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:

Pistachio-crusted Salmon Dinner for Two

So, last week I made these, which may have left you with some extra crushed pistachios.  I came up with this recipe to use them up in a delicious salmon dinner.  It's super easy and can be served with any number of things.  I served mine with a side dish consisting of orzo (a grain-shaped pasta), red and yellow peppers, crumbled feta, dill, capers, lemon zest and a drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette.

Perfect Pesto

I have a basil plant that has recently gotten a little out of control, and so there was only one thing for me to do...make pesto!  Pesto is an Italian sauce that traditionally uses basil, garlic and parmesan cheese although now there are hundreds of varieties of pesto.  This is because pesto comes from the Italian word meaning to grind--> think mortar and pestle. So, now there are sun-dried tomato, black olive, eggplant, pistachio and mushroom pestos (just to name a few).  What we are talking about here is the original, Genovese, basil pesto. This recipe is simple, fast and delicious.  What's even better is that you can freeze it for use at a later date. I like to freeze it in ice cube trays and pop it out as needed.   Pesto is also very versatile: think veggie tarts, pizzas, sautéed vegetables, sun-dried tomato mozzarella and pesto sandwiches....etc.

Date and Nut Balls

It has been a super long time since my last post..oops.  Since starting a new job October, I dropped the ball on writing down recipes to share, but I'm back and promise to at least attempt to write more regularly.

The following recipe is just something simple I threw together as a snack when my pantry was reaching near-bare conditions.  The only required equipment is a small skillet and a food processor or blender, and the result is a chewy, sweet and salty treat.  They are also raw, gluten free, and vegan (aside from honey if you're a super strict vegan but then you can just use agave syrup instead).  I like recipes like this because it's like having a cookie without having to turn on your oven in the hot summer.  

My New Favorite Breakfast: Baked Eggs

I've never been one to eat a lot in the morning, but I do believe in having a delicious breakfast to start your day off right.  I tend to like things that are a savory and nothing can really beat a well-prepared egg dish.  This is a simple way to enjoy eggs that also gives you a lot of freedom to add whatever you like.

Make Your Own Tea Blends

Making your own tea blends is easy, and you can do it with things lying around your kitchen.  Ok, you might have to buy a few things, but it's still pretty easy.  I like to make my own herbal tea blends I can have at night without worrying about caffeine keeping me awake.  It helps with digestion and is a nice treat to give yourself at the end of a long day.

Salted Chocolate Chip and Hazelnut Cookies

I wanted to make chocolate chip cookies, but needed something different to set them apart.  I ended up tossing in some toasted hazelnuts which, when combined with the chocolate, gives the cookie an almost Nutella-like flavor.  I also sprinkled some sea salt on top just before baking and that really makes the flavor of the cookie stand out.  These cookies are hard to resist, so why even try to?

Disappearing Peanut Butter Oreo Brownies

At the supermarket the other day I found something amazing: Peanut Butter Oreos!  That's right, Oreo cookies with peanut butter filling.  I knew I had to buy a package and I immediately had plans to make something with them.  I decided to take my brownie recipe and toss a few of the Oreos into the mix.  The result was a gooey, yummy brownie that had people helping themselves to second, third, and fourth portions.

Beet Risotto with Feta and Sage

I loooove beets.  From the outside a beet looks like your average root vegetable.  Then you slice into it and see the deep purple-red color that's marbled with an almost wood grain pattern to it, and you can tell it's something special.  Raw, a beet has a slightly bitter aftertaste that I think is a little like the dirt it was plucked from.  Roast it and it becomes sweet, but not cloyingly so.  The one drawback of working with beets is that it will dye everything it touches, so be careful to wear gloves and choose carefully what surfaces you allow it to touch.  This "negative" trait is also a positive one when you want to make a food dyed red (like red velvet cake...ew) without using artificial colorings.  I bought some beets from a farm stand they have in my neighborhood and knew immediately what I was going to make with them: beet risotto.

Egg and Spinach Sandwich

This is a super easy meal that is healthy, flavorful, and quick to prepare.  It's a great lunch/brunch item that doesn't require a lot of time or fancy ingredients.  You can also substitute the spinach for any vegetables you happen to have in your kitchen.  I made this as a lazy, rainy day lunch, but it can be enjoyed anytime.

Pastry Cream

Pastry cream is one of those things that is simple to make, but also very easy to screw up.  The most common issues are not cooking it enough, or cooking it too much so the eggs scramble.  Pastry cream is very versatile and you can flavor it however you want.  This is a recipe for basic vanilla pastry cream that I made with vanilla beans I bought from a farmer while walking along the rice paddies in Ubud, Bali (sounds romantic doesn't it?).

Pasta Dish for One

Oh hey there.  Long time no see.  My most recent sabbatical from this blog can be explained..really! I swear!  I just returned from a trip to the distant land of Indonesia, and yes it was amazing.  I'll be making some food inspired by my trip at a later date, but for now I thought I'd post my dinner from tonight.  Sometimes you're by yourself and want to eat a delicious meal, so this is a solo dish that may sound strange but is very yummy.  Treat yourself!

White chocolate, Black sesame, and cardamom cookies

I had an extra bag of white chocolate chips lying around and decided to make some cookies.  I didn't want to make the default "white chocolate macadamia nut cookies" so I started looking around for something more interesting.  A bag of black sesame seeds caught my eye and I decided to give it a try.  The result is a cookie that is crunchy from the seeds, gooey from the chocolate, and has a pinch of spice from the cardamom.  I made these in mini cupcake pans so they came out like little 2-bite cookies, but you can scoop them and bake like a normal cookie as well.