It’s the 4th of July, and what better way to celebrate than with food? Holidays + food = ‘Merica! If you need a salad to offset all the grilled meat you’re sure to ingest, this quick and tasty Brussels Sprout Salad with Radish + Feta should fit the bill nicely. It’s chock-full of fresh brussels sprouts, spicy radishes, crunchy pistachios, salty and creamy feta, and … Continue reading Happy 237th Birthday, America!
Recently I’ve begun a healthier eating plan and started a workout routine in an attempt to lose about 30 pounds before my 30th birthday, which is coming up in 6 months. I’ve had this recipe in my head for a while now, several years, in fact. I first had a Vietnamese-style summer roll at Pei Wei of all places, and I know that it’s not the most authentic of restaurants to experience a Vietnamese dish for the first time, but they had the basic elements down. I made a version of these at home about 7 years ago, but I have to say, these came out much more successfully!
Continue reading “vietnamese summer rolls with hoisin-peanut sauce”
I live in a vegetable-challenged household. I do all the cooking, and my boyfriend and our roommate tend to be picky eaters, especially where certain vegetables are concerned. Sadly, this salad was not the thing that won them over to the world of green and crunchy veggies. I, on the other hand, loved it!
(Psst! The recipe for the real version from The Cup Cafe was posted online! Get it here!)
Recently, I was in Tucson visiting family. It was St. Patrick’s Day weekend and we were trying to decide on a place to grab brunch. My sister is vegan so she recommended The Cup Cafe inside Hotel Congress, in downtown Tucson because they happen to have lots of vegan menu options. I had never been to The Cup, but always wanted to try their food. While looking over the menu, one dish stood out at me: Cast Iron Baked Eggs. I’d never before had baked eggs, and their version was decadent beyond belief: Two eggs baked in a little cast iron skillet, with leeks, Gruyere cheese, ham, and lots of cream. Vegan, this certainly was not! I practically inhaled the little skillet of eggs, even though they were piping hot from the oven. Any burns to the mouth were worth it for this super tasty dish.
Growing up in the southwest, I feel obligated to like empanadas. There’s just so many damn good variations of fillings one can cram into their flaky dough, that it’s almost impossible to not find something you’ll like.
I know a lot of people who have really only eaten sweet dessert-type empanadas, pumpkin or pineapple being very common, but I’m partial to the savory fillings. I don’t know if I’d enjoy the common Spanish filling that includes green olives and hard-boiled eggs, but luckily making them in my own kitchen means I can fill them with whatever I’d like!
A long time ago, like 10+ years ago, I attempted to make some homemade bagels. I remember virtually nothing about them except that I found the process slightly tedious and annoying. I’ve always loved bagels, but up to now, I’ve been content to just buy them from places like Einstein’s and the like. There’s nothing really wrong with their bagels, they’re just not spectacular. Don’t even get me started on the crap “bagels” that you can buy in most grocery store bread aisles. They’re essentially dense hamburger buns with holes in the middle. Where’s the chewiness? Where’s the good crust?
A short while back, Jim Lahey’s No-Knead Bread made the rounds on the interwebs. It’s still super popular, as more people discover the recipe all the time. It’s a miracle of bread- and dough-making technique, perfect for all the people out there who feel that a good loaf of homemade, crackly-crusted bread is beyond them. The ingredients are mixed by hand into a rough dough which sits at room temperature for several hours, and then gets baked in a cast iron dutch oven. When I first made it, I was shocked that a loaf of bread so good was able to come from my crappy electric oven.
At Thanksgiving, I hosted my immediate family at my house for the big meal. It was my first time being solely responsible for the entire dinner, so I went all-out: various appetizers, roasted turkey, lots of sides, and two pies . One of the appetizers that I made was little squares of pumpernickel bread with chive and onion cream cheese, topped with some fresh radish slices and cracked black pepper. The tray of these little snacks went very fast, and I’ve been dreaming about them since. I wanted to turn those ingredients into a sandwich, so what better way than a classic French tartine, or open-faced sandwich?
Look what came in the mail today!!
I’ve wanted this cookbook for a while now, and my mom was sweet enough to get it and have it shipped to me! Thanks, Mom!! There’s so many beautiful baked goods and awesome recipes, take a peek…!
When I was growing up, I don’t really recall eating a lot of meatloaf. It’s a very basic, homey kind of dish, yet I do not have a lot of memories of my mom cooking it for dinner.
Once I started cooking on my own, it was not a dish I would have chosen if I had my pick. Red meat, while tasty, has never been my go-to entree of choice, primarily because I’d rather have something more healthy and more vegetable-heavy. For better or worse, ground beef is always generally inexpensive and that’s a definite plus when shopping on my limited budget. Save for the rest of the ingredients, which are generally pantry staples, one meatloaf runs a little over 4 bucks and can serve almost as many people. It’s great because you can still turn out an easy, delicious meal when hard times are upon you. I’m glad I decided to embrace the humble dish that is meatloaf. Now, it’s one of my bi-weekly staples for dinner, and I just love it. Try this version and I dare you to tell me that you don’t also love it!
oven + apron 