I love French radishes, I think they are so special, and I’m happy to report they are in season right now at our farmer’s markets! I crunch on them raw, add them to salads, and today I topped these two spring-style toasts with spicy radish slices.

Ricotta and Radish Toast

1 slice bread, toasted or untoasted
2 Tablespoons ricotta
1-2 fresh radishes
A few green leaves (I used tatsoi, but spinach, dill, parsley, mint all work as well)
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
Sea salt flakes

Thinly slice the radishes. Spread ricotta on the bread and top it with radishes and greens. Sprinkle with lemon juice and salt. Enjoy!

Mashed Pea and Radish Toast

1/2 cup peas, fresh or frozen
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 Tablespoon tahini
Salt to taste
1-2 fresh radishes
A few mint leaves
1 slice bread, toasted or untoasted

Microwave frozen peas for 1 minute, then add them to a food processor with lemon juice, tahini and salt. Combine. Taste and adjust seasoning. Top bread with mashed peas and radishes, and garnish with mint leaves. Enjoy also!

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It’s asparagus season! Markets sell green, white and purple stalks, and all are great grilled or pan-seared with a drizzle of oil and a sprinkle of salt until crisp-tender. Tip: hold one of the asparagus stalks with one hand while gently bending with the other until it snaps, to find the woody edge that you discard.

I always default to pan-cooking asparagus, but this week I felt inspired (by the endless grey, rainy weather) to make it into a soup! Creamy and restaurant-worthy, according to Ben. He recommends!

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Another exciting thing to get in spring at the markets: rhubarb! It’s bright, colorful and very tart. Its stalks look like celery but are considered “fruit” and are used in pies, cakes, jams, sauces and chutneys. Today I quickly poached it in sugar and mixed with strawberries and greens for this salad!

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Sorrel is an acidic leafy green high in vitamin C that is popping up wild and in gardens in spring. I like eating it raw while it’s still young and zingy sour. When prepared, it’s similar to cooked spinach with a hint of lemon, perfect in soups, sauces, pies and anything with eggs.

The first recipe that comes to my mind when I see sorrel is this traditional Russian “Schavelevy” soup. It’s incredibly easy to make, and it can be eaten cold in summer, although I personally prefer the hot version. For this soup, you can use vegetable or chicken stock. I use chicken to make my own broth with onion and carrots. I strain the stock, discard the veggies, reserve and chop the meat to add back into the soup later. If sorrel isn’t sour enough, I add lemon to the soup at the end for extra acidity.

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Asparagus: green, white and purple, it’s great grilled or pan-seared with a drizzle of oil and a sprinkle of salt until crisp-tender. Tip: hold one of the asparagus stalks with one hand while gently bending with the other until it snaps to find the woody edge that you discard.

Foraged greens: nettles, lamb’s quarters, dandelions, chickweed, and others. I grew up foraging with my family in the woods and meadows of Eastern Europe, so now living in New York City I feel extra nostalgic when I see these greens at the markets. Apart from soups and salads, many of the greens are great in herbal teas, as hair rinses and bath soaks.

Green garlic: the whole plant is edible. Its bulb is still young and looks more like onion while the leaves are bright green and very aromatic. I usually quickly cook it in a pan with oil and salt.

Morels: the first spring mushrooms add earthy flavors to stir fries, pasta and breakfast dishes and go well with other spring favorites like asparagus and ramps.

Radishes: I especially love the French breakfast kind that are long, pink and white. So crunchy and fun to eat raw on their own sprinkled with salt or in a salad. I know people also roast them, but I feel like the spring radishes are so crisp and perfect as they are, I don’t want to do anything extra to them!

Ramps: also known as spring onions, wood leeks and wild garlic, they are amazing sprinkled with salt and grilled or sautéed whole! Tender and spicy, ramps make my favorite spring side dish. Apparently, they only grow in the eastern part of the country.

Rhubarb: its bright, colorful and very tart stalks look like celery but are considered “fruit” and are used in pies, cakes, jams, sauces and chutneys. Try cutting fresh rhubarb and radishes into matchsticks to make a spring slaw!

Sorrel: another childhood favorite of mine, its sour young leaves are great raw. When prepared, it’s similar to cooked spinach with a hint of lemon. Perfect in soups, sauces, pies and anything with eggs.

Tip: when heading to the market, bring cash, sunscreen and your own reusable bags!

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Last week, I met up with my friend Emma Saccone on a corner of Canal street to visit a few of our favorite places in the neighborhood and check out some new spots. We had a lot of fun, got our auras photographed, had matcha and chai, and went home with gigantic bags of Italian cheese. If you find yourself in that area, here’s what you should check out around Canal street and Little Italy:

Cha Cha Matcha

373 Broome St, New York, NY

Matcha is a bright green powder made of specially grown green tea. It’s said to give you a calmer energy burst compared to coffee and fill you up with all kinds of vitamins and antioxidants.

If you like matcha or want to try it, this is the place. It’s everything millennial, pink plus matcha all-in-one! They have matcha lattes, lemonade, soft serve, baked goods… Feeling adventurous? Try their specials like Magic Mushroom Matcha Latte (chaga mushrooms, Siberian ginseng, cayenne, raw cacao) and The Beautiful Latte (collagen, ashwagandha, raw honey, coconut oil, vanilla).

Magic Jewelry

238 Canal St, New York, NY

This tiny crystal jewelry shop sits on the edge of Chinatown and offers aura photography and readings. It doesn’t matter if you actually believe in their spiritual interpretations and the new age symbolism, I think the experience itself is worth it and entertaining on its own, plus you get a beautifully colored polaroid photo as a souvenir!

Di Palo’s

200 Grand St, New York, NY

A family-run deli which has been around for over 100 years, Di Palo’s stocks some of the best Italian cheeses, meats, olives, pasta and other seasonal fare. See some of our favorites in this shopping list from last week.

Gasoline Alley Coffee

154 Grand St, New York, NY

This coffee shop on the corner of Lafayette and Grand is one of my favorites from back in the days of me working in Soho. I love getting their sweet and spicy iced chai and sitting either on the bar stools inside and watching the cars and people pass by outside the window, or bathing my face with eyes closed in the sun on one of the red benches outside.

Other favorites worth checking out:

• New York Mart (fresh seafood, asian mushrooms, baby bok choy, giant jars of kimchi).
• Bassanova Ramen (cash-only spot for hearty broth and noodle bowls).
• Chikarashi (Hawaiian poke bowls and soft serve).
• Nickel & Diner (coffee, brunch and retro booths).
• Canal Street Market (artsy gifts and quick bites from local vendors).

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Mother’s Day is just around the corner – do you already know what you’re sending to your mom this year?

I love getting gifts for my mom because while she always says she doesn’t need anything, she’s always excited about anything I find for her. I don’t think we really need any special occasions to make our moms smile, anything that says “I love and appreciate you” is a good idea all year round. I think spending time together is especially fun — going out for brunch, shopping, or taking a weekend trip out of town.

I live way too far away from my mom at the moment, so I usually send cards and letters by mail and accumulate all the gifts that made me think of her over the months in my suitcase until it’s finally time to get on a plane and go visit. For Mother’s Day in particular, I’m more drawn to florals and feel good self-care gifts like the ones I’ve gathered above.

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This week, my friend Emma and I spent a day visiting some of our old favorites and checking out new spots down in Chinatown-Little Italy area. After chatting over matcha lattes and getting our auras photographed, we went cheese shopping at Di Palo’s. We returned home with two bags full of cheeses, bread, olives, jams and meats.

I asked Emma to tell us more about the deliciousness of Di Palo’s, so here’s her guide!:

Di Palo’s Fine Foods in Little Italy is my favorite go-to deli for the best imported Italian produce. A family-run institution which has been around for over 100 years, Di Palo’s manages to consistently stock some of the best cheeses, meats, olives, pasta and other seasonal fare, all of which would otherwise be extremely difficult for an Italian food lover to source and procure in the city. The space itself has strong character and service is always welcoming and informative, with patrons more than happy to answer foodie questions or offer tastes of whichever cheese or meat takes your fancy!

Here are some of my favorite staples to pick up at Di Palo’s:

Pecorino Romano
My all-time favorite cheese, Pecorino Romano is a hard, salty, sheep’s milk cheese native to Rome and the Roman Empire. This cheese is perfect for grating over various pasta dishes, and also appears in the springtime antipasto dish of ‘fave e pecorino’ — fresh fava beans and pecorino.

Ricotta Salata
This cheese is another salty, hard and aged sheep’s milk cheese, milder than Pecorino Romano. Used for grating too, I will often grate Ricotta Salata over tomato sauces, as in the dish ‘Pasta alla Norma‘ — pasta with an eggplant and tomato sauce.

Fresh Sheep’s Milk Ricotta
This one is a favorite young, soft, sheep’s milk cheese which is not as consistently in rotation at Di Palo’s, but whenever it is, I make sure to pick up a tub. I have this cheese swirled into freshly made tomato sauce adding a sweetness to the sauce, but I also love to eat it spread on some toast, topped with fresh figs and a drizzle of honey.

Other honorable mentions include:

• Young Pecorino
• Asiago (another sheep’s cheese)
• Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella
• Tuna-stuffed Peppers
• Mustard Jams (for serving with various pecorino cheeses)
• Olives
• Focaccia Bread
• and, the most recent star find — Truffle Pecorino!

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Do you like yellow? It’s bright, juicy and sunny. From a color psychology perspective, it’s usually associated with happy and enthusiastic feelings. Yellow is all about expression of ourselves, curiosity, and integration of new ideas!

Yellow dresses: I haven’t had anything yellow in my wardrobe for years. When getting ready for my Arizona getaway this month, I picked up this lacy maxi dress and fell in love!

There are so many beautiful pieces in all shades, from mustard to canary, out there! Some of my favorites:

Banana Milk: I recently tried this for the first time! It’s actually made of roasted sunflower seeds with banana puree and cinnamon. It smells SO GOOD, like a banana milkshake or pie. The smell is a little deceptive though — it’s pretty thin for milk, and has a greyish color, and it actually tastes like any other seed milk. I thought it was okay in chai latte and I made overnight oats with it, but it didn’t mash up well with coffee. I mean, banana coffee… not sure why I even had hopes for that!

Tahiti Daffodils: I’ve never seen such fluffy and colorful daffodils! Ben got me a bouquet of bulbs expecting to see the usual white-and-yellow blooms, but we were both surprised with these peony-like blossoms! When I have a house in the future, I’ll make sure to plant these spring bulbs in my front yard.

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In my attempt to spring clean my kitchen pantry, I used leftovers from a bag of bean soup mix that includes: Pinto Beans, Small Red Beans, Pink Beans, Red Kidney Beans, Great Northern Beans, Baby Lima Beans, Large Lima Beans, Blackeyed Peas, Small White Beans, Black Beans, Whole Green Peas, Yellow Split Peas, Green Split Peas, Lentils, Chick Peas and Pearl Barley.

The dish itself was inspired by my favorite recipe from our travels in Greece last fall, the pea and bean fava.

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