A heat-wave has hit the Twin Cities, and today we're set to hit the high 90s. Personally, I love it! This recipe (aka Spicy Raw Green Bean Salad) is perfect for hot weather. Since it's raw, there is no actual cooking that involves heat; just a bit of prep and mixing up of ingredients for the dressing. But it's so delicious, I'd eat it any day of the year: Serve it as a side or on a bed of brown rice (make sure to pour a little bit of the dressing from the bottom of the bowl t

As a personal chef, I write a lot of menus. And because I specialize in cooking for people with food restrictions, I often find myself writing menus composed of items for which there are no recipes. It is not usually a problem; after all, whenever I do use a recipe I find that I am really just using it as a guide, filtering the instructions through my own creative lens as well as some years of practical know-how. So it is not much of a stretch to imagine writing a menu and fi