This recipe comes from which isn’t really a “spring cookbook” per se, but hey, food allergies know no season. The author, Darra Goldstein, teaches Russian at Williams College and is the editor of Gastronomica, one of my favorite food magazines. I had already prepped the ingredients when my 15-yo walked in and volunteered to cook. She is a mushroom lover if there ever was one, and she greedily (I say that tongue-in-cheek) had the leftovers the next day, over rice. If you’re not allergic to wheat, this would be excellent with pasta or on pizza. One of these days I’ll have to work on a wheatless pizza crust recipe. The kids miss our homemade pizza-making days.

1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound mixed wild mushrooms, trimmed and sliced (I used a mix of shiitakes, oyster mushrooms, maitakes and a few buttons)
1 shallot, minced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/3 cup chopped Kalamata olives
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup dry red wine
2 tablespoons minced parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper

Heat olive oil in skillet and add mushrooms, shallot and garlic. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients and simmer 5 minutes more. Serve hot.

Ms. Goldstein says it serves 4-6, but more than half of it went to feed one very hungry teen.

It was 9-yo’s turn to help with dinner prep, so we picked this dish from

to try. Mainly I also wanted to compare it to Filipino adobo and escabeche, which share some similarities with this recipe, in terms of preparation and ingredients. I didn’t have any major revelations cooking this dish, except for the chance to marvel again at what good olive oil can do in a dish such as this that’s marked by simplicity. One of my most favorite tuna recipes (when we still ate tuna steaks regularly) was a similar one marinated in at least a cup of olive oil, and just the littlest bit of citrus. The olive oil suffuses the tuna with richness, giving you mouth-melting flavor without being mushy. Same thing here with the chicken. Incidentally, I also love olive oil for its healthy properties — and I’m not just talking about Omega 3. My friends (who are more knowledgeable about natural methods of healing than I am) always recommend olive oil for things like yeast infections, skin rashes, dry scalp, etc. I’ve even used it on occasion to moisturize my hands after doing the dishes.

Teresa Barrenechea says you can keep this dish in the fridge for a few days, and serve it cold or at room temperature. Lovely in the summer.

2-pound chicken cut into 1- to 2-inch pieces (we skipped the cutting, and used more chicken than called for)
Salt
1 yellow onion, cut into thin rings
1 clove garlic, minced (being a garlic lover, I am tempted to use more next time)
2 bay leaves
10 black peppercorns
1/4 cup red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar (we used the latter, a yummy one from Spain)
3/4 cup olive oil

Season chicken with salt and place in a bowl. Add onion, garlic, bay leaves, and peppercorns, and mix well. Add vinegar and olive oil, toss to combine well. Marinate in the refrigerator, covered, for at least 2 hours and up to 24.

Transfer to a deep skillet or wide saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Decrease heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes or until chicken is tender (because we used larger pieces, I increased cooking time to 30 minutes).

Remove from heat and let cool. Serve at room temperature, or refrigerate in its sauce and serve cold.