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...]
Lemon Glazed Honey Cookies
I just realized how brief my posts have been lately. I mean, I've tried really hard to post recipes, but I've been posting just a line or two about said recipes, and somewhere in the delusion section of my brain, I've convinced myself that I've got this huge and adoring fan base that likes to read my rambling thoughts and random useless observations. Yeah. So I feel like I've disappointed my fans. And by fans I obviously mean my mother and the other lady who sits in her office who like to stalk my foodgawker profile. Ahem. So I've disappointed you (and now we've established who "you" is) with my lack of writing. So I'm gonna write now. Partly because I'm on the train and reception is bad, … [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...]
Rosh Hashanah Recipe Roundup
This week, instead of a Photography Friday post, I figured I'd share a bunch of awesome Rosh Hashanah recipes, all in one place. I know, I know, I just hosted a blog party where you guys got almost 30 great recipes. But there are lots of great recipes in my archives as well as other blogs, so click on over for more help in your Holiday menu planning! Firstly, you really need to get a copy of this week's Ami Magazine, where I have three fabulous recipes: Butterscotch Bundt Cake, Honey Shortbread Cookies and Apple Pie Wontons. You don't want to miss these! Simanim: Spicy Baked Carrot Chips Butternut Squash Fries Healthy Orange Carrot Muffins Healthy Butternut Squash Muffins (leave off … [Read more...]
Mini Apple and Honey Tarts and a Rosh Hashanah Blog Party
Giveaway Closed! It's hard to believe that this entire party was conceptualized and came to this point in such a short time! About a week and a half ago, on Twitter, my friend Jessie (who happens to be one of my food photography heroes!) and I were talking about the upcoming holiday of Rosh Hashanah, and how we should do something fun to celebrate the occasion on our blogs. I don't think at that point that we imagined that it would be this big or popular, but here's the scoop: What: A Rosh Hashanah Blog Party When: Right now! Where: here, and a whole bunch of awesome blogs. Scroll down past the recipe for the list! What else: Lots! Firstly, the event is hosted by myself and Jessie … [Read more...]
Herb Marinated Grilled Chicken
In my head, there's a whole post written up about how this may not be a very fancy or creative recipe, but I wanted to share it anyway, because this is my absolute favorite, go-to recipe for grilled chicken. But I am still recovering somewhat from this nasty combination of a cold, cough, strep and a sinus infection, so the whole complicated post isn't going to be written. (You might have also noticed that I didn't post a Photography Friday post, for similar reasons.) Instead, I am going to say very simply that this recipe is delicious. It's super easy to make. It's totally versatile. I cut this chicken up into little cubes and make a salad, or make a sandwich with the chicken and some creamy … [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...]
Homemade Strawberry Lemonade
You know how they say that some of the world's best discoveries have come about through accidents? Well, I wouldn't quite equate this with turning moldy bread into penicillin, but it was a pretty lucky- and awesome- discovery. It started on a day like today, when it felt like it was a million degrees outside, but in actuality, it was only about a hundred. Either way, it was the kind of day that makes you want a tall glass filled with ice- and some refreshing drink poured over it. I walked into the house, grabbed a glass, and discovered that there was no ice in the freezer. Oh, the horror. After searching the freezer and determining that there were, indeed, no ice cubes, I started to look … [Read more...]
Grilled Vegetable and Pesto Panini
Grilled Vegetable and Pesto Panini is a healthy and summery lunch that only takes minutes to prepare! As a food blogger and recipe developer (does saying that make me sound pretentious? Cause I'm totally not pretentious, but I do have a baking column in a magazine and my mother likes to call me a professional food writer and food photographer which may or may not be getting to my head a bit.) Let's start over. As someone who writes recipes, I often wonder what the line is between basic cooking instructions and a recipe. Take last night's supper for example. I found a nice looking zucchini in my veggie bin, so I sliced it, tossed it with some olive oil, kosher salt, black pepper … [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...]