Wild Rice & Vegetable Stew
I know it may seem weird, but I have still eaten quite a bit of soup here in Hawaii. I love making soups and stews because I feel like it gives me room to be creative. I can throw whatever I want into a soup/stew and whip it up pretty quickly. Because of that, soups are a great way to use up leftover ingredients in your kitchen. Also, they are great if you don’t have time to stand over your stove while making dinner. You can be getting ready, taking care of the kids or just kicking back watching Top Chef while your soup works its magic.
Detox Green Machine Soup
I got rained on for the first time the other day riding my bike to the beach. Definitely the first of many I think. I guess there are prices to pay when you live in Paradise! I only have a bike, so I ride it everywhere, including to and from work. Luckily I work in a kitchen with a bunch of sweaty guys anyway so it is OK that I show up drenched in sweat… Riding my bike has been a great workout for me though! I forces me to workout, which is perfect for my type of personality… 🙂 I know if that is not your case, it can be hard to find time or motivation to workout, I had the same problem. If that is how you feel, this is a recipe for you!
Mediterranean Spaghetti Squash Casserole
I realize it was a little backwards to post the dessert half of my spaghetti squash dinner first, but let’s be honest that is always the best part! (Also don’t forget to go over and enter my coconut oil giveaway here!) Here is how I used the other half of our seven pound spaghetti squash. I was kind of winging it with this recipe, which caused a bit of challenge naming it. This recipe is a great way to enter fall; you get to use your winter squash, but still get a summery feel with the Mediterranean flavors.
Zucchini Spinach-Artichoke Tart
After my last post I got a message from my mom asking if I really ate spinach artichoke dip for dinner. The answer is yes, sorry Mom I know it’s not healthy but sometimes you just need to indulge your cravings. So apparently spinach artichoke dip is not OK for dinner… unless you turn it into a savory vegetable tart! So here it is, dip for dinner plus another zucchini recipe for all of you drowning in zucchini at the moment; for all of you, there are quite a few zucchini recipes coming up this next week, so grab all those overgrown zucchinis from you garden and get ready.
Spinach Artichoke Dip
September 13, 2011
You know those nights when you are trying to figure out what you want for dinner but just can’t decide? Then you also probably know those nights when you can’t decide because all you really want for dinner is something ridiculous… like spinach artichoke dip. That is exactly what happened to me last week. I couldn’t decide what to make, but I was craving spinach artichoke dip SO bad… so I decided I was having spinach artichoke dip and pita chips for dinner. Hey at least there are veggies in it right?
Steamed Mussels w/ Chickpea Chorizo Butter Broth
Working in a fine dining restaurant has been amazing. In only a month, I have already learned so many things that I never knew before. I have learned how to shuck oysters, how to make an immulsion, seasoning techniques, flavor concepts, how to prepare mussels and much more. After watching all of the mussels that go out to guests at SALT, I really began to crave them. I went home a little bit ago to have dinner with my family and ended up spending the entire day learning about and working on my food photography with my mom (aren’t I lucky to have a mom who can show me that!?).
Grilled Enchilada & Brussels Sprout Pizzas {Giveaway Closed}
Once the sun begins to set and the cool air begins to blow in, I just can’t resist going outside. Grilling may seem miserable on a hot summer day sometimes, but it is perfect for cool summer evenings. I have definitely been noticing the temperature drop little by little in the last week. I think the heat of summer might finally be wearing down (I don’t want to jinx it though!). This week I was also lucky enough to receive a reserve kit of Muir Glen Organic Tomatoes to try out- see below for your chance to win one too! Muir Glen caught my eye when I heard that, unlike other canned tomatoes, their tomatoes are all taken from their vines to their cans within EIGHT hours! That is pretty impressive.
Chicken Breasts w/ Mozzarella, Spinach & Roasted Red Pepper
After over three months of not having a job, I forgot how hectic things can be with one. Sometimes it is hard to get motivation to cook a nice dinner after you have been working all day; I’m sure many of you are nodding your heads in agreement. BUT! Even when you have had a long day, you don’t necessarily have to sacrifice your dinner! This is a great recipe for those nights. It is quick, easy and looks like you tried harder than you have to!
Breakfast Pizza
Now that I have my easy flatbread recipe, I have been experimenting with its multiple uses. I am a big fan of breads for breakfast, so I decided to make a breakfast pizza with the flatbread. Beware, these pizzas are very filling, I only ate half and saved the other half for breakfast the next day!
Sun-Dried Tomato, Flank Steak & White Bean Stew
I feel the need to start this post by saying that this was supposed to be a recipe for Mexican Posole. Of course, I had a bit of trouble with the one ingredient needed to make an actual posole- the hominy. I have heard many people say that they usually used canned hominy, but I decided to use dry hominy since that was what was in the pantry. Recalling my artichoke disaster, I am noticing a trend that apparently canned food works better for a lot of things. Luckily, I had a feeling the dry hominy would take a long time to cook and decided to cook it separately, rather than cooking it in the stew. I must have refilled the pot with water at least four times, but the hominy still wasn’t getting soft. I don’t know what I did wrong, but I had to improvise from there. I decided that white kidney beans would be a good substitute for the hominy, since they kind of have a similar texture.
