Mediterranean

Sweet Potato and Artichoke Salad

Sweet Potato and Artichoke Salad

Do you want a salad that really says “Fall?” A little more substantial, delicious warm, with some cooked vegetables as well as raw? This Mediterranean-inspired sweet potato salad delivers a riot of colors, flavors, and textures to wake your palate from its slumber. With tender sweet potato cubes, crunchy celery and peppers, tangy olives and capers, and a garlicky lemon dressing, this is sure to be your new Fall favorite.

Roasted Tomato Sauce over Pan-Toasted Gnocchi

Roasted Tomato Sauce over Pan-Toasted Gnocchi

Last week, I extolled the virtues of my fave way to put up tomatoes. I’m picking a big bowlful of tomatoes every few days at my house, and I have developed my own routine. Early in the morning, before it gets hot, I roast them, then freeze them. I’ve also posted my method for freezing basil, and it’s my most popular You Tube video to date! Once you have those two essential meal prep items, you have invaluable flavor, concentrated and ready to go. One really fast and easy meal that you can make with your prep is this Roasted Tomato Sauce over Pan-Toasted Gnocchi.

The BEST Way to Freeze Your Tomatoes for Winter

The BEST Way to Freeze Your Tomatoes for Winter

This is the month, when all the heirloom tomatoes that I’ve been nursing along suddenly ripen. This has been a tough year, with no rain and high heat, so it’s been a labor of love, if daily watering can be called love. My reward is a weekly haul of mixed tomato varieties, packed with intoxicating tomato flavors. Now it’s time to freeze roasted tomatoes!

Moroccan Chickpea B’Stilla-Sweet, Savory and Showy

Moroccan Chickpea B’Stilla-Sweet, Savory and Showy

Moroccan food is a treasure trove of plant based flavors. Their traditional dishes, like tagine, are usually graced with plenty of vegetables, spices, sweet and tart balance, and fresh herbs. When I visit Moroccan restaurants, though, the vegetarian tagine is usually pretty bland, while the meat based dishes get all the attention. That is why I like to make my own versions of Moroccan food, and borrow the combinations from the meaty recipes and use them to make spectacularly tasty plant based dishes.
Like this Moroccan B’Stilla. Based on a pie usually made with poultry, this one is packed with dried fruit, spices, chickpeas, almonds, and a hit of coconut milk and lemon. Instead of the hard-to-find Brik pastry, I used easy to get filo dough, and basted it with refined coconut oil instead of butter. The result is a gorgeous, bronzed ruffle of crisp filo, encasing an intense, sweet-savory filling.

Chickpea and Pecan Pesto Calzones

Chickpea and Pecan Pesto Calzones

Everybody loves calzones! These plant based calzones are packed with nutty chickpeas and pecan pesto, and wrapped in whole grain dough. Engineered to be as easy as possible, this recipe gives you a no-knead pizza dough as well as the simple calzones, made with canned chickpeas. Super tasty vegan Italian food!

“Green Up” Your Hummus Routine

“Green Up” Your Hummus Routine

We all love hummus. Like so many global foods, hummus has become as American as tacos and pizza. We love it so much that we can’t resist tweaking it here and there. Kind of like meeting someone great, and saying “I love you! Now change!” We just can’t resist.

Try Tomato Mayonnaise Pie!

Try Tomato Mayonnaise Pie!

When tomatoes are at their peak of flavor, give them a starring role in this fast and easy pie! Shave time and ingredients from your effort by using mayonnaise as the secret ingredient in the crust, and as a base for a lemony drizzle at serving.

Make Purple Sweet Potato Gnocchi for a Colorful Bowl of Comfort

Make Purple Sweet Potato Gnocchi for a Colorful Bowl of Comfort

Gnocchi are pillows of joy. I've been teaching gnocchi-making classes for over 10 years, to sold out crowds. People just love the idea of making their own gnocchi, and we all get to roll up our sleeves and make mountains of tender dumplings. What few people realize...

You Need Meal Prepping, and Caramelized Onions Make Life Better

You Need Meal Prepping, and Caramelized Onions Make Life Better

Meal Prepping is The Key to Eating Well Ask people what keeps them from eating healthfully, and most will say: lack of time. Somewhere along the line, we became convinced that it's just as good to grab packaged food, to save time for other things. But the real...

Smoky Trumpet Mushroom Pizza is Perfect for Fall

Smoky Trumpet Mushroom Pizza is Perfect for Fall

Smoky Trumpet Mushroom Pizza Celebrates the Mushroom Remember when wild mushrooms were, well, wild? Oysters, shiitakes, all the wild mushrooms had to be hunted and foraged, and only made brief appearances during mushroom season. Now, we have mushroom growing...

Kale, The Gift That Keeps on Giving, and Kale Pesto Tartines

Kale, The Gift That Keeps on Giving, and Kale Pesto Tartines

Around this time of the summer, the zucchini cartoons start appearing in the paper. Gardeners are creeping around in the dark of night, unloading zucchini on unsuspecting neighbors. My question for everyone trying to unload their zucchini is, have you ever grown kale?...

Cook Kale on the Grill, For an Easy Pasta Meal

Cook Kale on the Grill, For an Easy Pasta Meal

I have big news! I finally bought a new grill. Yup, just a run of the mill, under $200 number. No bells, no whistles, no LED lights or motorized spit. Because, really, I don't need anything fancy. Just heavy grates and consistent heat. It took me some time, after...

Matcha Pistachio Halvah “Eggs” For Easter or Anytime

Matcha Pistachio Halvah “Eggs” For Easter or Anytime

My Halvah Surprise The last thing that I thought I would rediscover in Amsterdam would have to be halvah. On my recent trip to the city of Canals and VanGogh, I was wandering from shop to shop, just checking things out, when I happened into a place called Sum Sum....

In a Hurry? Make Edamame Hummus With Lime

In a Hurry? Make Edamame Hummus With Lime

If you are hungry and tired, and just want a quick and delicious meal, look no further. All you need is a bag of edamame in the freezer and a few other fresh ingredients. This creamy, sprightly spread takes only a few minutes to make, and once you have it, you have a...

It’s Drink Wine Day! Here’s a Risotto with Pinot Noir to Help

It’s Drink Wine Day! Here’s a Risotto with Pinot Noir to Help

National Drink Wine Day Do you really need an excuse to drink wine? Well, one has come along, it's National Drink Wine Day today. To get into the spirit of things, I thought I would do a fantastic flavor pairing and create a bowl of umami-amped risotto, just by...

Tomato Jam is My Jam, the Easy Way to Savor and Save Tomatoes

Tomato Jam is My Jam, the Easy Way to Savor and Save Tomatoes

Do you ever suffer from "canning guilt?" That's when you see flats of berries and crates of tomatoes, all at peak flavor and ripeness, and think,  " I should really get some jars and lids and put up some some of this gorgeous produce, if I only had more time." And...

Celebrate Stress Awareness Month with Pesto Kale Salad

Celebrate Stress Awareness Month with Pesto Kale Salad

Did you know that April is Stress Awareness Month? (Stressed Inner voice: HOW DID IT SLIP BY ME!?!?! I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN!) Yes, it's a whole month in which we should take a deep breath, stop beating ourselves up for not knowing that it's stress awareness month, and...

A Flatbread Hack to Make Easy Za’atar Bread

A Flatbread Hack to Make Easy Za’atar Bread

Bread is the most elemental of foods. Grain, water, salt, and some busy little yeasts to do the heavy lifting. Depending on your level of commitment, it can take days to craft a great loaf. True artisans nurture starters for decades, and slowly ferment their doughs to...

Roasted Squash and Whole Wheat Pasta, Perfect for Fall

Roasted Squash and Whole Wheat Pasta, Perfect for Fall

Everybody loves pasta. October is National Pasta Month, as if we needed any more reasons to love our noodles. But for many people, the default setting is white flour spaghetti, macaroni, or lasagna noodles. Perhaps you are one of the people who tried whole wheat pasta...

Heirlooms Stuffed with Ancient Grains, Easy Summer Fun

Heirlooms Stuffed with Ancient Grains, Easy Summer Fun

It's officially the tail end of tomato season, where I live. So there is a twinge of pre-nostalgia as I savor the last of the best tomatoes of the year. The heirloom tomatoes are at their peak, as they finally finish ripening and hang heavy on the vine. Contemplating...

Cool Off with Watermelon Gazpacho

Cool Off with Watermelon Gazpacho

There are few things better suited for each other than a hot, humid summer day and a watermelon. In a sign that the Universe loves us and wants us to be happy, the peak season of the watermelon is in perfect sync with our need for something just exactly like a...

Preserved Lemons, Why Did I Wait So Long To Try Them?

Preserved Lemons, Why Did I Wait So Long To Try Them?

Preserved lemons have always been on my list of things to try making. Not at the top, but on there. Most recipes that call for them seem to involve chicken and fish, so I figured maybe that was what they were all about. That and I already work lemon zest and juice...