charred corn polenta with herb + tomato salad

It is officially PSL season (pumpkin spice latte, in case you didn’t know), which means it should be time for all things pumpkin, right? While I adore pumpkin and pumpkin-flavored things,  I have a hard time switching gears so rapidly from summer cheeseburgers and popsicles, directly to warm and hearty pumpkin-filled fall dishes without anything to bridge the gap between the seasons. In my neck … Continue reading charred corn polenta with herb + tomato salad

national sandwich month: crunchy falafel pita sandwiches

AUGUST IS UPON US, WHICH MEANS NATIONAL SANDWICH MONTH IS HERE! I ABSOLUTELY ADORE SANDWICHES, AND WILL BE BRINGING YOU RECIPES FOR MANY DELICIOUS VERSIONS AS THE MONTH GOES ON. STICK AROUND, IT’S SANDWICH TIME! Everyone has those hometown restaurants that they miss, and one that I miss from back home was a little Greek quick-service place called Fronimo’s. There’s something about Greek fast food that … Continue reading national sandwich month: crunchy falafel pita sandwiches

national sandwich month: sweet potato grilled cheese with ricotta + sage

August is upon us, which means National Sandwich Month is here! I absolutely adore sandwiches, and will be bringing you recipes for many delicious versions as the month goes on. Stick around, it’s sandwich time! There’s something so comforting to me about the combination of sweet potato, ricotta, and fresh sage. I first encountered this combo in the form of a pizza from one of my favorite … Continue reading national sandwich month: sweet potato grilled cheese with ricotta + sage

the crispy egg breakfast pizza

Back last fall, Deb over at smitten kitchen posted a recipe for a crispy fried egg. Usually, fried eggs are my last choice when it comes to egg preparation methods. Runny yolk? Ew. However, the crispy egg was intriguing to me. I wanted to make it for myself, but wasn’t sure how to let it shine in the best possible way. A breakfast pizza seemed like … Continue reading the crispy egg breakfast pizza

grilled salmon niçoise salad

Springtime in the Southwest is a woefully short season. Usually my meals transition from hearty soups and pot pies, directly to popsicles and cooling fruit sodas with nothing much in between. Thankfully, this year we’ve had a gorgeous springtime, so I’ve been in the mood to whip up a seasonally appropriate meal. This salad is something I’ve had in my mind for a ridiculously long time, … Continue reading grilled salmon niçoise salad

fresh mango-cantaloupe salsa

GEORGE: Salsa is now the number one condiment in America. JERRY: You know why? Because people like to say “salsa”. “Excuse me, do you have salsa?” “We need more salsa.” “Where is the salsa? No salsa?” – Seinfeld, Episode 43 “The Pitch” It’s already begun. The ubiquitous gearing-up-for-summertime-heat, and the dread that sets in around this time of year in the Phoenix area because of … Continue reading fresh mango-cantaloupe salsa

cauliflower-tahini soup with paprika + lemon

You may remember my undying love for Pita Jungle‘s roasted cauliflower with tahini sauce dish? I pretty much order it every time I’m there, and I even made my own version at home so I can have it any time I want!

Recently on a day off, I was craving soup. I was also craving that roasted cauliflower, so I thought I could try my hand at combining the collective awesomeness of a good soup with that roasted cauliflower. Boom, this fantastic soup was born. I now win at life.

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sweet potato, sage + ricotta tart

Hooray, Thanksgiving is almost here!

For the most food-centric holiday around, I wanted to come up with a dish that wasn’t the usual green bean casserole or sweet potatoes with little marshmallows on top (though I do love both those dishes dearly!), but that still encompassed all the flavors and colors of Fall. I have to give props to one of my favorite Phoenix pizza joints, Federal Pizza, cause they came up with this flavor combination before I did, and I adore it!

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creamy polenta with gouda, portobello mushrooms + tomatoes

When I first saw the dish that inspired today’s recipe, I couldn’t wait to make it myself. Kenji over at Serious Eats sure has a way with food! I’ve always loved creamy polenta, and the skirt steak on top with those pretty tomatoes just looked killer.

Go ahead and check out that photo. See what I mean? Doesn’t it just look amazing? I wanted to create it myself, but thought I’d do a vegetarian spin on it by substituting baby portobello mushrooms for the skirt steak. It makes a super hearty, rich and creamy dish for colder weather! Gouda in the polenta lends a nice, smoky quality and the seared mushrooms are the perfect alternative to meat, still keeping that savory and satisfying component to the finished dish. The bright and fresh tomatoes have the perfect acidic twang to cut through all the richness of the cheesy polenta. Make it yourself, I dare you! I know you’ll love it as much as I did.

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sweet potato, sausage + apple pot pies

Holiday traditions are a huge deal for me. Growing up, Halloween always meant creating that perfect costume, trick-or-treating with my sisters and the neighbor kid across the street, and visiting the school’s Halloween carnival before going home and passing out in a sugar coma. In the days leading up to the holiday itself, it meant carving pumpkins and watching It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and the Garfield Halloween special (“I’ll have you know, Halloween is my middle name! Gar-Halloween-field….”) from the video tapes my mom had recorded many years before.

Every year when Halloween rolls around, I still look forward to watching those silly cartoon specials of my childhood, carving jack-o-lanterns and admiring their flickering candlelight in the dark outside my house, and my new tradition — making tasty things to eat. These adorable Fall flavor-packed pot pies are everything a Halloween meal should be, complete with festive orange sweet potato, autumn-appropriate sage and sausage, and the perfect jack-o-lantern face grinning up at you as you eat. Can your Halloween meal get any cuter? I submit that it cannot.

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