Here you’ll find everything I’m preparing in my kitchen - from veggies, to leftovers and pasta. I eat simply, and I cook for one, but love cooking for others. And no matter what, I always pause to plate pretty.
Most of my meals are often times the result of freestyle recipe free ingredient riffing and a trip to the vegetable market. Produce is my passion, and I hope that you won’t simply come here for a recipe - but that you’ll read, cook and create a new story of your own.
I believe there’s power in a stocked pantry and freezer. From traditional Italian dishes to alternative sweets, vegan and vegetarian swaps - there’s something for everyone.
Let this serve as inspiration and let’s eat!
At the end of the week I had a few spoonfuls of kale stem hummus and guacamole left, so you must know what I did?! Yup, I mixed the two together to make the creamiest topping to my lunchtime salad. Learn how to make a veggie filled hummus and a classic guac that will last in your fridge for days. Get your snack on!
Read MoreWhen the going gets tough and you’re in quarantine, grocery items and leaving the house can be limited. You can push cooking aside, you know, like peas on a kids dinner plate. In adulting, cooking has become our universal pea - but I want to help end that struggle by reframing cooking. Especially now and especially during this time.
Read MoreTo my knowledge tourlou tourlou translates in Greek to all mixed up. I love saying tourlou tourlou. Roll your r’s and repeat tourlou tourlou as though conjuring up a most intoxicating spell. And, I suppose this rustic all vegetable stew could be likened to an intoxicating spell all its own. Vegan friendly and the perfect hearty crowd pleaser […]
Read MoreButternut squash baked ziti is a gooey, cheesy, baked faux-pasta bomb that will leave you wanting more every time. A true transformation of comfort food, you won’t miss a beat or the pasta when you immerse your entire being in the process of making and eating this spin on an old classic. And listen, I love pasta as much as the next human, and carbs are my friend,
Read MoreCanned tomatoes, chicken stock (or concentrated bullion) wine, butter and onions are something I always have in my home. And, usually, a few carrots or bag of baby peeled carrots so I have something lying around when I want to snack “sensibly.” All of the above are my cooking essentials, particularly in the case of the aforementioned wine. Anything that allows me to cook and party, well, I’m into it.
Read MoreAs a woman who loves a bargain, I’ve translated the process I have with clothes - often times bragging to my friends that my whole outfit was purchased for $27.76 on a high fashion Old Navy day - into grocery shopping. The thrill of turning the pages of a circular and glancing at signs that read FRESH LONG ISLAND CAULIFLOWER $2.49
Read MoreLately I’m dropping beans into bowls like they’re hot …
1) ’Cause they’re easy to cook (hello, can opener!) and prepare well ahead of time.
2) They’re inexpensive, while also being filling. See more on #3
3) Finally, they add a meatless, high fiber protein pop to mealtime.
If you know my cooking and weight loss story, you know I love lentils. Lentil soup was the first meal I prepared in the summer of 2001 as I was forced to cook for myself while I was living on a small working farm in Ashford, CT. Recalling meals of my childhood, I remade my grandmas lentils until I got the pot of soup just right. Packed with fiber and protein they’re one of my favorite meal bases
Read MoreSummer is coming to a close and after a trip to the market, where I spied an abundance of corn, I knew I had to make a flavor packed grain salad before the time was up. For me, NJ and LI corn are a weakness, unlike their men. I kid, I kid - and that's a whole different newsletter! Pairing corn with farro, fresh veggies, cilantro, scallions, zesty lime and smoked paprika makes for a Mediterranean meets southwestern flavor profile.
Read MoreI love eggs. I love my eggs scrambled, sunny side up and poached. Sure, I also love a fluffy filled to the max mega frittata and the popular omelette but, of late, my only true love is the open faced omelette. The open faced omelette, AKA the pizza omelette - made with a thin layer of egg and then piled high with ingredients such as veggies, meats and/or cheese
Read MoreWeeknights leave little room for making any sort of gourmet dinner, you and I both know that. But dinner also doesn’t have to be gourmet or recipe based. With work, busy schedules, the compounded effects of technology and the need to be “always on,” it’s getting harder and harder to find a work life balance … let alone get in the kitchen.
Read MorePeeling fava beans was a favorite childhood summertime cooking chore. Way better than mom asking me to get a new roll of paper towels or sending me to the corner store for bread. Splitting open a fava pod and peeling off the beans thick skin is a labor of mealtime love - it takes time, patience and must be done gingerly so as not to break apart your beans.
Read MoreMaking salsa is simple. It requires little prep, minimal tools and ingredients that are easy to come by in your grocery store. A certified crowd pleaser, great for vegetarians, vegans and even your meaty buddies (scoop this fruit salsa on a burger, shrimp or salmon) and delight everyone around your table.
Read MoreWhile everyone else is eating warm potato and macaroni salad (gulp) this July 4th, perhaps you can choose to make a side that can double as a salad or a salsa. With interchangeable ways to use these two salsa/sides, you’re guaranteed to please guests and yourself with nutrition, hydration and leftovers.
Read MoreCooking can seem daunting some days, even to someone who loves it. Trust me. After a day of substitute teaching, then coming home to write, coach, teach health workshops and build a business I often come home hungry and semi-exhausted from the day.
Read MoreI was going to title this piece My Biscuits Bring All the Boys to the Yard, but I am not a liar. I am a gentlewoman and a champion of the truth, so you should know that my yard could not be more empty and it is filled with biscuits baked for friends and leftovers for myself.
Read MoreWhen I was growing up and still, to this day, my mother makes a carrot cake that is to die for. As a child I would sneak slices in the middle of the night while no one was watching; it was just me, my carrot cake and Arsenio. I imagined I’d one day make it on my own, that I wouldn’t have to eat it alone in secret or in shame and that day came.
Read MoreLately, I feel like it’s a miracle I’m even cooking. My spirits have been struggling, my energy low, although I’m working to wear smiles on the outside. After a day of substitute teaching, I sometimes want to close my eyes and nap, but most days I confront the light, my kitchen and make peace with myself.
Read MoreIn a celebration of food and friendship, which if you ask me is the me is the main reason to revel in every day we’re blessed to be on this earth, last night I made soup for dinner. Not just any soup, but a soup that harkens the fondest of childhood memories alongside my mother and father in an old world Brooklyn that no longer exists.
Read MoreMy grandmother used to make a sauce from Birds Eye frozen winter squash. Bright orange, garlicky, cheesy in flavor, silken in texture - I can still picture the way the thick sauce coated broken pieces of pasta in the bottomless bowls she served on a weeknight. The summer I went to live on the farm in Connecticut, I spent half the time recreating her lentils and the other half perfecting this sauce.
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