Many of us who love to cook get ideas from creative restaurant chefs. It’s their job to present new and different preparations to tempt customers.

It could be as simple as produce (NB the onslaught of kale, first in restaurants, then in our homes). What’s next?

Nation’s Restaurant News polled nearly 1,300 chefs in its annual What’s Hot survey. The chefs pointed to produce that distinguishes them from their competitors and gives them cred for sourcing specialty items. Here are what they see as the top produce trends for 2015.

LOCALLY GROWN PRODUCE

Consumers like to see locally grown produce on the menu. It shows support for the community, an appreciation for seasonality and reduction of carbon miles, the extra fuel required to the transport food from farther distances. It is the top trend noted by the chefs in the survey.

Americans have growing awareness of the desirability of organic produce—fruits and vegetables raised without artificial pesticides or fertilizers. “Organic” on a menu is well received (even when consumers don’t buy organic produce for their own kitchens); and all-organic chains such as Sweetgreen are finding success.
 

UNUSUAL HERBS

It’s time to think beyond parsley. Chefs with classical French training are turning to chervil as a garnish, Mexican restaurants are wrapping more foods in hoja santa and Japanese chefs are using kinome, leaves of the sansho/Szechuan pepper plant.

 
HEIRLOOM FRUIT

Heirloom apples, grown from seeds that are passed down from generation to generation, are making a comeback. Heirloom foods fell out of favor because they are more difficult to grow, more expensive and/or other reasons that made farmers turn to other varieties—even if those varieties are less flavorful. You can look for heirloom varieties in your local farmers market. Ask the farmer to point them out.

 
EXOTIC FRUIT

Chefs have a growing interest in fruit that’s a little out of the ordinary. It could be açaí and goji berries added to fruit beverages and fruit salads, or desserts made with Asian pear or dragon fruit.

What’s your favorite fruit or veggie trend?
  

Use hummus as the base of a salad. Photo courtesy Chalk Point Kitchen | NYC.

Last month we featured 20 different ways to use hummus. But we left off at least one: this hummus salad.

This appetizer concept, by Executive Chef Joe Isidori of Chalk Point Kitchen in New York City, piles crunchy veggies atop a base of hummus, served with a side of pita wedges.

First, consider the hummus. Chef Isidori makes his own, but if you’re buying yours, check out the myriad of flavored hummus—everything from roasted garlic to spicy chipotle.

Cut up your “salad”—beets, carrots, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions, olives, pickled vegetables (Chef Isidori used pickle onions, we used dilly beans), radishes, etc.—and toss it lightly in a vinaigrette. You can top the hummus with romaine or other crunchy lettuce before adding the other vegetables.

For a final flourish, top with minced fresh herbs and some optional feta cheese, and serve with toasted pita chips.

You can easily turn this into a light lunch or vegan dinner, and feel good that you’re eating healthfully, sustainably and tastily.

EASY VINAIGRETTE RECIPE

There’s no need to buy bottled vinaigrette. Just open a bottle of olive oil and a bottle of vineagar—two kitchen staples—measure them in a ratio of 3:1 and whisk vigorously.

Start with 3 tablespoons of oil and 1 tablespoon of vinegar. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and a pinch of dry mustard. The latter helps the emulsion stay together and contributes a wee bit o flavor.

The magic comes when you use different oils—flavored oils, nut oils—and vinegars; substitute lemon or lime juice for some or all of the vinegar; and add other flavor dimensions such as condiments (chopped olives, mustard, relish), heat, herbs and sweetness (honey, maple syrup).

Here’s our master article on how to create great vinaigrette.
  

Hello Kitty, whose “real” name is Kitty White, is a cartoon character produced by the Japanese company Sanrio. She is a white Japanese bobtail cat with a red hair bow.

From her first appearance on a vinyl coin purse in Japan in 1974 (it arrived in the U.S. in 1976), Hello Kitty exploded into a global marketing phenomenon. Last year it had sales of $7 billion—all without any advertising. That’s a lot of hellos.

Hello Kitty is the delight not only of pre-adolescent girls—the original target market—but teens, college and adult women as well. Her endearing face can be found on everything from school supplies to fashion accessories and high-end consumer products.

We recently spotted a tiny Hello Kitty face on the temples of our friend Irma’s new eyeglasses. (She bought the glasses because she liked the style, and didn’t pay any attention to Kitty.)

This cake is all ice cream with a Cool Whip-type frosting decor. The confetti on the sides of the cake is also mixed into the body of the cake.

The cake is certified kosher dairy by KOF-K.

Need a fun cake for a special occasion? Look for Hello Kitty in your grocer’s ice cream section. You can find Kitty at A&P, Big Y, Giant Eagle, King Kullen, King’s, Market Basket, Price Shopper, Publix, Redner’s, Shaws, Shop Rite, Target Wal-Mart, Wegman’s and other retailers.
  

[1] Make warm and fragrant cinnamon crescents for breakfast or brunch (photo © Taste Of Home).

[2] One of the three different types of cinnamon (photo © Ben Fink from Indian Home Cooking by Suvir Saran.

[3] After shaping and just before baking, croissants and other breads undergo roofing—a.k.a. final fermentation, final rise, second rise, or blooming (photo © Mateusz D | Unsplash).

[4] Golden brown classic croissants. Here’s the recipe (photo © King Arthur Baking).

[5] The airy inside of the croissant is a result of lamination, the process of folding and rolling butter into dough over and over again to create super-thin layers. These layers, which alternate between butter and dough, are what give croissants their signature honeycomb interior structure and their flaky texture. As a croissant bakes, the water in the solid butter vaporizes into steam, which puffs up the dough and creates steam pockets between the layers. Here’s more about it (photo © King Arthur Baking).

April 10th is National Cinnamon Crescent Day.

Crescent is the English word for croissant, the buttery, crescent-shaped laminated dough breakfast rolls so integral to French breakfasts.

Cinnamon Crescents are an American adaptation of the croissant. Because Americans have a sweet tooth, the crescents have a filling of cinnamon sugar and are topped with a vanilla glaze.

Make your own with this recipe from Taste Of Home.

> The history of croissants is below.

> The history of breakfast.
 
 
RECIPE: CINNAMON CRESCENTS (CROISSANTS)

Ingredients For 4 Dozen Small Rolls

 
For The Filling

 
For The Glaze

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE 3 cups flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.

2. HEAT the butter, milk, shortening, and water to 120°-130° in a large saucepan. Add to the dry ingredients and beat just until moistened. Add the egg yolks and beat until smooth. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough (the dough will be sticky).

3. TURN the dough onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

4. COMBINE the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl; set aside.

5. PUNCH the risen dough down. Turn it onto a lightly floured surface; knead about six times.

6. DIVIDE the dough into four portions. Roll out one portion into a 12-inch circle; spread with 2 tablespoons butter and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar. Cut into 12 wedges.

7. ROLL up each wedge from the wide end and place it point side down, three inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Curve the ends to form crescents. Repeat with remaining dough, butter, and cinnamon sugar. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Preheat the oven.

8. BAKE at 350°F for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks. Make the glaze: Combine the confectioners’ sugar, milk, and vanilla; drizzle over warm rolls. Combine the sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over the rolls.
 
 
WHAT IS A CROISSANT?

Meaning “crescent” and pronounced kwah-SAWN in French, this rich, buttery, crescent-shaped roll is made of puff pastry that layers yeast dough with butter—a technique known as laminating.

Traditionally a breakfast bread served with jam and butter, two classic variations include the almond croissant, filled with frangipane (almond paste) and topped with sliced almonds, and the “chocolate croissant,” correctly called pain au chocolat, baked with a piece of dark chocolate in the center.

In the early 1970s, croissants became sandwich substitutes as they evolved from their two traditional fillings, chocolate, and almond paste, into many savory variations, from broccoli to ham and cheese, as well as additional sweet varieties.

There’s also the Bavarian croissant or pretzel croissant, made of a pretzel-like dough that combines bread flour and whole wheat flour with salt sprinkled on the top, like a pretzel. Some are made of puff pastry, others of soft pretzel-type dough in a triangle wrap, like a croissant.
 
The Real History Of Croissants

Stories of the croissant being made in the shape of the crescent of the Turkish flag, after the defeat of the Turks in the Siege of Vienna in 1683, are a perpetuated myth. Recipes for croissants do not appear in recipe books until the early 1900s, according to the Oxford Companion To Food. The earliest French reference is in 1853.

The croissant is a descendant of the Austrian kipfel, a yeast roll usually filled with chopped walnuts, dried or candied fruit, or other filling, and shaped like a crescent. It arrived in Paris in 1838 or 1839 with August Zang, an Austrian military officer. He opened a bakery, Boulangerie Viennoise, and introduced Viennese techniques which would one day lead to the baguette and the croissant. The crescent-shaped kipfel was ultimately made with puff pastry by French bakers.

You can read this history in Jim Chevallier’s book, August Zang and the French Croissant: How Viennoisserie* Came To France (Kindle edition).
 
_______________

*Viennoiserie are buttery, flaky breakfast breads and pastries made with laminated dough, a technique of layering and folding a yeast dough to create brioche, croissants, danish, pain au chocolat and other so-called “Viennoiserie.” It is a marriage between traditional bread baking and sweet pastry baking. The technique of lamination produces many buttery layers that can be pulled apart to reveal thin leaves within. You can see the striations, or layers, of pastry when you look at the top of the Viennoiserie or when you cut into them (photo ##5). This technique is time-consuming and expensive (because of the amount of butter needed).

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

It had been a New Year’s resolution to eat beans—nutritious, with plenty of fiber and protein, and affordable—at least twice a week. While best practices involve soaking dry beans overnight before cooking, we knew we were less likely to plan ahead.

Hence, a variety of ready to eat, canned bean choices: black beans, cannellini beans, great northern beans, pinto beans, red beans. Garbanzo beans (chickpeas) are also an option, but we eat plenty of them each week in hummus.

Here are ways we’ll be using the beans, along with a hint: Drain the beans in a colander and then rinse them well under cold water to remove as much of the sodium as possible. The un-healthful side of canned beans is the amount of sodium in the can.

Check out our glossary of the different types of beans.
 
Beans For Breakfast

Beans For Dinner

 
Beans For Snacking

As a side, serve beans with sausage or bacon. Photo courtesy MackenzieLtd.com.

 
Have more ideas? Add them here!