For a Quick Meal, Try Curried Chicken Salad

One of my favorite spice blends is Madras curry powder.  If you don't have it, do yourself a favor and go buy some.  It has a strong, complex flavor that comes from spices like tumeric, cumin, coriander, chillies, fenugreek, cinnamon, salt, garlic, etc...  It's generally yellow in color and spicier than some other curry powders.  I personally like Sun Brand which is the standard Madras in a little tin container.  This week I decided to make a curried chicken salad using my favorite time-saving technique: I used an already roasted chicken from the supermarket. his saves on time and deli rotisserie chickens are delicious.  It's a win-win!
I prepared a big batch of this curries chicken salad at the beginning of the week for my lunches at work. Then, throughout the week I used it to make sandwiches, used it as a dip with crackers, topped it with sliced avocado, put it over some brown rice...  Essentially it's a good base to jazz up for a delicious and healthy meal.

Pecan Bourbon Cookies

Every once in awhile you come across a cookie that everyone loves. These are those cookies.  If I bring them somewhere, people always rave about them and beg for the recipe.  They are nutty, crumbly, buttery, and delicious!  I typically go for chewy cookies but these are just too good to resist. You can also make a large batch of dough and freeze it in logs so you can bake them off as needed. So get to the kitchen and whip up a batch!  I promise you won't regret it.

For a Quick Meal, Try Couscous!

When I wake up in the morning and realize I haven't made anything to bring to work for lunch, the answer is almost always couscous.  This semolina pasta (that is often mistaken for a grain) is super easy to make and can be prepared in the time it takes to boil water.  It's very popular in Middle Eastern, Northern African, and even Sicilian cultures and it's easy to see why. Since it also has a pretty neutral taste, you can basically toss anything into a bowl with it and call it a meal.  This recipe is more about the preparation of the couscous itself and the resulting dish is merely an example of what can be made with it.  Toss in pomegranate seeds, nuts, lamb, chicken, or raisins.  You can make it sweet with milk, honey and cinnamon...the possibilities are endless.  So go cook some couscous and toss in whatever your heart desires.

Polenta with Spicy Tomato Sauce and Italian Pork Sausage

After a few weeks off, I'm back to bring you more delicious treats.  This dish was actually so good that I had to force myself to stop eating it or I'd get sick. Delicious way of putting it, I know.  So, this is a relatively simple, one plate meal that involves prepping all of your ingredients ahead of time so the components will be ready at around the same time.  It's a bit of a balancing act but well-worth the effort.  The creaminess of the polenta balances perfectly with the tangy-spicy-sweetness of the tomato sauce, and the juicy, fatty Italian pork sausage.  This is my kind of comfort food.

Sweet Corn Popsicles

Corn is one of those summer foods that you find at every BBQ tossed to the side, grilled and covered in butter and salt.  While this is a delicious way to prepare it, corn has so much more to offer.  It has a sweeter side.  I decided to make these sweet corn popsicles as a nice end-of-summer treat that shows another way to enjoy this traditional summer food. The only special equipment required is popsicle molds, but you can also just use popsicle sticks and little paper cups if you don't have them.  This dessert is refreshing, sweet, different, and actually not terribly unhealthy for you.  Try them and I guarantee you'll be hooked.

Shakshuka is my new favorite meal...

...and I'll tell you why. This Israeli dish is flavorful, bold, slightly spicy, hearty, and actually very healthy for you. It's one of those vegetarian dishes that doesn't leave you feeling like you're still hungry and is also a perfect meal for a cold winter day/night. Did I mention it can also be eaten for breakfast/lunch/or dinner?! In short, it's perfect.

"Cheesy" Purple Kale Chips

Some things are better to buy.  There, I said it.  If I had a food dehydrator (hint: Christmas/Hanukkah gift idea) these kale chips would be a breeze to make.  They still are super easy but just take forever in the oven.  The result is delicious and disappears almost immediately following the 4 hours you wait for them to be ready.  I'm a believer in trying to make everything at least once, so here's the recipe: