Super Salads

 One of the easiest Spring dishes is a good, healthy salad. To make it nutritious , fill it up with  anything you want  - protein  veggies , nits and seeds. Best of all be creative so that's it's not boring but delicious.

Everyone thinks that salads should be a variety of different greens and veggies. Not true !!! One of my favorites is broccoli salad.

It;s is tasty onit's own but I could add julienned ham to it along with a sprinkle of Parmesan. Both give it protein and the last calcium. You could also add peas to it for more color and flavor. The dressing is always simple. Oil, white wine vinegar ,sea salt and fresh ground pepper. A light sprinkle of garlic powder brings out the flavor.

Tomato salad is another favorite of mine I love the small grape multicolor ones. They have a high water content  so they 're a great side for those hot Spring days.

I bought the Sinset brand at Walmart and it was a good buy.All they had to do was be sliced into to three ,then dressed with a simple oil and white wine vinegar dressing. I added a good dusting of oregano for a kind of pizza flavoring. Keep in mind this would go well on a slice of Italian bread or even adding bread in t for a kind of panzanella salad. Keep in mind any salad can be loaded with low fat steak and chicken. Mozzarella would also be good with this salad .

Spring salads can be hearty and delicious. They don;t have to be a million ingredients. Stick wit one like broccoli or tomatoes and add to them.

Carolyn Robb Royal Chef Extrodinaire

 Royal chef Carolyn Robb , has cooked for the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall s well as as for William, Harry, and their mother , Diana. Her new cookbook, The Royal Touch Cookbook, (ACC Editions 2018) highlights some of the princes' favorite sweet and savory recipes along with her inspiration for the book, her mother's family ones, and ones she's made for her daughters. It is a fascinating recipe book, complete with royal notes, from Prince Charles and Diana, along with the recipe for the groom's cake Prince William and Catherine Middleton had at their 2011 wedding reception. Below is my exclusive interview with her.

·  Welcome to Foodie Pantry! My readers would like to know what inspired you to be a professional cook and a baker? · My mother was a fantastic cook and my father was amazingly green fingered, so there was always wonderful fresh produce growing in the garden. As a child I was fed delicious home-grown home-cooked food which had a big influence on me and I loved being at my mother's side in the kitchen - learning from her and helping her. The older I got the more I knew that I wanted to be a chef!

·  Who was your biggest culinary influence  growing up? Definitely my mother!

·  Did you attend any cooking academy and if so which one and where? Yes - I attended the Tante Marie School of Cookery in Surrey.

·  How did you get into the professional side of cooking and baking? Whilst I was at university I worked in a coffee shop and restaurant and then I spent a ski season working in a hotel in Switzerland - this experience reinforced to me that I wanted to. cook professionally.

·   What is the new cookbook about and what inspired you  to write about it? . It is a collection of 100 of my favourite recipes drawn from my childhood, my time as a royal chef and from the present when as a mother I love cooking for my daughters. It is a project that my mother and I discussed doing together, but sadly we never got around to it so it is written in her honour.

·  You’re famously associated with the House of Windsor. How did you become involved with them and when did HRH Prince Charles hire you? When I was at cookery school I was invited to go to Kensington Palace for an interview with TRH The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester - I worked for them for 2 years before being hired by the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1989.

·  I see from your cookbook, you also knew Diana. Did you ever meet Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, who is also famously known for her excellent meals? I cooked for Princess Diana for 4 years and yes, I did also meet and cook for The Duchess of Cornwall.

·  What were the prince’s favorite dishes and desserts? Prince Charles loved dishes made from his home grown vegetables, and in the winter he enjoyed game. Home-made ice cream and fruit from the garden was a favourite dessert. 

·  You also cooked for a young Prince William and a young Prince Harry. What were their favorites growing up? The young princes enjoyed traditional British food such as roast chicken , roast beef and Shepherds pie.

·  Have you cooked  and baked for the latest generation of royals, namely Prince George and Princess Charlotte? No.

·  And of course, the wives of Windsor, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Have you met them? No.

·  Did you ever cook or bake for Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh? Yes I have.

·  I’m in the New York metropolitan area, where everything royal and British is adored and admired. Have you ever thought of opening up a restaurant or tea shop in Manhattan? I would love to open a tea shop, especially as baking is my great passion. I had not thought of Manhattan as a potential location, but I would never say never!

·  What is your advice to this upcoming generation of chefs? Choose your produce and ingredients carefully, use local products wherever possible and cook simply and in tune with the seasons .

·  And the last “I have to ask” question – what is your favorite savory recipe? Your favorite sweet one? There are so many things that I love, but the Pea and ham risotto in my book brings together my favourite Italian dish with a very traditional English combination - Peas with ham.  The sweet recipe that springs to mind is my 'Coffee caramel pecan streusel triangles'  whch I created as a way of combining vanilla, coffee, caramel and pecans my 'can't do without' sweet ingredients. Perfect served with coffee or as a dessert.