Years ago, in a Mexican restaurant in Cambridge, MA, I ordered a salad and really wanted some honey mustard dressing to top it off. "No luck" said the waiter. But he did indulge me. He brought me a jar of honey and some mustard. I mixed them together at the table, and to my surprise it came out great.
Red lentils are beautiful, almost-paper-thin, orange jewels, that turn into a delicious soup in a relatively short amount of time - about 20 minutes. Add about 10 minutes of prep time for a total of about 30 minutes to have a delicious lunch or dinner soup.
Sitting down with a tasty, cool beverage is relaxing and social (in our society). My kids love it. But they're kids and they're marketed to 24/7, so those cool looking containers catch their eye and their mind. We all love eye candy - it's not their fault. Consumers in the making. So I work hard to deflect and educate them.
I'm a big fan of stir-fry. There are a couple of techniques I have mastered in order to make a stir-fry in 20 minutes, or less. And that includes prep-time. Of course my definition of what constitutes a stir-fry is broad (meaning, just about anything is game).
This was a spur-of-the-moment recipe and it turned out well. I've only made it twice, but it's easy. This recipe is giving me ideas about making other kinds of brittle, like nut brittle, and it could also be another technique for making granola bars. Happy Holidays!
I've been playing around with my fluffy pancake recipe and have come up with a recipe to guarantee fluffiness. The amount of fluffiness is easily controlled and it works with any flour type, gluten-free or not. I prefer buckwheat flour - it has that hardy pancake taste without the weight of a full-on pancake. And I can eat a bunch of these with some real maple syrup and feel satisfied but not overly full and carb-loaded.
There's nothing a like a good pumpkin dog biscuit to sooth the soul.
If you're thinking about how to prepare your turkey, here's how I season chicken, turkey, and other kinds of poultry. You can apply this technique at the last minute, as well as a few days before, while the turkey waits in the refrigerator. What I get is golden, crunchy skin and moist meat underneath. Roasted chicken is the meal my kids would choose if stranded on a desert island.
Happy Halloween! Here are two recipes for toasted pumpkin seeds. One with kosher salt and one with spices. Both are tasty - it just depends on how spicy you like them. And the picture of the masked duo (below) is from Halloween, circa 2002. The Spiderman movie was very popular in our house back then, and rather than have two Spidermen, S opted to balance out the representation. What a guy!
These morning or breakfast sausages are consumed at almost any time of day or night. Breakfast for dinner is a great pass time. These sausages are the star of this plate, but I don't shape them into stars too often - too much work. Most of the time, they're just round and flattened.
This is a simple pasta dish I prepare in about 30 minutes. It's great because it can be made ahead of time, reheated, frozen, and it can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Serve with a salad and you're good to go.
This is one of our favorite "smoothies". This is really more of a slushy because I use fruit, some juice, possibly some ice, and blend away. A great cooler to have after varsity tennis practice (in our case), on a hot day, or with a spicy dish. Strawberries are still showing up here, but when they aren't, I use frozen strawberries.
This is a tasty salad that I make when I have left over salmon - although lately I purposely make salmon to create this salad. Capers, dill, lemon, and some yogurt and/or mayo, and you have the makings of a versatile salad base.
Here is our pop flavor of the week. Watermelon has a naturally sweet, juicy disposition that lends itself well to smoothies and pops. So here is a quenching treat for the last hot days of summer.
If you love the flavor of coffee, or just like ice coffee and coffee ice cream, you just might enjoy this treat. It's simple to make and can be consumed immediately, or frozen for later.
I have been eating this ice cream après breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Since I don't drink coffee, it's kind of like my coffee fix - I know, I'm weird - I live in Seattle and don't drink coffee. I love coffee - in ice cream!
This ice cream is so decadent - a chocolate lover's delight. And I add raspberry syrup to the mix for even more sweet decadence. (It's hard not to be a berry fiend in the Pacific Northwest - has anyone anointed this area the "berry capital of the world" yet?)
Barbecuing is an art form for sure, and it's a great way to enhance the flavor of meats, vegetables, fruit, and even bread. My kids love barbecued chicken, and it's so easy to make. Here is a simple recipe for barbecuing chicken pieces - we use mostly legs because they are easy to grab and eat, and the dark meat stays moist and retains flavor well.
Tabbouleh (tabouli) is a refreshing salad that goes great with grilled kabobs, or grilled anything really. Tabbouleh is a traditional Middle Eastern dish that has been around for hundreds of years, originating from Egypt and Levantine cuisine. This recipe is made with all the traditional ingredients, except that I substituted quinoa for cracked wheat (bulgur) so that it is gluten-free.
Berry season is coming up (or it may already be with you). In any case, berry sorbets are so refreshing and so easy to make. This not only serves as a refreshing snack or dessert, but is great for whipping up strawberry smoothies.
I've been experimenting with flavors, but for the moment, I'm kind of stuck on berries and chocolate, if you haven't noticed. So here is a recipe for vanilla ice cream with swirls of chocolate and berry concentrate.
I love macaroons for so many reasons - apart from the fact that it is a treat and is so easy to bake. I'm willing to try anything containing coconut after reading about its health benefits.
Continue reading "Macaroons: Lemon, Vanilla, and Chocolate Kissed" »
This jerk chicken recipe is one of my go-to quick and easy grilling recipes, and I can pair the chicken with just about anything - on top of a salad, with confetti coleslaw, rolled up in a wrap, on top of grilled veggies - you name it. I prefer to use white meat tenders, but you can use any cut of chicken for this recipe.
These pancakes are made with coconut flour and they are fluffy - which is a bit harder to achieve when using almond flour (what I usually bake with). There are many virtues to coconut flour, but more importantly, the test for really good pancakes is the fluff factor, and these deliver the fluff.
Nothing more to say here than yum, if you like fries. And so simple to whip together - no peeling (unless you make squash fries)! Just leave some time - about 40 minutes - for the magic to happen.
This is like a frittata or a crust-less quiche. It is a quick and easy recipe that goes great with a salad, some fruit, or just a glass of orange juice in the morning. And it's easy to reheat as well. You'll need lots of eggs - 8, to be exact. And this is one of the few brands of finished meats that I buy these days. If you like bacon, it is the best bacon brand around, in my humble opinion.
For those of us who love the crunch and texture of a good chip, this is a tangy and sweet variation, with a lot less oil and salt (none, actually). And a bonus - it makes a great treat or snack, with lots of vitamins. Unfortunately, I plow through them pretty quickly - I can eat a bowl in one sitting (the equivalent of large bag of potato chips!)
Making stuffed cabbage brings back my memories of sitting at a well dressed table in Grandma Rose's Bronx apartment for a winter dinner. I'm not sure anyone else looked forward to this European (and Asian) dish, but I did. It reminded me of how she poured her heart and hands into all the food she made for us. A sweet package of meat wrapped in tender leaves of cabbage.
The vanilla honey ice cream makes great ice cream pops. And it's not just the kids that like vanilla ice cream!
This soup calls for any left over vegetables, and I added matzo balls made with almond flour in honor of the last night of Hanukah.
Whenever I have the remains of a roasted chicken, or the drippings from a roasted chicken pan or casserole dish, I make chicken stock and then use it or freeze it to use later. It is easy to defrost and you can have instant soup or stock for a recipe. Here is one slow and one fast route to chicken stock or soup.
