july 15, 2016
Sometimes the muse taps me on the shoulder several times at the markets. She whispers in my ear “pssst..this would make a great combination – put these together and magic will happen”.
Grilled Apricot Burrata Salad
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Category Archives: vegetarian
Chocolate Berry Tart
june 24, 2016
It’s almost time to do your patriotic duty and eat something red, white and blue. Naturally, summer’s berries will cover the red and blue, so let’s add something creamy like thickened and lightly sweetened Greek yogurt to cover all bases.
Spring Vegetable Spoon Bread Tart
may 20, 2016
You can craft a savory tart with any number of crusts. Bubbly yeasted pizza dough, flaky pastry crust and crispy semolina flatbread to name a few; or you can make a crustless tart and make lots of folks happy. One of the current trends is to go paleo with crusts made from cauliflower, with or without cheese.
Smoky Vegan Cashew Cheese
may 6, 2016
There was a vegan cheese spread I used a few years ago for a client who stopped eating dairy, with a persistent longing for the texture and taste of a creamy cheese, but with a strong dislike for the soy substitutes available. This cheese was made from oats and had a light caramel color and hickory smoke flavor. It was so delicious I purchased some just for me and indulged.
Asparagus and Tomato Pesto Pasta
april 22, 2016
Know why pasta dinners are so popular? Boil water, add pasta, open jar of sauce and that’s that. Wouldn’t it be great if you had easy-to-defrost homemade sauce in the freezer, like kale apricot pesto or herbed roasted tomatoes? Now add sun-dried tomato pesto to that list.
Gingered Carrot Soup
march 25, 2016
When I was a kid cook, my parents bought two thin volumes we considered exotic at the time : cookbooks for German and French fare, with unusual ingredients not found in the States. Never a big cooked carrot fan, I nonetheless made Potage Crecy from the French book, a creamy carrot and potato soup, and got hooked. There followed attempts at whole chicken cooked in a pot with wine and tomato, German fish and mussel chowder and braised cucumber with sour cream. The only miss was liver dumplings from the German cookbook; the family dog became the recipient of that recipe.
Bittersweet Chocolate Almond Tart
march 11, 2016
If you like dark, creamy chocolate desserts that are not too, too sweet, this one’s for you. If you are enamored of desserts with natural sweeteners, this one will do very nicely. If you like to get your vegetables from dessert, you’re three for three!
Parsley Pear Salad
february 26, 2016
Anyone who enjoys a good tabbouleh can attest to the importance of parsley in this hearty salad. Poor parsley is usually relegated to garnish status, limply lurking at the side of your dinner plate in restaurants and turning to grey flakes in your spice cabinet. So easy to grow in pots on your deck, or in the ground once summer sun kisses the earth, parsley (and I am referring to the meatier Italian flat parsley) makes a wonderful addition to your salads, dressings and pestos.
Butternut Savoy Cabbage Lasagna
february 13, 2016
Sometimes the best lasagnas are made without pasta. Pick a season, choose something that can be sliced as thin as a noodle, and off you go. Summer brings eggplant and zucchini squash and fall/winter brings butternut squash. For me, lasagna was always about the cheese and sauce, so take out the pasta and I’m a happy diner.
Chocolate Cherry Parfaits
january 29, 2016
As a kid, I cooked so many desserts that my parents readily gave in to my request for parfait glasses. We purchased them at the Pleasants Hardware in our neighborhood (where all things kitchen reigned alongside tools and snow shovels) and I have them still. They have languished in the buffet drawers until now, when the urge to conjure up a comforting memory dessert made me polish them to a shine and fill them with something akin to what my childhood chef prepared for the family.