After visiting The Simple Farm last week, I was inspired to make a meatless meal.

This meal is “Connor Approved!”

[Read more →]

I found the inspiration for the final recipe of “Connor Week” on one of my favorite cooking blogs, White On Rice Couple.

Connor requested Roasted Cheesy Cauliflower which I also happily made. I figured, if one head of cauliflower is good, then two must be better!

The major change I made from the original White On Rice Couple recipe was to simmer and soften the cauliflower before roasting.

The Result?
Delish!

[Read more →]

Are you looking for an easy and family friendly side dish?

Look not further, this is it.

It’s as easy as steaming and mashing a whole head of cauliflower, core, and tender leaves included.

Add a little Parmesan, serve with chicken or fish and dinner is on the table in no time.

[Read more →]

My intention was to give you another recipe using up the polenta trimmings from this recipe.

That has been put on the back burner. Instead, I could not wait to share with you our family’s new favorite way to eat broccoli.

Bonus: The recipe is easy peasy lemon squeezy. It has three ingredients… well five, if you count the salt and pepper.

All you need is a head of broccoli, a bit of olive oil, and 3 garlic cloves. I like to use the 3-pound bag of broccoli florets from Costco.

I use half of it one night, saving the zip-lock bag I’ve tossed the broccoli in (fold it up and stick right into the bag with the broccoli) throw that in the fridge and then pull it out, a night or two later, and make another batch.

Warning: This stuff is toasted, roasted, crispy, crunchy, and completely addicting!

Important Tip: Do not wash the broccoli right before using, do it well ahead of time and allow it to dry completely, otherwise your roasted broccoli will not crisp up the way you need it to.

I like the broccoli just as the recipe is written, but feel free to “jazz it up” with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice or a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese, just before you put it on the table. Then watch it disappear!

Note: Maybe you’ve already seen something close to this recipe. For example, Ina Garten’s Barefood Contessa Back to Basics cookbook from 2008 has a Parmesan-Roasted Broccoli recipe in it. It has 8 ingredients – plus salt and pepper. I made Ina’s recipe, way back then, and although we liked it… we love this streamlined version.

One More Tip: The recipe serves four. If you have four people, I guarantee there will not be leftovers. If you only have two people, there still may not be leftovers… but if there are, do not reheat in the microwave! Fire up that oven and throw the leftovers back in for 5 to 8 minutes to re-crisp. The microwave ruins it! Zaps the crispness, the crunchiness, all the goodness from it! Trust me, I learned the hard way.

[Read more →]

I really love stir-fry. When I have a plethora of fresh vegetables on hand, there is nothing I’d rather make.

With a little prep, a nutritious and colorful dinner comes together in a matter of minutes.

More often than not, I don’t even take the time to make rice. None of my family seems to miss it, so why bother?

[Read more →]

Have I ever told you how much I completely and totally L–O–V–E it when someone cooks for me? Actually, they don’t even have to cook for me.

What I meant to say is “how much I love it when someone feeds me.” It can be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or an elaborate 5-course meal. Honestly, either one is a huge treat!

Just about the worst thing you can say to any cooking professional is, “I could never cook for you, I’d be so intimidated.”

What!?!?

We, of all people, know the love and work that goes into preparing food for another. Don’t leave us out – we need love too!

One of my friends who understands this is Peggy. She never hesitates to cook for me. As a matter of fact, Peggy invited her sister Terrie, Anne, and me over for dinner the weekend before last. Well, we thought it would be dinner, instead, it turned out to be tapas – even better!

As always, we had fun catching up, laughing up a storm, and just being together. And the food? Fantastic, of course!

Peggy made all four of the dishes from one cookbook: Tapas – Tantalizing Small Plates from the Mediterranean by Pamela Clark. Funny thing is, she thinks she may have gotten the book from me when I had THIS party.

I’ll share the recipe for each dish over the coming week. Today, I’m sharing my favorite of the four.

Oh yes, all the recipes are altered slightly from the original version. For instance, I doubled the relish and more flour as needed for a better consistency fritter batter. Plus, salt was added, the fritters really needed SALT! There wasn’t any in the original recipe.

[Read more →]

It’s hard to get back into the groove of making dinner after a 3-week trip away from home. This all-in-one meal was the perfect “ease into it” dinner to get me up and going again.

I had planned on cooking the chicken and vegetable foil packets outside on the grill, but we had torrential downpours all day long. Not that I’m complaining! We LOVE rain in AZ and using the oven worked just as well.

Yes, we love rain in the desert, even when it floods our backyards and patios – as it did at my neighbor, Carol’s, house. Carol posted this on her Facebook page yesterday and graciously allowed me to use it.

I was out driving around in the flooded streets, determined to get to Sweet Salvage this month. More on that tomorrow.

I not only love rain, but I also LOVE coming home, no matter how wonderful a trip we’ve had. I try to get the window seat on the plane because it brings me complete joy to look at my beloved Arizona and my hometown when we fly over it. Yep, it may be cliche, but there really is no place like home.

[Read more →]

It’s HOT. Here is a cold refreshing salad to help cool you down. Throw in some rotisserie chicken if you want to make it a main course.

Now go sit under a fan or jump in the pool.

Enough said.

[Read more →]

Are you hosting or attending a Cinco de Mayo party this weekend?

If so, I have the perfect thing for you to serve or bring.

Serve this flag-inspired crudités with your favorite dip or salsa.

[Read more →]

For those of you who are over, let’s say 35, do you remember way back in the 80’s when one of the most popular appetizers in just about every hip eatery was Deep-Fried Mushrooms and Zucchini?

Those were the days, weren’t they?

Magical Days.

Wonderfully magical, I tell you!

Every weekend at happy hour, we’d waltz into Lunt Avenue Marble Club and eat a huge platter of those crunchy delights. Dipping them into a creamy white dipping sauce …  and not gain a pound!

And at that heavenly happy hour, you could order 2 for 1 cocktail for three bucks and the waitress would deliver both drinks to your table at the same time. Sometimes you’d order your second round before you finished your first, and you’d have four drinks sitting in front of you. At the same time!

Honestly, kids, that is not a dream! It used to happen.

The part about not gaining a pound is true too. It may have had a little tiny bit to do with my 20-something metabolism … I miss those days.

I miss Deep-Fried Mushrooms and Zucchini.

I really miss my metabolism!

I miss it all so much that I tried to bring it back for a remix.

These days, just looking at a platter of Deep-Fried Mushrooms and Zucchini would cause me to instantly gain 10, maybe 20 pounds. So, I gave the zucchini a “makeover” – just to see if I could recapture at least a little slice of the glory days.

As far as makeovers go – this was a major fail! As far as your basic low-cal, low-fat, low-cholesterol makeover – it was fine.

These zucchini rounds are NOTHING like the glory days of zucchini, but they are an OK side dish. With that ringing endorsement, I’m sure you’re going to want to run into the kitchen and whip up a batch or two.

I miss the Magical Days!

I used diet cheese puffs for the yellow zucchini and diet honey mustard pretzels for the green zucchini. The cheese puff zucchini was disgusting! I’m only mentioning it because it is shown in the photos. Otherwise, I would prefer to forget it completely!

The pretzel variety was tasty … as tasty as diet-baked zucchini can be when you are really wishing you were at Lunt Avenue with four cocktails in front of you.

For those of you who still own a 20-something metabolism or are willing to throw caution to the wind… the original recipe for LAMC Deep-Fried Mushrooms and Zucchini is at the end of the post. If you make it, do not let me know. It will only serve to make me feel sad.

[Read more →]