Yes, you can savor this salad in winter

Reilly Meehan has by no means identified a life that didn’t revolve round seasonal produce.

Now a personal chef whose social media posts are devoured by greater than 1 million mixed followers on Instagram and TikTok, Meehan grew up in Santa Cruz, California, in a house surrounded by wild blackberry bushes and a yard peppered with peach bushes and vegetable plots.

With all that produce ripe for the selecting, “I was frequently out there harvesting and bringing ingredients into the kitchen and whipping things up with it,” Meehan recalled. “I feel like I had a cook’s intuition from very young. Whether or not it was actually edible is a totally different story! But I at least was trying.”

His first clue that the culinary world would possibly supply greater than a interest arose at age 11, when Meehan entered a selfmade, lattice-topped peach pie that includes that homegrown fruit in a baking competitors on the Santa Cruz County Fair. As Meehan walked away with an enormous blue ribbon for first prize, he beamed — and planted a seed that he’d water years later.

His culinary profession began in earnest at age 15, as a prep cook dinner at his dad’s brewpub, The Seabright Brewery, in Santa Cruz. “I’d help out as a morning prep cook during summer break; chopping ingredients for the salads, prepping all the burgers, anything others might need. We served a lot of diners, so I learned a sense of urgency from a pretty young age,” Meehan mentioned.

All that observe got here in useful when highschool graduate Meehan entered a cooking competitors with a prize that included a scholarship to culinary college. He ranked second and raked in numerous tuition assist, so he enrolled.

After graduating from the Oregon Coast Culinary Institute in 2012, Meehan planted roots as an govt sous chef at a personal membership in San Francisco, the place one of many regulars requested him to be their personal chef. Craving a brand new problem, Meehan accepted and started documenting his work on social media @chefreillymeehan, which he’s carried out for 5 years.

On these platforms, he provides a sneak peek into his work, be it internet hosting an elegant feast in the Hamptons or planning a memorable vacation dinner for the household, all whereas sprinkling in recommendations on how to organize a refrigerator, how to tame the pungency of uncooked onions, and naturally, how to celebrate seasonal ingredients.

The reputation of those little upgrades and refreshing recipes impressed Meehan’s new ebook “A Little Bit Extra: 100 Recipes That Serve Up Something Special” (out March 31).

So, what does that “extra” imply, precisely?

“People often ask me how to level up their cooking, and there are countless ways. This could be a small finishing touch, like a little bit of red wine vinegar to finish a soup, or some like lemon zest to brighten up roast chicken,” Meehan advised me. “Or it can be like a whole other element, like a wedge of fried avocado to add a textural pop.” Through the recipes in his ebook and through social media movies, “I’d love for everyone to feel empowered to not be afraid to be a little over-the-top,” he mentioned.

One tempting but simple instance is the jazzed-up yogurt that acts as the bottom for Meehan’s recipe of Delicata, Pom and Goat Cheese Salad with Cumin Yogurt. When I advised Meehan I used to be dreaming in regards to the recent produce accessible when he baked that ribbon-worthy state pie, he pointed me to this recipe, confirming that I needn’t await spring or summer season to feast seasonally nor the finances for a personal chef to convey it to the desk.

“I always associate salads with the warmer months — the crisp lettuce, acidic dressings and seasonal ingredients are the lighter fare we all crave,” Meehan wrote in his introduction to this recipe in the cookbook.

“During the cooler months, I typically just swap out some (or all) of the greenery for hearty roasted veggies for a bulked-up, cozy salad,” he wrote. “It’s studded with caramelized roasted delicata squash, but still has the acidic zing we love about a salad in the form of tangy seasoned yogurt and crumbled goat cheese.”

Ingredients like delicata squash and pomegranate seeds are proper on cue in late winter, Meehan mentioned, and it’s simple to raise and have a good time them in simply half-hour with this tangy, earthy and spiced-without-being-spicy yogurt, Meehan mentioned. “You get this background warmth that isn’t overpowering. And everyone seems to be looking for more sources of protein these days. This is it! Besides in this salad, try it on a salad or wrap, or serve it as a dip with crudités.”

Just like a easy pinch of sanding sugar on prime of a peach pie, this winter salad is proof that “you don’t have to go out of your way to do some big over-the-top touch. The little elements together are special.”

Delicata, Pom and Goat Cheese Salad with Cumin Yogurt

Serves 4 to six

Prep time: 10 minutes

Bake time: 20 minutes

Total cooking time: half-hour

Make-ahead tip: Feel free to roast the squash, slice the onions, take away the seeds from the pomegranate and stir collectively the spiced yogurt as much as a day in advance. Refrigerate the parts, then mix them on a platter simply earlier than serving.

Karla Walsh is a Des Moines, Iowa-based freelance life-style author with greater than 17 years of editorial expertise.