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Seasonal Chef: A Presto
It is with great sadness I write my last Seasonal Chef post for the LoHud Food Blog. It has been a glorious four-plus years of creating…
Author Maria Reina
Maria Reina
Seasonal Chef blogger Maria Reina comes to the world of food as a third career, spending a great portion of her adult life in the field of Human Resources. With her private company Bella Cucina Maria she is a personal chef, caterer and recreational cooking class teacher in Westchester. She's an avid food television watcher and cookbook collector, always looking for a new take on a traditional dish. In her free time she loves hanging out at local farmer's markets, chatting it up with the farmers and doing cooking demos with their seasonal ingredients. In addition to her blog, which is loaded with easy recipes, you can follow her on Facebook (Bella Cucina Maria), Twitter (Bellacucinam), Instagram (Bellacucinam) and Pinterest (Bellacucinam).
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Irish Brown Bread: Seasonal Chef Recipe
March is one of my favorite months. We finally begin to emerge from the bleak Winter. Tiny bits of green are pushing their way through…
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Seasonal Chef: What’s for Dinner?
What’s for dinner? I ask myself that question frequently, as I am sure you do too. When I get to Wednesday it’s pretty much time…
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Lima Beans With a Twist: Seasonal Chef Recipe
We are at the lowest point of the year in terms of seasonal ingredients. I am very close to being at the end of my…
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Cranberry Cheddar Strata with Walnuts and Canadian Bacon: Seasonal Chef Recipe
Strata, a layered casserole, is an invention of the 20th century. The dish became mainstream in the ’80s after being featured in the famous Silver…
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Seasonal Chef: Make Ahead Strata for Christmas Morning
I am fond of saying that inspiration comes in many ways to me. Some times I will see a dish at a restaurant, something in…
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French Lentil, Winter Squash and Kale Salad: Seasonal Chef Recipe
December has arrived. While it’s not snowing (thank goodness!) it has been pretty rainy and dreary this week. I tend to gravitate, as many off…
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Pumpkin Apple Soup: Seasonal Chef Recipe
The Long Island Cheese pumpkin, named for it’s resemblance to a wheel of cheese, is an American heirloom domesticated in New York in the 1860s.…
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Brussels Sprout, Shallot, Apple and Cranberry: Seasonal Chef Recipe
Thanksgiving is a week away. Plans have started in earnest for the great dinner of thanks. I was thinking that it might be interesting to…
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Late Season Tomato and Potato Soup: Seasonal Chef Recipe
Daylight Savings is here and the Northeast is slowly making its way towards Winter. The vegetables have also evolved around us too. If you look…
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Broccoli Rabe Soup with Cannellini Beans: Seasonal Chef Recipe
Every now and then challenge yourself to cook a dish with just a few ingredients you have on hand. Open the fridge, check the pantry,…
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Delicata Squash Quiche: Seasonal Chef Recipe
Winter squash is here for the duration. Stunning autumn colors piled high in huge containers everywhere. There are so many to choose from. I thought…
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Orange-Pecan Zucchini Cake: Seasonal Chef Recipe
Fall has arrived. There is a slight chill in the air most mornings and the farmers markets are certainly transitioning. Noodling around the web for…
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Falling for Italian Prune Plums
The autumnal equinox arrived precisely this morning at 4:21 a.m. It is the moment, happening twice a year, when the sun passes directly over the…
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Seasonal Chef: Gaia’s Breath Farm Fundraiser at the Bronxville Farmers Market
I am pleased to let you know that I will be participating in a fundraiser for Gaia’s Breath Farm on Saturday September 12, at the Bronxville…
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Summer Vegetable Fritter: Seasonal Chef Recipe
We’ve just past the midway point of summer and zucchini, corn and tomatoes are everywhere. This recipe brings all those wonderful fresh summer flavors together…
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Seasonal Chef: Perfecting a Summer Vegetable Fritter
We’ve just past the midway point of summer and the farmers market and CSA baskets are overflowing with beautiful ingredients. This week I found zucchini,…
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Seasonal Chef: Making a Quick and Easy Dinner
Whether I am speaking to people in a cooking class, demo at a farmers market, or just in conversation at home, I am invariably asked…
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Fairy Tale Eggplant and Peppers: Seasonal Chef Recipe
Eggplant has hit the markets in a big way this week. You can find them in a variety of color, shapes and sizes. Typically you…
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Pole Beans with Sunflower Seed Pesto: Seasonal Chef Recipe
This week pole beans have hit the farmers market stands in a BIG way. Oodles and oodles of beans stacked high on almost all of…
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Summer Slaw: Seasonal Chef Recipe
We’re heading into the best part of the summer: farmers markets are bursting with all kinds of great finds and so are our CSA’s. This week…
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Making a Crunchy Summer Slaw with your Farmers Market Ingredients: Seasonal Chef
This week my CSA was gigantic. It’s summer and the fields are hitting their stride. Some first things popping up on the farms now are cabbages…
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Seasonal Chef: Sugar Snap Peas
This week sugar snap peas are making an appearance at the farmers market. Not to be confused with snow peas, their sibling, sugar snap peas are…
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Seasonal Chef: Siberian Kale, Another Variety
Kale, the ubiquitous leafy green everyone talks about. Good in smoothies, dried as chips and of course sautéed. I almost never, boil it, unless it’s…
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Seasonal Chef: Signs of Summer Beginning with Garlic Scapes
The summer solstice is upon us. This coming Sunday the sun will be at its highest peak and we will enjoy the longest day of…
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Seasonal Chef Hits the Farmers Market Trail!
We are just eleven days away from summer. The sun, for the most part, is shining high in the sky and all the farmers markets…
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Grilled Asparagus, Chick Peas and Feta: Seasonal Chef Recipe
This is a little riff on my Grilled Eggplant Salad, swapping out the eggplant for grilled asparagus. Zucchini would work very well too. [amd-zlrecipe-recipe:697] Grilled Asparagus…
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Grilled Apricots and Mustard Greens Salad: Seasonal Chef Recipe
Summer is just about here and that means out door grilling is the way to go. Grilling doesn’t have to mean fish, meat or vegetables.…
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Seasonal Chef: Springtime Radish
Some of the first bundles you see at the farmers markets in May are leafy greens. They are the easiest thing to cultivate in the…
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Radish Greens Pesto: Seasonal Chef Recipe
Pestos are an easy way to utilize your herbs and leafy greens. Using radish greens in a pesto, gives your dish a little extra interest.…