Just Drink It...

It's that time of year again... when the air catches a little nip, the distinct smell of grilling starts to be replaced by the smokey aroma of chimneys and fire pits, and you can hear the echos of a football game on a Friday night.  Fall.  It's the season of apples, hayrides, and comfort food.  Unfortunately, it is also the season of the common cold.  Despite my best efforts to deny it, I am officially under the weather.  Today, after mustering enough energy to get down to the kitchen, I managed to gather a few key ingredients from the fridge and concoct what I like to believe was a mean, green, cold-busting machine.  A lovely mixture of leeks, apples, chard, and parsley, this soup was chock-full of vitamin C as well as antioxidants. Smooth and herby with a back note of heat, it was perfect for sipping away the sniffles. No spoon required.



Apple Leek Soup

4C water
1 1/2 tsp salt 
2 leeks - cleaned and rough chopped
1 large honey crisp apple - peeled and rough chopped
1/4 tsp red pepper flake
1/2 C almond milk
2 small chard leaves 
handful of fresh parsley, plus some for garnish
pepper to taste

Add salt to water and bring to boil.  Turn heat to medium, add leeks and apples and simmer for 10 minutes.  Add chard leaves and handful of fresh parsley. Simmer 2 minutes.  Using immersion blender, blend until smooth. Add almond milk and red pepper flake. Stir. Pepper to taste.  Garnish soup with chopped fresh parsley.

Giving thanks... in September

An impromptu potluck dinner occurred here this evening. So impromptu, in fact, that I barely had time to document my own dish before it was devoured. The meal included curried cauliflower with cherry tomatoes, quinoa cakes, and pasta with spicy pumpkin sauce. After stuffing our faces at the table, we adjourned to the fire pit where we cranked out s'mores like it was our job. There was just the right amount of nip in the air to truly appreciate the warmth from the flames. We sat and chatted and made the ground breaking discovery that peanut butter is the perfect add-on to a s'more. Good friends and good food... what more could a girl ask for? Although it was not the official day for giving thanks, tonight made me realize exactly how grateful I am.

Pasta with Butternut Squash

1 small butternut squash - peeled, deseeded, cubed

1 clove garlic - minced

1/2 red onion - chopped

1/2 C chickpeas

3 chard stems - chopped

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp cinnamon

fresh sage leaves

Warm 2 TBSP olive oil in a skillet and saute squash, onions, chickpeas and chard. Once squash is fork tender, add garlic and spices and saute 2-3 more minutes. Add veggies to cooked whole wheat pasta and top with pumpkin sauce. Toss everything together to coat, then bake (covered) for 15 minutes at 325. Garnish with fresh sage.

Spicy Pumpkin Sauce

3 TBSP butter

3 TBSP flour

1/2 red onion - chopped

2 C almond milk

3 TBSP pumpkin butter

1 tsp sriracha

1 tsp red pepper flake

salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in sauce pan over medium heat. Add onions and saute until tender. Add flour and stir to form paste. Add almond milk, pumpkin butter, sriracha and spices. Simmer on low for 2-3 minutes. Pour over cooked pasta with butternut squash.

Summer Memories

Growing up near the Chesapeake Bay, summer always included huge crab feasts. We would purchase a bushel of Maryland blue crabs, steam them with no small amount of Old Bay seasoning, and dump them onto a picnic table with plenty of piping hot sweet corn. It's my favorite summer memory, hands down. Now that I live in Michigan, cracking crabs is a thing of the past and I am stuck with the packaged crab meat at the grocery store. It is certainly not the best representation but it's better than nothing at all. Today I whipped up a quick snack that combined crab meat and corn into one tasty bite... a nostalgic farewell to summer. I started with a standard cornbread mix and added jalapenos, scallions, crab meat and fresh corn. Old Bay and red pepper flake were thrown in for good measure. Using a cake pop pan, I created tiny spheres of goodness that looked like hush puppies, but without all the deep frying action. Somehow, that made it feel much less gluttonous as I sat and ate each and every one.... dipping them in curry mustard and washing them down with spiked lemonade. Tasty as they were, they didn't begin to compare to the experience of a real crab feast. Next year I'm making the pilgrimage back east, heading down to the bay, and buying myself a bushel of blues. Who's in?....

Wisdom of a Tomato

I used to think I had it all figured out... then life happened. The carefree days of being a child gave way to the unpredictable world of adulthood. With age comes wisdom, and what I have learned at the ripe old age of thirty six is that I don't know half as much as I thought I did. Currently perched on the precipice of a rather large change, I am re-evaluating my life. My brain is crowded with thoughts. I find solace in the kitchen, it's where I clear my mind, become calm, and remember who I am. Something as simple as a sliced homegrown tomato with a little drizzle of pesto can transcend the plate and become a reminder to stop complicating things and get back to the basics. Sometimes you have to deconstruct in order to rebuild.

"Donut" Deluxe

I spend a good amount of time at the hair salon each month, with my head wrapped in foil, sitting under the dryer as I cook away my gray.  Usually, I am mindlessly flipping through pages about who made the latest fashion faux pas or what the hemlines are doing this season.  Occasionally, I will stumble onto something of interest. That was the case last week when I found a picture of an "apple donut".  It was a thick round slice of apple, core removed, slathered with peanut butter and dipped in granola to imitate the look of a sprinkled donut.  It was a quirky idea that caught my eye.  As a food stylist, I am constantly storing little nuggets like that in my memory for later use. While I enjoyed the playful approach to the snack, I kept imagining the rough assault on the roof of my mouth.  As I was making my breakfast this morning, a light bulb came on - I could create the same look with my french toast... a similar concept but with a much softer texture.  So, I cut my bread into donut shapes, sliced and cored an apple and got to work.  I sauteed the apple rounds in butter, maple syrup, and cinnamon until just barely tender. I dipped and flipped my french toast and slid each one right on top of an apple ring.  I spread a generous amount of peanut butter on the warm french toast and sprinkled it with sunflower seeds, pepitas, and raisins.  Absolutely scrumptious!  Topped with maple syrup, it was certainly better than any donut I had ever had.  Who knew that inspiration would be lurking under the warm air of a hairdryer?  I wonder where the next idea will come from....



*Tasty Trick: I used a splash of caramel coffee creamer in my french toast batter.  mmm. mmm. mmm.

Cucumber Basil Cocktail

When life hands you lemons, make lemonade... then spike that lemonade and forget all about the lemons you were handed in the first place.  Ok, maybe not the healthiest approach, but an effective one nonetheless.  Feeling a little beat down lately, I decided it was time for a delicious cocktail recipe... something summery that would take the edge off.  I started with 2 shots of white tequila down in the shaker.  (I'll be honest, I bought Espolon because of the cool black and white illustration on the label... I mean, c'mon, it's a skeleton riding a rooster. How could I resist?)  Next, I muddled cucumber slices and fresh basil, then added a splash of lemonade.  After a few good shakes,  I strained out the muddled shrapnel and poured the delicious nectar into a chilled glass with ice.  A sprig of basil and two or three cucumber rounds were added for aesthetic appeal and there was only one thing left to say - wow! Refreshing, delicious, and beautiful.  So take that, life... keep on throwing those lemons, I'll just keep making them awesome.

2 Peas in a Pod

Shelling peas is usually a chore, but when you're spending quality time with your mom, drinking coffee and discussing life while you work, the task is much more enjoyable.  That is exactly how I spent my Sunday afternoon... just me and my mom, plucking peas from their pods, basking in the beautiful weather. Time was passing without so much as a hint. After we finally reached the bottom of the bowl, it was time for some instant gratification for our efforts. I had a container of leftover quinoa, a bag of radishes from a friend's garden, and a few lonely lemons leftover from work.  I tossed the fresh peas and sliced radishes in a bowl with a drizzle of balsamic, a squeeze of lemon, and a healthy dose of zest.  A tiny kiss of sea salt and a few chopped almonds completed the dish and it was gone as quickly as it came together. Simple yet delicious. We spent the rest of the day enjoying each other's company, relaxing in the sun, and talking up a storm... just two peas in a pod.  Love you, Momma.  This one's for you.