I'm not a vegetarian but you knew that. I have never really been comfortable with any sort of constraint (especially culinarily). Still we eat vegetarian at 3 or 4 nights a week, not necessarily by design or any sort of mandate. It just works out that way.

Partly because I am in love with the beauty of vegetables. Fresh-fare, grown impeccably and served at its peak of perfection is culinary magic to my way of thinking. The colors and the textures of so many vegetables are positively inspiring. Let's face it. Dead animals can enliven any meal, but vegetables require an artistic eye, and a more nuanced sensibility. So, when cooking on a nightly basis, the meals that come out of my kitchen are often vegetarian. Unless you count Asian Fish Sauce. I put Asian Fish Sauce in everything.

My point is– I may dabble unconsciously in vegetarian styles of cooking, but there are others who embrace it passionately and creatively. Michael Natkin is one such cook. His new book, named after his blog Herbivoracious, shows off his style of flavor-packed cooking; pulling together gutsy flavors and ingredients from around the world. Asian tastes make plenty of appearances as you might expect. After all, there are 15 recipes calling for tofu in this book. But I see Middle-Eastern influences in his eggplant sandwich, a lot of naturally meatless Indian preparations, as well as vegetarian takes on things like the internationally popular lasagna (his has portobellos and summer squash).

But these globally-inspired recipes are a far cry from the usual-suspects. I'll be honest, recipes that merely swap lentils for meat  are never as good as the original (lentil loaf with ketchup? No thank you). These type of sad-faced recipes are the bane of many a vegetarian cookbook, and the reason I could never be a vegetarian.

I am going to do this backwards today. I am going to start with a recipe and end with a story. The recipe is a cocktail I tasted at Pebble Beach Food and Wine. It's a Bellini made with super sweet Driscoll's raspberries.The story is told through video. It's the story of my day stomping through the mud at a raspberry farm.

I learned lots of cool stuff, but the coolest is this: You can trace the journey of your package of fresh Driscoll's Berries all the back to the farm where they were grown. Turn over the package and you will find a label featuring a code that tells you about the farms where your berries were hand harvested. Find the code on your clamshell here!

But I promised the recipe first. And here it is. Raspberry Ginger Bellini serves 1 CLICK here for a printable recipe

• 2 T (1 ounce) domaine de canton (ginger liqueur)
• 1 T (1/2 ounce) lemon juice
• 1 T (1/2 ounce) grenedine
• 6 driscoll's raspberries, plus one for garnish
• 6 T (3 ounces) chandon rosé or sparkling rosé

In a cocktail shaker half filled with ice, combine the Domaine de Canton, lemon juice, simple syrup and 4 raspberries. Shake vigorously.

Add Chandon Rose or Sparkling Rose in a champagne coupe glass. Strain shaken contents into glass with Rosé.

Recipe adapted from Driscoll's Berries.

Thanks to California Avocados I now have a story to tell, and a short video to share. The folks at California Avocados invited me on a tour recently. I did more than just consume massive quantities of avocado while I was there. I consumed lots of information, and I am here to regurgitate it all over you!

I am a geek. But you knew that.

I am particularly geeky when it comes to collecting useless information about things that interest me. Things like avocados.

This is the time of year we can all be geeks when it comes to avocados. Because, for avocado geeks, this is prime season. In California the famed ‘Hass’ avocado is at its peak. Meaning geeks everywhere can get quality avocados grown in California at a rate of 90% of the domestic US supply.

We love avocados for their rich, fatty oil content. In fact if we're honest with ourselves, it’s why we love all foods. Our DNA makes us crave fatty foods to prepare for times of hardship. The fact that hardship today is a different sort of drama than it was tens of centuries ago accounts for our love-hate relationship with fat. But I digress. Because when it comes to an avocado. Fat is your friend. Half an avocado has 15 grams of heart-healthy unsaturated fat.

Which is geeky fact number one!

Ahhh, spring. The time when a young man's fancy turns to fish!

Of course I could have said,  "Ahhh, winter, spring, summer, fall, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday. The time when a young man's fancy turns to fish".

At least this young man. While it's true that I am not technically a young man. But that would be rude to bring up. So we won't go there alright?

Because I want to talk Cioppino.

You probably know that Cioppino is a San Francisco tradition. It's a flavorful fish stew in a slightly spicy tomato broth. It (supposedly) originated in the city's Italian North Beach neighborhood a hundred or more years ago. This seafood-based soup can be made with any combination of seafood and fish you like. But I personally believe it must contain at least one variety of shellfish.

The recipe I use you'll find below. It originated with the CIA Greystone. But honestly I just use it as a road map. Cioppino is one of those soulful pots of goodness that tells you where it wants to go as you cook.

Don't forget to make a big pot. Because it's a communal meal. Best served among friends with great sourdough bread, plenty of napkins and extra bowls for all those shells. Oh, and wine. Don't forget the wine. My brother Grant chose to pair this Cioppino with  Four Vines "The Sophisticate" Zinfandel Sonoma County 2009.

So pull up a chair, bowl and glass and let your fancy turn to fish. GREG