Chef Danielle Turner is a personal chef, cooking instructor, food writer, and adventurous eater. She lives and eats for sport in the wilds of suburban D.C. with her husband and daughter.

Going with the grain

Getting comfortable with grain salads

By Danielle Turner

June 30, 2009

Growing up, the only salad I ever ate consisted of a bottle of creamy cucumber salad dressing, a little iceberg lettuce, and sliced tomatoes. In that order.

Seriously, it was all about the dressing. The lettuce and anything else were just vessels for transporting the dressing from plate to mouth.

My take on salad has (thankfully) evolved, and it remains one of my all-time favorite things to eat. In recent years I’ve expanded my salad horizons, abandoning iceberg lettuce and occasionally replacing my treasured arugula, watercress, and assorted mixed greens with whole grains like wheat berries, bulgur, and quinoa.

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Chef Danielle Turner is a personal chef, cooking instructor, food writer, and adventurous eater. She lives and eats for sport in the wilds of suburban D.C. with her husband and daughter.

Fresh food inspiration

Jump-start your cooking

By Danielle Turner

May 12, 2009

It happens to the best of us. Despite the stacks of dog-eared food magazines piled high on our coffee tables, the eclectic cookbook collections that fill our bookshelves, or even our best intentions of whipping up delicious fare for our families, dinnertime can turn into an uninspiring rotation of the same handful of reliable recipes, week after week, month after month.

As a personal chef, I make my living preparing meals for individuals and families alike. But professional experience aside, I’m still a busy working mom who’s often stymied by the age-old question: “What’s for dinner?”

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