberries (I used cranberries)
- Honeycrisp apple
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02 Dec 2025: One-Pot Cabbage Roll Soup

December 2, 2025
This was a terrific recipe for using some of the Napa Cabbage that has come our way via our Clark Farm Winter CSA. As Carolina Gelen, the NYT’s contributor of this recipe tells it, no need to hand roll cabbage rolls for hours and hours. That’s a good thing; the day after Thanksgiving, I’m happy to be in and out of the kitchen fairly quickly.

Our only suggestion for this is to add a healthy shake, or two, of hot sauce to punch things up. It turns out that this was easily accomplished by adding Clark Farm Craic Sauce at the table. Craic Sauce, a small batch hot sauce artisan from right here in Lowell, collaborated with Clark Farm Organic Farm to produce this terrific single sourced special hot sauce. The Clark Farm sauce is available at the farm in Carlisle.

If you are lucky enough to live in New England, you can find Craic Sauce varieties at farmers’ markets and specialty stores. Craic Sauce cooks of quite a number of hot sauce varieties with heat from mild to holy mackerel; two of my favorites are the mild 40 Shades of Green and more heat forward Mill City Red. Link to their website here if you can’t find it locally.

I’ve gifted the recipe below through my subscription to the New York Times. As winter sets in, it’s definitely soup season and this one will warm you up in no time. Enjoy!

One-Pot Cabbage Roll Soup

Ingredients:
- ground beef (80% preferred)
- basmati rice
- yellow onion
- sweet paprika
- garlic
- canned whole tomatoes
- sauerkraut plus brine (alternately substitute shredded fresh cabbage brined in 2 TBSP rice vinegar)
- parsley
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