Sweet, Salty, Sour & Spicy
it’s what summer dreams are made of ✨…
~ real food, balanced living ~
I was going to title this post: ‘15 Recipes to Remind Us of Spring” but that didn’t sound very committal so thought I better double down and cheer things on….
Your biggest challenge is going to be resisting the temptation to devour the entire pan of jammy red peppers & caramelized garlic before they hit the plate!
These warm chickpeas served up in a Greek style marinade with melty feta are the perfect spring transition dish – enjoy them on their own or wrapped up in a pita, gyro/souvlaki style, with tzatziki. D’lish….
The inspiration for these blushing beauties came from a surprisingly delicious radish salad my husband and I had for breakfast last summer in LA (yes, breakfast!) — despite my initial reservations when I saw it on the morning menu, I was completely smitten. The radish salad was served on buttered sourdough (base layer) with generous chunks of avocado over top, fresh dill and lemon juice (oh, and some fresh ground pepper and a poached egg on the side) — so good! …
Friends, I’ve got the perfect salad to have up your sleeve during the holidays! So much flavor coming from a handful of ingredients (luv that) dressed in a tangy apple cider vinaigrette with pretty pom jewels (psst: it features 4 greens but nobody will care, because it tastes that good!)
My husband and I have been eating it on the regular and the boys, just back from school, gave it the big thumbs up (well they didn’t actually elevate their thumbs, too much work, but they pretty much licked their bowls clean, the ultimate test). …
I keep a binder of recipes. I started it about 25 years ago before the age of the internet and never stopped adding to it. It holds some of my favorite stuff — handwritten recipes from my mother-in-law, articles written by Joe Schwarcz (food chemist) that my Mom saved for me from the Montreal Gazette, gardening diagrams made by my father-in-law and a bunch of four-leaf clovers gathered by my youngest over the years (I can still see him running full tilt towards me with cupped hands in the kitchen of our Ottawa home).
Of course much of my life is now cataloged on the web, stored in some soulless cloud, but that’s not my preferred resting place. I like paper, always have, and every time I open the pages of my now tattered, gravy spattered binder, it brings me back to some of the people and memories I love most. …
In a contest of salads, there are few that compete for my heart quite as well as a goood Caesar.
I get cravings for this gem in the spring and I find it hard to resist fresh burrata & seasonal tomato in August but in the dead of winter, the relatively simple but almighty Caesar takes it.
What makes or breaks a Caesar, apart from quality ingredients, is the dressing. Of course, this as individual as anything else but my leaning (unwavering bias) is towards a perceptibly tangy, garlicky experience — all good if everyone is participating, right? …
with the late day sun hitting our spokes and ice cream running down our arms, we pedaled frantically, our bodies shaking with laughter until we couldn’t hold on any longer and tumbled off to the side of the road. Our bikes followed in a heap beside us landing on the dusty earth. Tiny gravel stones pushed into my sides and I had that unmistakable feeling that all was possible again ~
Summer has a way of restoring our childhood. It’s not much of a mystery I suppose, the birds find their way back every year and so do we. …
Today’s delightful recipe is from The Clever Cookbook, a beautiful debut work written by the talented, humorous and fun-loving Emilie Raffa.
I was first drawn to Emilie’s blog, The Clever Carrot, a number of years ago through her distinct visual artistry. If you enjoy quality food photography, or are a food blogger looking to improve your own, my advice is to pitch a tent, get installed and bring your popcorn. This girl has the magic touch — a clean at times ethereal aesthetic that will leave you breathless in its wake. Most infuriatingly, (and I mean that only in a loving way), she makes it look easy. A couple of my favorite examples are here, here and here. …
We made it back to our cabin in the woods for the first time in two years.
It sits atop a forested hill overlooking a quiet, clean lake. We bought the original fishing cabin about 12 years ago with its bumps and bruises and have since fixed it up, little by little, turning it into something slightly more livable for our family. The functionality has improved but the simplicity remains the same. …