A Food Blog Link We Really Love

We're switching up our regular Link Love coverage this week to introduce you to a blogger whose recipes made us hungry.

Meet Brian Samuels, the film-loving, photographer-turned-blogger behind A Thought For Food. While his blog may have started as a simple project to share food photos and largely pescatarian recipes with friends and family, it has become a full-fledged career that allows him to travel and take food photos professionally. Here, he talks about drawing inspiration from cookbooks and letting the seasons guide his recipe development (like it did for the Tuna and Fiddlehead Salad with Ramp Dressing that caught our eye this week!).

Magazines and cookbooks are a constant source of inspiration when it comes to my food photography. I can spend hours poring over each picture, analyzing the placement of a fork, the styling of the food, and how it all comes together to tell a story. I am constantly picking books off the shelf, like Sara Forte’s Sprouted Kitchen cookbooks, Tara O’Brady’s Seven Spoons, and The New Sugar & Spice from Samantha Seneviratne, to get the creative juices going.

My inspiration for recipes, on the other hand, often comes from what I find in the markets. Even if I have an idea of what I want to make, that usually changes as soon as I start to wander the produce section.

Salads are a great example of this. People often overlook them as entrees, but I love their versatility. Between the toppings and the dressings, you can make something that’s healthful and totally satisfying at the same time.

I’m a big fan of a Niçoise salad that’s loaded with tuna and eggs and lots of vegetables. I’m always looking for a seasonal spin and when I saw fiddleheads at the store, I decided to include them in the salad featured in my latest post. The ramps were also too beautiful to pass up and they were ultimately turned into a bright, garlicky dressing.

A few other links we love by Brian:

• Sweet Vermouth Cobbler
• Roasted Whole Mackerel with Smashed Potatoes and Bok Choy
• Strawberry and Fried Halloumi Salad

Brian's blog is called A Thought for Food. What food blogs did you love this week?