Lazy Weekend Frittata

I’ve been working on perfecting my frittatas lately. I found some helpful tips in Alice Waters’ The Art of Simple Food, which you can read more about over at The Kitchn if you’re so inclined.
I’ve come up with a few tweaks of my own. For instance, when it comes to cheese, I say forget shredding. [...]

Corn Tamales, Braised Beans and Glazed Mushrooms

As much as I love Top Chef, and this summer’s spin off, Top Chef Masters, I’ve never before attempted one of the recipes from the show. I’ve made meals inspired by ones created by the “cheftestants,” but never the actual dishes. Usually, they’re a little more complicated than I prefer for home cooking, and the [...]

Grilled Stuffed Portabellos with Spinach and Goat Cheese

I’ll admit, I’m biased. I’m never going to think like a meat-lover. So when I plan a meal, I don’t usually think in terms of meat substitutes. A portabello mushroom, for instance, isn’t a “steak” – it’s just a portabello mushroom. And it’s delicious.
It’s extra delicious when you stuff it with spinach, goat cheese and [...]

The Great Tomato Paella of 2007

No, I haven’t completely lost it. I’m aware that it’s 2008. But this recipe made a big splash last September when it was introduced by Mark Bittman, aka The Minimalist, of the New York Times. I starred the recipe in my Google reader, but before I got a chance to try it, summer was over [...]

Grilled Vegetable Sandwich

I had a solid plan. Dinner was going to be a healthy grain salad with lots of grilled veggies, some leftover olive tapenade and a quick vinaigrette. But the longer I stood on the hot and sticky train, getting hungrier and hungrier as it inched along, I realized what I really wanted was a sandwich.
I [...]

Spring Vegetable Cracked Wheat Salad

Spring vegetable and grain salads are popping up all over the place:
Spinach and Orzo Salad from Simply Recipes
Meyer Lemon Grain Salad with Asparagus, Almonds and Goat Cheese from The Kitchn
Spring Tabbouleh from 101 Cookbooks
Are you drooling yet?
You know, the Midwest is a really frustrating place to live this time of year, particularly if you are [...]

Pot Beans with Garlic Bread Crumbs

This was my second Rancho Gordo cooking experience, and I have to say, I’m hooked. The beans are amazingly flavorful. For a pot of Runner Cannellini’s, I followed the company’s suggestion to cook with a simple miropoix, and other step’s in their bean primer.
For a little something extra, I topped these buttery gems with some [...]

Mushroom and Red Wine Risotto

I was all about mushrooms this past weekend. On Friday, I finally made it to Erba, a modern little Italian restaurant that’s been in the neighborhood for a while now. I’ve been meaning to try it since it opened, and thanks to a cool gift certificate deal, I finally did.
I started with a salad of [...]

1 Year of Vegetables, and a Little Pasta

Today is the one-year anniversary of my little vegetable blog. I started it on a whim, and it’s been a lot of fun to see where it takes me. So far, it’s pushed me to try a lot of new things and meet some really cool new people, both online and in person.
It’s also helped [...]

Superbowl Sushi

Take a deep breath and relax.
That was the advice I read in most sushi recipes I consulted before trying my first batch.
Apparently, I would need to be in the zone. Calm and confident.
But I suppose you could say the odds were stacked against me. It was my first time attempting a sushi roll, and until [...]