Hi Friends,

This week we put together Chicken Tortilla Soup for the omnivores and Vegetable Tortilla Soup for the pescatarians.  For the pescatarians, add the soup base we provided to a vegetable stock and follow along as if that was the chicken stock base.  Heat the stock and when it starts to steam add the chicken.  In a soup bowl put some diced avocado, diced white onion, diced serrano chile (if you like spicy), chopped cilantro, and the tortilla strips.  Pour the soup over the top and sprinkle with queso fresco and squeeze some lime in.  Optionally you can add more veggies to the soup, carrots, any squash or zucchini, or even corn…

Brandon’s first job was cracking crabs on the wharf in SF.  We thought we’d set you up with a pre-cracked and cooked crab.  You can eat it chilled if you like, but Brandon’s recipe is a good one.  Start with a frying pan you can put in the oven.  Melt a couple tablespoons of butter in it, add the crab, after the crab starts to heat up (minute or two), add a couple cloves of chopped garlic and put the whole pan in the oven at 400.  Let it cook about 5-6 minutes until the garlic starts to brown.  Pull it out and deglaze with lemon juice.

The pork skewers come from Linda’s tasty pigs in Carmel Valley.  The pork is brined in lavender and ready to go on the bbq or in the oven.  We recommend serving it with the chutney and the braised cabbage.

For the pescatarians I recommend using the braised cabbage with the scallops.  Salt and pepper the scallops and sear them in a hot pan with a little olive oil about 2 minutes per side.  Serve them on the bed of cabbage and use a little lemon juice to deglaze the pan and make a sauce for it.

With the baby fennel you can make a shaved fennel salad with fennel, apples, walnuts, and the Asian salad mix.  It’s also good grilled or sauteed in butter with a squeeze of lemon juice.  Baby fennel is small enough to grill whole or cut in half lengthwise. I recommend taking the fennel tops and chopping them up and using them as a garnish on whatever fennel dish you make.

I like to steam leeks and then add a small splash of cream or a little butter to them when they are soft, with salt and pepper.  They are also good grilled and drizzled with olive oil

Avocados and Wild arugula are a match made in heaven.  As a salad with lemon juice and olive oil.  I also love making avocado toast and serving it with arugula tossed in olive oil and a poached or fried egg on top for breakfast.