sea bass with raisins and saffron

"The first bite is with the eyes," my husband teases--and this is an ugly dish. I freely admit it, this pasta and fish combination do not look as good as they taste. This Nigella Lawson recipe looked a lot better when she made it! But the four of us ate it and agreed that it wasn't "ugly in the mouth". It certainly looked terrible while it was still in the pan....

cucumber salad with garlic and mint

Cucumber is fresh and crunchy, the perfect accompaniment to roast meat or grilled fish; it also belongs stuffed in a lamb kebab. I am attracted to recipes like this one because I adore the thriftiness of mundane vegetables such as cucumber. (I find myself gravitating towards all the dull vegetables: carrots, cucumber, and broccoli, for example. I like to think they can be exciting, too. Psychology, anyone?)

hasselback potatoes

Say hello to the easiest potato dish ever! Yet somehow so impressive, with the fanned out slices of roast potato. These tiny taters are perfect party food, ready to be nestled in the corner of your plate piled with pot luck goodies. They are from my new-to-me Nigella Lawson cookbook, Forever Summer. Nigella's recipe is simple and unfussy, but contains a gem-like tip for slicing the potatoes for this recipe.

broccoli and blue cheese soup: for Forever Nigella

Are you a Nigella lover? I know so many people who are--and now I wonder if I might join the trend. With a new blog event, Forever Nigella, hosted by Sarah at Maison Cupcake, I am bound to learn more about her and her recipes. To start things off, I made this seasonal soup, based on a recipe from Nigella's website. (Please visit the website for the recipe.)