Author: Tracey

Kale and Mint Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing and Spatchcocked Chicken

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Many times I’ve had kale salads that just weren’t up to snuff.  They were very pretty, but the texture and flavor was somehow lacking, and eating it made me feel as if I were doing some sort of penance for a wrongdoing in a former life.  Don’t get me wrong, I love kale! I saute it; I put it in quiche; but sometimes a raw kale salad can be a little challenging–oh, the constant chewing!  Last week I received this recipe via email and had to try it that day! I was initially drawn to it because I already had almost all of the ingredients in the pantry, except for one: pomegranate molasses, and had to substitute regular molasses for it.  It wasn’t quite a substitution, because pomegranate molasses has a unique sour/sweet flavor that I really couldn’t replicate using ingredients I had on-hand.  That’s not to say it wasn’t delicious, because it was, but I was anxious to know what it would taste like with the original ingredient.  So, on a tip from a friend, …

Grilled Scallops with Cannellini Beans and Salsa Verde

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After many weeks fraught with anticipation and often disappointment, we were finally able to grow one full-sized zucchini!  Now, to those of you who are out there, baskets fully laden with summer squash, hauling all your abundance to the neighbors: don’t laugh at my one, single zucchini.  Well,  used to be one–we ate it with a quickness the other night alongside a salad of greens, cannellini beans and grilled scallops, and you know what? It was delicious; and we knew where it came from and it was free of pesticides.  There are a few more zucchinis forming on the vine now, so once again, I have high hopes that we’ll get some more soon!  Until then, I guess we’ll have to figure out something else to eat! One large zucchini! Provenance known! I’d like to share another amazing, intensely flavored sauce with you that is incredible alongside seafood, called “salsa verde”. Salsa Verde an Italian sauce made from a base of parsley, garlic, capers, anchovies, olive oil and bread.  The recipe is adapted from the …

Eating Together: Small Plate Supper, Romesco Sauce and Fresh Basil Pesto

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Eric and I (yes, the Man of the House has a name) have been making small-plate suppers since we first met. Sometimes we would have a variety of cheeses, charcuterie, olives and bread; other times we’ll make a spread of other small dishes like the ones we had last night:  caprese salad made with burrata cheese and pesto, gigantic beans with rosemary and garlic, grilled Brussels sprouts, pan-fried sardines with romesco sauce and of course, a crusty baguette.  I love these types of meals because they force us to slow down and breathe; really enjoy the food and savor good conversation over a nice glass of wine.  I feel that in this day and age where everything happens so fast and there are so many distractions vying for our time, the time spent together sitting and enjoying a meal is so important.  It doesn’t need to be complicated or fancy, just prepared with love. Pan-fried sardines with romesco sauce I know a lot of you are probably looking at this and thinking “yuck”; but these …

Epic Lentil Salad

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Memorial Day Weekend is over and we are back on the healthy eating train.  We kind of pigged out this weekend.  We ate red meat; deep-fried things; things made with boatloads of butter.  We ate All The Things.  So, I took an extra day off and with the goal of setting things to rights, I made this salad.  I was inspired by a photo I saw posted on the internet of someone’s lunch at Los Angeles restaurant.  I thought to myself: This salad is perfect.  This salad is epic.  It is so epic that it might just be The One Salad.  The salad that would undo the nutritional damage of a holiday weekend in one meal.  Ok, maybe it didn’t do all that, but it certainly made us feel way more virtuous than where we were late Monday night.  My salad contained lentils, chickpeas, asparagus, orange and yellow bell pepper, jicama, carrots and tomatoes, but the beauty of it is that you can use whatever vegetables you want! A few months ago I happened to …

My New Favorite Way to Eat Eggs: Perfect, Creamy Scrambled Eggs

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I never skip breakfast–it’s the most important meal of the day, right?  During the week, we eat a very consistent breakfast of either oatmeal with cinnamon, nutmeg, raisins, walnut and blueberries, or as it’s starting to get warmer, a cold cereal medley of grape nuts, whole oats, shredded wheat, blueberries and walnuts.  I don’t think we are deficient at all in whole grains and fiber! But, on the weekends, when I have more time, I like to have an egg breakfast.  It used to be that my favorite way to eat an egg was over medium or poached, but a few months ago the Man of the House learned a scrambled egg technique that elevated the lowly scrambled egg to the top of my list of favorites.  I’d been eating scrambled eggs the same way my entire life, but this technique resulted in an egg that is so creamy and decadent, I can’t go back to the way I used to make them. The secret is cooking them gently over medium low heat while you …

Blueberry Mojito

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I’m kind of a chronic over-purchaser of certain items, and the item varies from week to week.  This week, I overbought limes.  Every time I went to the grocery store (which is often) I bought 8 to 12 more limes.  I guess in my mind, a home without limes is just not the place to be!  So, in an effort to utilize all these limes, I decided to make mojitos!  Earlier this week, I had some friends over and made a pitcher of traditional mojitos.  They were good, but they just weren’t minty enough in my opinion.  So, I changed it up a bit and made this one with mint-infused simple syrup, and that seemed to correct that missing element.  I also added some frozen blueberries, because I had them on hand and it’s always great to be able to make a cocktail with ingredients at your fingertips!  Plus, it keeps me out of the grocery store, where I might buy more limes.  As an added bonus, the frozen blueberries help keep the drink cold!

The Evolution of a Quiche: Crustless Quiche with Greens

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This morning, I decided to make a quiche for breakfast.  I love quiche. In fact, I love all kinds of egg custard type dishes, but quiche is near and dear to my heart and has been a favorite of mine since I was fairly young.  I was first introduced to the wonders of this eggy concoction when I was in middle school.  There was a product in the…ahem…1980’s that was called “pour-a-quiche” and my mother used to buy it.  Now, this product came in a milk carton and it was just as the name said, you simply poured the pre-made quiche mix into a ready-made pie crust and popped it into the oven!  Hey, we liked instant stuff back then!  Later on, when I went to college, one of favorite professors, who was also a  fabulous gourmet cook, made me one of her quiches.  It was the most amazing, decadent, wonderful dishes I had ever had.  It was lovingly baked in a homemade, buttery pie crust and filled with spinach, bacon, ham and cheeses. It …