You know what is absolutely disgusting? Cauliflower. … Said I, 4 years ago. I was a vegetable-lover, but cauliflower, with it’s mild-but-nutty-broccoliness, well it just grossed me out. But then! Then I realized that I’d been doing that whole cauliflower thing all wrong. When prepared correctly, it could be absolutely delicious. It could add extra fiber, vitamins,…
Spinach and Artichoke Dip Stuffed Garlic Bread
I hope I never go through another bad break-up. I certainly don’t plan to. But if the unfortunate day comes when I’m licking my emotional wounds while watching Pretty Woman and ugly-crying on the couch, I will break one break-up stereotype: I’ll stay away from the Ben & Jerry’s. I’ll make myself this Spinach and Artichoke Dip…
Indian Spiced Rice & Lentil Salad
Last year, I discovered that rice salad was an amazingly wonderful thing. It’s replaced pasta salad as my favorite binge-on-at-barbecues-until-the-shame-kicks-in dish. Actually, being perfectly honest, shame doesn’t even stop me most of the time. I will eat rice salad until I can’t physically get up to get more. You think I’m exaggerating, don’t you? It…
Cuban Caesar Salad
Do you have one classic dish that you simply can’t get enough of? One that you will order, without fail, every time you go out? If so, welcome to the club. James and I have eaten Caesar Salad at least once a week for the past… I don’t know… two years? Yeah, I’m serious. In fact,…
Warm Brussels Sprouts and Kale Bacon Caesar Salad
Last night I went to the Vendor Summit for Kitchen Kapers, so I’m in an especially good mood today. If you’ve ever seen “Oprah’s Favorite Things”, then imagine that, just with kitchenware. Instead of cars, it’s like “YOU GET A VEGETABLE PEELER, YOU GET A VEGETABLE PEELER, EVERYBODY GETS A VEGETABLE PEELER!” It actually is…
Goat Cheese and Chive Mashed Potatoes
Mashed potatoes are, admittedly, one of my least favorite ways to get my share of spuds. It might just be me, but I’m extremely picky with my mashed potatoes, and most of them just don’t make the cut. It’s so easy for them too be too smooth, too lumpy, too gummy, too bland… and for…
Spicy Baked Jicama Fries
Fellow french fry fiends, fear not. I’m not about to ruin your diets with pictures of deep fried potatoes. No, really, I’m not. These “fries” aren’t fried at all, and they’re definitely not potatoes. Instead, these fries are made of a different tuber called Jicama (pronounced hee-ka-ma), which is most often found in Mexican…
Chipotle, Black Bean, and Roasted Garlic Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes
I love this combination of flavors so much that I’ve made 4 recipes now using chipotle peppers, black beans, roasted garlic, and sweet potatoes, trying to find the perfect way to use them on the blog. I’ve tried taquitos, soup, and quesadillas, but the recipe that really let all of the tastiness shine was Chipotle,…
Thai Cashew Coconut Rice with Ginger Peanut Sauce
I go to barbecues and shovel pasta salad in my mouth like it’s going out of style. Seriously, I load up with enough dressing-doused noodles to make my paper plate sag down in the middle, and then I go back for seconds. And thirds. I love the stuff. For obvious reasons, pasta salad has been…
Crispy Sea Salt and Vinegar Roasted Potatoes
Ever since making the Crispy-Outside Creamy-Inside Garlic Herb Potatoes, I have been totally and utterly obsessed with making the perfect potato side dishes. When done properly, potatoes can actually be the stars of your meal, and they fly off the plate like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Especially if that plate happens to be placed…
Skillet Scalloped Potatoes
Put some cheese-covered carbs in front of me, and I get weak in the knees. You could serve up pasta with Parmesan, mac and cheese, or crusty bread with melted mozzarella, and I would dive in face-first with reckless abandon. Cheesy carbs of any sort are just my thang… but the true obliterator of any…
Crispy-Outside Creamy-Inside Garlic Herb Potatoes
I know that the name of this side dish is on the brink of ridiculousness, but I could not, for the life of me, think of a way to describe them that gave them justice. They’re so flavorful from the chicken stock, herbs, and garlic, and they have that texture combination that makes you swoon–…
German Potato Salad (Kartoffelsalat)
German Potato Salad is the ultimate mayo-free summer side dish. With bacon, broth, and vinegar in the mix, there’s no shortage of flavor in this potato salad, which is served warm or at room temperature. About 5 years ago –after 10 years of begging and pleading– I finally got my Omi to teach me all…
