Papaya and Cantaloupe with Lime Vinaigrette

Papaya and Cantaloupe with Lime Vinaigrette

Summertime is a season during which even the most ardent fruit lovers may feel overwhelmed. Peaches, plums, berries, melons... Everything is so delicious but it can be difficult to keep up, and at the end of the day, standard fruit salads may start to lose their luster.
This one pairs two underutilized melons with a zippy lime vinaigrette and fresh mint. It's healthy, beautiful and full of flavor!

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Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Good banana bread is really something special. But too often, it's dry, too sweet, not banana'y or a bad combination of those. This recipe, adapted from Elise Bauer's Banana Bread recipe, is the perfect blend of slightly sweet, overtly banana'y, wonderfully chocolaty and slightly whole grain.

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Cheesy Mashed Potato Puffs

Cheesy Mashed Potato Puffs

One day, I bought some russets and boiled them up, planning to make mashed potatoes. But I realized I wasn't much in the mood for plain old mashed spuds so took a left turn. Into the mash went grated Gruyere, crumbled bacon, scallions and some buttermilk. The idea of puffs was running through my mind, so I mashed (heh!) the potato mixture into a ziploc, cut off the corner and played around with griddling these as well as baking-then-broiling them. 

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Fava Bean Crostini

Fava Bean Crostini

A local restaurant makes the most unreal appetizer when fava beans are in season: a fava bean puree atop grilled bread, topped with a shave of Parmesan and a generous drizzle of olive oil. Each bite is out of this world. Obviously, I had to figure out how to make this. Here you go. You'll eat more than you think you can!

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