Giveaway Closed! A couple of weeks ago my friend Leah was super nice and stopped by my office with a salad she had picked up for me at a nearby restaurant . (Friends bring you ice cream. Real friends bring you salad. Everyone knows that.) The restaurant had called it a tropical salad. It has lettuce, apple and mango, and a delicious dressing. I immediately began thinking of how I would recreate it. Then the folks over at Pom Wonderful were kind enough to send me a couple of bottles of pomegranate juice, and I immediately knew I would be making the pomegranate version of this salad. Seriously, the pomegranate juice is kinda like magic when making a salad … [Read more...]
Citrus Carrot Salad
A while ago, when Borders book stores were about to close their doors, they were blowing out all of their merchandise. Needless to say, I totally stalked the cookbook section, buying a lot more books than I should probably admit to. Most notably, I picked up a copy of Mark Bittman's encyclopedic book, How To Cook Everything. It was only today that I realized that I've never actually made a recipe from it. Don't get me wrong. I read the book (almost) cover to cover. I learned tons and tons from it. I've gotten ideas from it. But today I finally took it down to make a recipe. This is one that intrigued me every time I saw it. I love the combination of carrots, citrus and cumin in this. … [Read more...]
Puff Pastry Pastrami Pockets
You know those foods that are so quintessentially Jewish that everybody associates them with New York and the Jews? I'm talking about foods like K'nishes (remember how I posted a recipe to make those at home?) and a big 'ol pastrami sandwich on rye bread. With a pickle. And sushi. Okay, that last one isn't necessarily a Jewish food, but we definitely support Japanese cuisine as much as we do Chinese cuisine, in recent years. Well, here's a food that is Jewish through and through: deli roll. Honestly, I'm often surprised that this hasn't made it out of the Jewish world much, because deli roll is just plain delicious. But it's also kinda boring. At least if you're a Jewish gal from New … [Read more...]
Creamy Basil Dip
Tonight's post is going to be a short one, mostly because I spent the night writing up my next magazine column, and I am all written out. Also, I was sick in bed today with a cold, so I don't have much energy for writing, but I wanted to share this amazing recipe with you while there's still fresh basil in the grocery stores. My family loves dill dip, but I can't stand dill (shocking, right?) so I decided to make a dip out of my favorite herb instead. Enter creamy basil dip. Remember how I love basil? Well this is like pesto on steroids. Delicious. Dip your veggies in this, spread it on a cracker, or use it as a salad dressing. Either way, you can't go wrong. Creamy Basil … [Read more...]
Savory Sauteed Sweet-Peas
I first made this dish about a year ago. I know that, because it was right around the start of this blog. It was supposed to make it onto the blog, but somehow that didn't happen. I even photographed it. It's a shame that I deleted those pictures, because it would be fun to show you how my photography has changed over the years. Anyway, let's talk peas. Whenever I see that cliqued up picture of a dinner plate with the heap of super boring peas on the side, I get kind of sad. Peas have such a negative, or at very least boring reputation. But they don't have to be either of those! I've come up with a number of fun ways to cook peas, but this one is by far my favorite. It's super easy to whip … [Read more...]
Mini Quinoa Pizzas
You know what the problem is with typing up blog posts when you are rushed and tired? You forget some totally important things. For example, I was exhausted when I finished up my review of Herbivoracious. So exhausted, in fact, that I forgot to post the whole big teaser I had planned. What I meant to write was that you should note the recipe closely because I have another awesome recipe coming up that is based on that one. Here's how it happened. Those savory quinoa cakes were delicious right out of the frying pan, but once they were cool they needed a little something. I dipped them in some tomato sauce, then the flash of brilliance struck. Pizza. On my quinoa cakes. You might think … [Read more...]
Party Pictures
I know what you've been thinking. "She keeps talking about her party, and promising to show us her pictures, but she doesn't follow through! Why, I bet she didn't even make a party! Yeah right. I flatter myself thinking anyone was desperately waiting for these pictures. And I almost didn't show them off because they are seriously awful pictures. Here's what happened. The day of the party was crazy rushed, and I didn't have a second to take a picture until the guests were already starting to arrive. My mother was completely mortified because I made her stand guard and make sure nobody took anything while I finished putting on my makeup and getting my camera ready. So as you can imagine, I … [Read more...]
Quinoa Cakes and a review of Herbivoracious
When I was given the opportunity to review Herbivoracious, by Michael Natkin, I knew it would be perfect for the nine days. Remember how I said I can't eat meat all week? Well what better time to review a vegetarian cookbook? None, I say. I loved these quinoa cakes, and enjoyed this cookbook! At first glance: There is such a wide variety of recipes in here, you wouldn't imagine that this book is vegetarian. The pictures are beautiful and eye-catching, and best of all, inviting. Some features I liked: You would think that there wouldn't be a wide variety of sections in a vegetarian cookbook (no meat, poultry and fish sections) but the cookbook was very cleverly organized. Main course … [Read more...]
Black Bean, Corn and Mango Quinoa Salad
Have you ever known that you had to do something, but you kept putting it off because you assumed it would be unpleasant? Then you finally bite the bullet and the task you were dreading turns out to be no big deal at all, or even, at best, a positive experience? For example, last week at work, a purchase order landed on my desk. I was super busy at the time. I glanced at it briefly and recognized it as coming from a rather problematic account of mine. I decided to get other stuff done meanwhile, and deal with the problem order when I had a few minutes. It sat on my desk over the weekend, and finally I got to it. I completed the order and sent a confirmation of it to my contact there, Ryan. … [Read more...]
Passover Apple Crumb Kugel
I'm exhausted right now. Want to know why? Here's a partial list: Doughless potato knishes, cabbage kugel, chocolate chip cookies, crispy shallot breaded chicken, marinated almond crusted chicken, butternut squash kugel, and of course, apple kugel. All for passover. All made after I got home from work the last two nights. I am a little breathless thinking about the multitudes of food I still need to cook, but I had to stop and post my apple kugel recipe. I searched and searched every corner of the internet for a proper Apple Crumb Kugel for Passover, and came up empty. I am sure one exists, but I couldn't find it. And so I set out to make up my own recipe. I am not simply happy with this … [Read more...]