Blackberry Pie

One of the treasures of summer was going out into the country with my dad to collect the little clusters of black gold. We would take the berries home, wash them well, and freeze them for use all year round. My favorite application for blackberries is in pie. Blackberries tend to get runny, so to thicken the pie, add tapioca. Unfortunately, for this round of cooking, I forgot to get the tapioca at the store. Even if your pie turns out extra juicy, it's great over ice cream!

Stuffed Zucchini Casserole

At the Farmer's Markets and in the gardens, the zucchinis are getting HUGE. I bought this particular one and decided to tackle the Italian-American favorite, Stuffed Zucchini. I seem to have very little time these days to cook and it seems we eat out more than eating at home. So, I am attempting to write and find recipes that are simple and don't generate a ton of dishes. Casseroles accomplish this quite well, and they become wonderful lunches for the next day.

"Carrot Cake" Muffins

This recipe was adapted from one in Jessica Seinfeld's new cookbook, Double Delicious. I tried it and realized these were basically less-sugary carrot cakes in muffin form. They are so incredibly good with a layer of plain cream cheese on top. They are perfect for breakfast or for an afternoon snack.

Black Bean, Corn, and Edamame Salad

This recipe is originally from Central Market, but it is so amazing, I absolutely must feature it! Packed with protein and fiber, this salad is a healthy and delicious alternative to the usual, fatty summer salads that show up at barbeques. Here, I have paired it with my oven-fried chicken which makes a fabulous cold lunch for the next day.

Potato and Chickpea Curry

It's been awhile since I made any sort of Indian cuisine. I was inspired while eating Tasty Bite's Bombay Potatoes. It's a pretty simple, vegetarian, and delicious entreé that can be customized in a number of ways. To the vegetables, you could add cauliflower, peas, or fresh diced tomatoes—whatever your heart desires, really.

Carrot-Ginger Soup

I first had this soup at an Italian grocery and sandwich shop in Pike's Place. I had no idea the flavors of carrot and ginger could work so well together, so, of course, I had to duplicate it at home. For making a smoothly blended soup, an immersion blender is essential. Although, if you do not have one, the soup may be blended in a blender after it has cooled (if you put the hot soup in a blender, the gases inside will force the top of the blender off and the hot soup splatter will hurt you!)

Vegetarian Chili

Sometimes you just don't want to eat meat or the fat that comes along with it. This chili is great just topped with fat-free yogurt (or fat-free sour cream) and mozzarella cheese or, for a more decadent comfort-food-dish, top a baked potato with this chili. Yum.

However, if you'd like to add some meat to this, brown 1 pound lean ground turkey. Add one tablespoon, or so, Worcestershire sauce to the meat. Add this meat to the chili after the addition of the water. If adding the meat, you can take out the mushrooms and bulgur, if you like.

Salmon Burgers with Farro Tabbouleh

Ok, so this isn't really a recipe, more of a meal plan, however, I discovered this combination was amazing for dinner last night. Plus, we got a new grill and I just had to try it out! Just so you know, Costco carries some really tasty frozen salmon burgers.

Roasted Chicken and Root Vegetables

This weekend was the beginning of Farmer's Market season and we stocked up. I took the opportunity to try a few root vegetables I hadn't tried before. In the freezer I had a whole chicken I'd bought quite a while ago and it needed to be cooked. So, in a dutch oven I made a bed of chopped root vegetables for the chicken to cook on. The sweet and spicy, yet savory smell of this cooking is truly mouthwatering and not to be missed. For our dinner, I served some roasted asparagus on the side.

Sunchokes (or Jerusalem artichokes), if you have never tried them, are the tuber of a variety of sunflower. The taste is rather like a nutty artichoke and the texture is that of a water chestnut. When boiled, they become mushy like a potato.

Parsnips are pale root vegetables related to carrots. They have a sweet and spicy flavor—perhaps butterscotch-y flavor.

Mustard Marinated Chicken Breast

This is a simple, adaptable recipe that can easily be modified to have different flavor profiles by simply changing the vinegar, mustard, and herb components. If you are making this recipe as is, I highly recommend making the pepper/mushroom topping. 

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Recently, I had a wisdom tooth pulled. The perfect solution to not being able to chew was a creamy, filling soup. So, I developed this delicious and unique cream of broccoli.

Chicken with Lemon and Lemon-Rice Pilaf

This recipe is impressive yet quite easy with the oven doing most of the work. The savory, buttery sauce is a delicious complement to the pilaf. The pilaf recipe was adapted from a recipe from Central Market.

Mathew's Cottage Pie

This weekend when I was out of town, my husband shocked the heck out of me by making this cottage pie. Previously, his culinary experience consisted of a blue box of macaroni and a pot of boiling water. He told me how he suffered through the experience, but his suffering made an outstanding dish—most certainly the best shepherd's pie I've ever tasted. This recipe hails from Jane Hornby's What To Cook & How To Cook It. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is not a very confident cook. She has pictures of every single step—perfect for the visual learner!

New Search Function

Hey everyone! I've added a search function to my website (located to the right). I've tested it and it works a lot better than the previous generation of Google search function. It will find keywords you type in all across my blog. You have to be rather specific—e.g. "eggs" will only return one result, but "egg" will return a couple pages of results. So, have fun and hopefully this will make finding the recipe you want just that much easier.

Veggie Omelet

This veggie omelet was made with my Full-Circle produce. I swear this has a good day's worth of veggies in it, and most of those are dark, leafy greens. This could serve two people or one ravenously hungry me.

Breakfast Burritos with Mexican-flavored Bean Burger

Looking for an inexpensive protein source and great way to use some of my produce, I delved into Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. There, I found a great bean burger recipe and added my own flavor combination to. But, I didn't stop at that page. Bittman also had the fantastic idea of breakfast burritos that you make, then wrap in foil, store in the freezer, and pop in the oven for breakfast on a busy morning. It's fantastic, healthy fast food you made yourself. Brilliant! These are freakishly tasty with some extra salsa or Tabasco. The bean burger makes more than enough for burritos. The breakfast burrito recipe makes 10.

Thrifty Food Tip: Beans

This week we find ourselves down to the bone, money-wise. So, desperately looking around my kitchen for cheap food options, I stumbled on my forgotten dried bean collection. Whenever I need beans for a recipe, I eyeball the dried beans and think about how frickin' long it takes to cook them into a usable state. Then I go to the store to pay about a dollar a can. No more, I say! All it takes is a little time, stovetop space, and Ziploc bags to have yourself a rather large store of recipe-ready frozen beans. In a short afternoon, from a few small bags of dollar Walmart beans, I have made the equivalent of 15 cans of beans! Not too shabby. If you're curious about the things wrapped in foil, consider them a preview of the amazing breakfast burrito recipe premiering tomorrow! I've included a how-to after the break.

Full-Circle Farms

Full-Circle Farm is basically the perfect vision of what a CSA (or Community-Supported Agriculture) should be. They provide sustainably grown, high quality, organic produce at realistic prices. Other CSAs also provide the same, but I have never seen such a convenient and consumer-friendly payment method. You can choose one of two sizes of boxes—standard- or family-sized. The contents of the boxes are completely customizable. You can cancel or suspend your orders anytime. And best-of-all, you pay per box. That's right! Instead of paying upwards of $350 right up front with any of the other CSAs, Full-Circle charges you $42 for a family-sized box. And you can get a box either every week or every two weeks. It's absolutely amazing!

Gorgeous golden beets

In this week's box, I received: Crimini mushrooms, French shallots, golden beets, kale, red chard, mangoes, Gala apples, zucchinis, red potatoes, carrots, and broccolini.

I wish these people were everywhere. As of now, they are only around the Puget Sound area in Washington State and in Alaska. Hopefully, as they gain steam, the organization will expand.

Sherry Sugars

Wonderful for the holidays and made to be decorated, these cookies are delicately sweet and are a perfect backdrop for a little sugar glaze. In my sugar glaze recipe, I've used a few unusual techniques for getting some color since I don't like using traditional food colorings. Yields about 60 cookies.

Eggnog Cookies

These cookies are absolutely wonderful and are a must-bake. The nutmeg in these imparts a slightly egg-noggy flavor. These are fantastic for the holidays and anytime you are jonesing for some 'nog.

Penne Alla Vodka

This delicious pasta dish has subtle creamy flavor and richness. In the original recipe by Lidia Bastianich, she uses whole cream, however, a marvelous substitute for cream in sauces such as this is to blend nonfat cottage cheese and a little milk (depending on how thick you want your "cream") in a food processor. When you add the blended cottage cheese to the hot pan, it will separate a bit, but with heat, the cottage cheese should melt into the sauce. This dish is wonderful on its own, but if you wish to make this a complete meal, grill some garlic chicken (recipe to follow) and serve with a side salad.