Cooking for friends is one of my favorite things to do, and this is especially true when I’m cooking for foodie friends. It makes me want to bring my A game. So when planning my contributions for a shared small plates dinner with my friends Jolene, Mike, and their absurdly cute 20 month-old son Ashton last weekend, I was being even pickier than usual.
I was sitting at my desk one evening last week, pondering what quick meal I might be able to throw together from simple ingredients from the bodega that I could grab on my way to the subway, when I suddenly became nostalgic for black bean veggie burgers. Which *spoiler alert* is not what this post is about.
I’ve always been something of a traditionalist when it comes to flavor combinations – peanut butter and jelly, wasabi and soy sauce, bacon and, well, anything… I’m down with the tried and true duos.
My mom (i.e. the biggest fan of the blog that only a mother could love) feels that people would be more interested in reading my drivel if I discuss recipes that can help them save money in these lean economic times. And while I am not ready to go about re-positioning my blog, there are many times that my recipes just happen to save me money. Here’s a good example, in word problem form:
I’ve arrived at the point in the winter season when I turn into a serious hater. I hate my coats, my scarves, and my gloves. I hate shoving my feet into boots and freeing my face off each morning as I make the trek to the subway. I hate the sad selection of root vegetables and apples at the greenmarket. And with the teeth-rattling wind chills that raged all week, the only place that I wanted to be (besides curled up in bed) was in the kitchen making soup, pretending that I’d never have to go outside again.
The feedback from blog readers was so positive for for my Roasted Tomato Garlic Hummus, that I decided it couldn’t hurt to share this yummy variation that looks quite similar but bursts with the flavor of fresh roasted red peppers. I whipped it up last night when we were feeling too lazy to get out of the house and it was delightful with a little homemade herb focaccia.
I have childhood memories of asking my mother if ratatouille contains rats, which probably meant that she had to talk me into eating it. No more. While cruising Epicurious yesterday night looking for heathy and satisfying dinner inspiration, I happened across this recipe, written by the Culinary Institute of America’s Associate Dean of Restaurant Education, Chef Lou Jones. I realized that besides seeing the adorable Pixar movie, it had been a very long time since I had indulged in this simple, fresh, and amazing dish.
I think that friends who have been reading my blog are beginning to grow concerned about my health. After all, it would appear from my latest posts that I have been living on a steady diet of butter, sugars, eggs, vanilla, and chocolate. Never fear, I cook far more than I post and I’ve been spreading warm, buttery love to the thighs of friends, relatives, and colleagues near and far. In the midst of this flurry of holiday baking, my meals have primarily consisted of healthy, simple meals with seasonal flavors. This salad is a delightful example of this kind of weeknight eating, featuring sweet-tart dried cherries, two kinds of apples, musky toasted walnuts, roasted fennel, and a sweet vinaigrette, all wrapped in the loving arms of warm goat cheese.
Each time Brian and I return to the city after being away with either of our families, we have a knee-jerk reaction to eat pizza. Under normal circumstances, this means that we either roshambo to determine which one of us is going to go stand in line at Artichoke, or, when we are feeling supremely lazy, we call Lombardis and get delivery, stat.
Saturday morning I work up with a nasty headache from an overindulgent holiday celebration the night before. I was delirious and sort of flailing about in the kitchen – just getting the coffee on was a challenge. I needed some delicious and buttery carbs to settle my stomach and quiet my throbbing head, but I couldn’t imagine leaving my house in such a state. Luckily, these cherry scones not only fit the bill on account of their being flaky, buttery, and satisfying, they also were easy to make in my, ahem, less-than-with-it state.
