One of my favorite memories with my grandma back in the day was going to dinner at Chili’s. My mom would order a salad, my sister would order chicken fingers, and my grandma and my dad and I would all order the baby back ribs, which inevitably brought on a rendition of everyone singing the famous jingle (with bar-be-que sauce!).
But before we dove into our messy main courses, every now and then we would get the treat of ordering the famous “awesome blossom”. Or as other restaurants call it, a blooming onion. I found out later that this deep-fried onion topped the charts at the time for the most unhealthy thing you could order at the restaurant, but boy was it good!!! We all loved dipping those onion petals in that heavenly sauce — so much so, that we were often completely full before our entrees arrived! Oh, to have the metabolism of a kid. :)
One of my favorite discoveries of the week was raw marinara sauce. It tasted almost identical to traditional marinara sauce, but like so many things raw, it literally just took the push of a button on the food processor and the sauce was ready to go in seconds! I also snuck in a few extra ingredients, like a red bell pepper, a carrot, and lots of fresh basil. And if you’re feeling fancy, you can also throw in some sun-dried tomatoes. But overall, I was completely in love with this raw marinara sauce. Look forward to making it again soon even after I’ve returned to my old “cooked” ways.
Ever since I posted my hummus-crusted chicken recipe last month, I have been itching to try some more creative recipes with hummus.
So in honor of Thanksgiving, and my complete love of all things mashed potatoes, I decided to try an experiment this week — hummus mashed potatoes! Yep. Instead of adding in loads of sour cream or heavy cream or, really, any kind of cream to make these “creamy”, I just stirred in a little butter, salt, and a big batch of hummus. And believe it or not, it worked!!!
Yesterday I had one of those blogging “cringe” moments.
While making guacamole to go with my salmon fajitas, I decided to peek back at the “perfect guacamole” recipe that I posted back when I began my site. My tried-and-true recipe was still there, but the photo for my favorite guacamole was far less than “perfect”. It sadly was out of focus, shot in the evening with terrible indoor lighting, and I apparently had all of these weird spiky chips sticking out of the guac. (Any of you bloggers relate looking back at your beginning photos?!?)
This is definitely the summer of tomatoes!!! Cassie and I have had a blast sharing in the #TomatoLove with you all this summer, and seeing the photos and reading about all of your delicious recipes during our appetizer and salsas/dips weeks during the Tomato Love Recipe Exchange. You all really love your tomatoes! :)
We are very excited to be moving into Week 3 of the recipe exchange this week – SALADS! And to celebrate, we are giving away a gorgeous salad bowl set from Big Kitchen. You’ll have to scroll down and read more to learn how to enter for a chance to win this beauty!!
As much as I adore living right nextdoor to a farmers’ market, I have to admit that every now and then, my eyes are bigger than my stomach. Or really, my eyes are just more “optimistic” about my cooking schedule than I am. :)
Either way, when I find myself at the end of the week with some remaining fruit or veggies that are shriveling and about to seriously pass their prime, I bust out my favorite solution — roasting them! I adore roasted veggies anyway, but it’s also a great way to rescue veggies that might still be tasty but no longer look quite as perfect.
Pretty sure I am having the time of my life loft-sitting for some friends this summer nextdoor to my favorite farmers’ market in KC — the City Market!! Oh my goodness. For seven years, I made the drive all the way downtown every Saturday morning to walk the bustling aisles of fresh deliciousness, say hi to my favorite vendors, and see some of my foodie friends. But now I literally walk out the door (and beat the crowds at 7am!) and voila — my favorite market is literally at my doorstep. I’m still pinching myself. Love it!!!
These past two weekends, many of the farmers have had beets in abundance. And while I think they are quite lovely — I mean, what’s not to love about a food that can turn an entire meal fuchsia?!? — I admit that I have never been a big fan of their taste. I usually pick them off salads. Ok, I always pick them off salads.
So I seem to be obsessed with wedges lately. Wedge salads, wedge sandals, blood orange wedges, and now my new favorite….roasted cabbage wedges!
I had seen this idea on the blogosphere awhile back. And after a friend tried and absolutely loved it, I thought roasted cabbage would be a fun recipe to try to go with my corned beef. Sure enough, it was delicious!!!
