I almost never wrote a post about this delicious, quick and easy summer dinner that finds its way to our table at least twice a month, because it didn’t seem all that fancy. The real recipe here is my delicious marinade that turned an eggplant hater into its greatest fan, but more about that later in the post. This is exactly the sort of dish I love writing about. One of the reasons that I ...
Grilled Millet Flatbreads with Sesame Seed and Kombu Seaweed Sprinkles (Gluten Free, Vegan)
My favorite gluten free bread baking cookbook is Gluten-Free and Vegan Bread: Artisanal Recipes to Make at Home by Jennifer Katzinger and I especially like her various sandwich bread recipes. Usually I make the Soft Millet Sandwich Bread and a couple of weeks ago, I had mixed the bread dough, preheated the oven and was all ready to slide my bread in, when I realized my oven had shut off and ...
Strawberry (Heart Berry) Sponge Cake with Swiss Meringue and Coconut Cream (Grain Free, Dairy Free)
I read a wonderful article last week, Sacred Strawberrying Time! about strawberries and their symbolism to Indigenous peoples of the Eastern nations (like the Cherokee, Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), Ojibway, Shawnee, and hundreds of others), where it is referred to as the “heart berry” and is strongly linked to women. I thought this made perfect sense when I read it and I have been thinking about ...
Simple Potato Salad with Pickled Chive Blossoms
Potato salad is a no-brainer when it comes to the summer table. I often like the traditional mayonnaise version, but others prefer something a bit lighter and vinaigrette salads are becoming more popular, especially with the addition of healthy raw apple cider vinegar. This salad is simple to put together, but adds a special zing because of its unique garnish, pickled chive blossoms. Chives ...
Red Lentil Pasta with Wilted Arugula, Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Goat Cheese
This combination of sun-dried tomatoes, chèvre, pine nuts and baby greens, mixed with pasta is something I created long ago and it is still my favorite. This dish is quick, easy, healthy and full of taste popping ingredients that you are sure to love! I should just call this Pasta alla Jenn, because for the past 20 odd years I have been making a version of this dish using these key ...
The Empty Pantry Crazy Delicious Meatball Incident
Sometimes what you don’t know helps you enjoy things you might have a mental block towards or in the case of this post, unknowingly create something delicious in the kitchen, something you never would have thought to try. Something that is slightly funky and pretty weird. When you taste it, the flavor is really good yet hard to place, and you are trying to figure out why it tastes so good and ...
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quesadillas
Eating certain foods can strike up fond memories and I made these quesadillas to bring me back to the sun and surf of Saint Augustine, Florida and the fabulous weekly farmers market there. I made these a few weeks before we made our annual trip back and it was the perfect lunch to get me in the mood to trade in freezing temperatures and snow for blue skies and palm trees! There are a lot of ...
Scottish Style Oat Cakes & An Outlandish Ploughman’s Lunch
Outlander is a big thing these days. If you don’t know what I am talking about, you are seriously missing out and have either 1) been under a rock for the past 6 months or 2) recently traveled between the stones to this time period and haven’t quite figured out the internet or television yet…but then you wouldn’t be reading this! In reality Outlander has been a thing for years, but mostly for ...
Scotch Eggs with Curry Mayo To Celebrate Spring! (…and how to boil the perfect hard-boiled eggs)
The weather is definitely turning. We went from two months of sub-zero temperatures into the mid 30’s (almost a 70-degree change), literally overnight! The snow is melting and there is a definite shift in the air. Many of our spring celebrations like the Spring Equinox (Ēostre, Ostara), Easter and Passover are just around the corner and I for one am ready for a change of season! Long held ...
Neep (Rutabaga) Fritters
Rutabagas, also known as swedes or turnips in the UK, Scotland and Ireland are a wonderful root vegetable to add to your repertoire. They have an underlying sweetness to them, they caramelize when roasted and are comforting when mashed and mixed with butter and winter herbs, like thyme or winter savory. Rutabagas are different from what we think of as turnips in the US, as they are golden ...
Infuse Your Life with (more) YUM. YUM is the stuff that feeds not just our bodies but also our spirits. Offering simple recipes and tips, life hacks and tools and little pleasures to infuse life with more of the Good Stuff, the YUM.