Chef's Blog

Spotlight on the CIA San Antonio Campus

San Antonio is electric with energy emanating from the Pearl district, arguably the city’s coolest district to eat, drink, and rest your head. Located north of downtown San Antonio, the district is named for the former Pearl Brewery complex, which now anchors the neighborhood’s best shops, restaurants, and hang-out spots. […]

Chef's Notes Plus

Spring is For Foodies

Welcome, spring! After a cold winter, nothing is more welcome than the first signs of the season: bright green shoots poking through the soil, buzzing bumblebees, and—my favorite, naturally—new produce! Having grown up in The Garden State and after many years in New York’s Hudson Valley, I consider myself a […]

Chef's Blog

Spring Plant Foraging for Beginners

An herbalist friend of mine once told me that most people experience the natural world as a “wall of green.” It’s pretty, there are lots of different shades and textures, it makes us feel good, and we can appreciate our experience within it. But it is not until we start […]

Chef's Blog, Chef's Notes Plus

Spring Salads with Your Farmers’ Market Finds

As we look forward to our yearly Global Plant-Forward Culinary Summit, which perfectly coincides with the start of spring, we naturally (and typically!) are finding ourselves hungry. Spring is a food-lover’s best season—seconded only by Thanksgiving, of course—with a seemingly endless bounty of vibrant colors and flavors at the local […]

Main Dishes

Squab with Quince Paste and Pumpkin Farro

Makes 4 servings Squab is one of our favorite birds, although we do prefer the breasts. Don’t waste the legs, though. Make the sauce from them, and after they are cooked you can strip the meat off the bone and make a little squab salad, just like a chicken salad. […]

Chef's Notes Plus

Squash Season

‘Tis the season. Well, one of them! As you know, we’re big fans of seasonal eating, and winter squash season is a pretty big league time of the year for foodies. Winter squash, often called hard-skinned squashes are, you know, the squashes with hard skins. That means we’re putting away […]

Soups and Stews

Squash Soup with Ginger Cream

Serves 6 to 8 Use whatever hard-skinned squash that you can find, like butternut, pumpkin, calabaza. For a vegan version, use olive oil instead of butter, omit the milk and whipped cream garnish. Add 1 cup of raw cashews in Step 2, which will make the blended soup creamy.

Side Dishes

Steamed Broccoli

Makes 4 to 6 servings Use this recipe as a template for just about any steamed vegetable, like asparagus, cauliflower, or carrots. The cooking time will vary depending on which veggie you use, but the key is maintaining a semi-firm texture and a vibrant color. If your steamer basket is […]

Side Dishes

Steamed Kale with Cashews and Raspberries

Makes 4 servings Kale is such a hearty and versatile vegetable. The salty cashews and sweet and tart flavors from the raspberries contrast with the earthy kale. The lemon-infused olive oil can be found at most grocery stores.