I hate being tardy. Ask anyone who’s been with me when there’s even a chance of me being late — I get seriously flustered. I tap my foot wildly, talk about what would happen should we arrive 1 millisecond late, and text everyone involved to let them know. So you can imagine my utter horror when I realized I was late — and to a dinner party no less!
Continue Reading: Late To {Virtual} Dinner →
Like a moth to a flame, when the weather starts cools off, I start craving comfort food.
Coming from an Italian-American family, the foods I find most cozy takes shape in the form of cheese or pasta. Over the years I’ve gone from eating mozzarella at nearly every meal to exercising a bit more restraint, but when the cold weather hits, the craving is still there. The ultimate is when it’s melty and gooey cheese like in this herbed roasted cheese.
This recipe is a riff on baked Brie (a familiar holiday appetizer) that I turn to when time is short but comfort food is in high demand. It’s such a simple concept but it’s highly versatile and can be used as an indulgent appetizer, a salad centerpiece, or an impromptu take on mac-and-cheese. In my dream world, it would be kosher to throw the melty hunk of cheese inside a whole loaf of bread to make a behemoth version of a grilled cheese, but I haven’t gone there. At least not yet.
It’s that time of year: time to shake out the sweaters, shine the apples, and celebrate fall. I’d be more than willing to, except the weather in California is anything but fall-like and the gardens here are still brimming with late-summer produce. Add to that the fact I just scored a load of eggplant from some very generous friends with some very green thumbs and, well, I’ve been cooking with eggplant like it’s the height of the summer. But the great thing about eggplant is it has a long growing season that lasts into October (at least around these parts), so I figure it’s fair game to cook with. At least until I see a leaf change color or feel the need to pull out a scarf.
Urban legend has it that the smooshed sandwich came about when a mother put her toddler on the kitchen counter while making a sandwich. The mother turned away for a second and when she looked back her baby had sat on (and thus squashed) the bread.
I love that imagery but it’s more likely this sandwich came about when someone made a no-cook panini by putting a sandwich at the bottom of a picnic basket and letting it get smooshed by the other contents. Whatever the origin, it’s a fun sandwich that kids adore making. There’s something about manipulating and squashing food that gets kids jazzed and this sandwich takes full advantage of that. The fillings are a riff on the BLT, known as the PALT (prosciutto, lettuce, avocado, and tomato) around my house, but feel free to use whatever sandwich fixings your kids like. No matter how you fill it, just make sure you leave yourself adequate smoosh time because it a flattened sandwich is all that more fun to eat.
By now it’s engrained in us: soda’s the enemy. Even so I still yearn for a cold fizzy drink when it’s hot out, like, for example, this week where temperatures have been nearing the triple digits. There’s only so much water I can down, so I’ve compromised by mixing up homemade nonalcoholic drinks. Making them myself allows me to avoid all the scary stuff while still satisfying my soda fix. These fizzies are an awesome alternative because they’re simple to make, just a tad sweet, and an easy way to get a few extra servings of fruit, which is why they’re part of my week of healthy back to school recipes. So, help your little ones stay cool and healthy and toast the new school year with these homemade fruit fizzies.
Continue Reading: Fresh Fruit Fizzies →
Think of these as chips with curb appeal. They’re a shoo-in for the little ones (and adults with a sweet tooth) because they’re tad sweet, have a deep garnet color, and are tons healthier than potato chips with lots of iron, fiber, and beta-carotene. Unlike the storebought vegetable chips, which tend to be fried, these are slow roasted until they’re shatteringly crisp. The only downfall? They make like ShrinkyDinks in the oven and end up almost half their original side. So, make lots. Trust me, you’ll thank me after.
I’m by no means the first person to make kale chips, but I am a huge advocate of kale chips as a healthy snack option. My first kale chip experience was courtesy an adventurous hippy friend who’s alway on the lookout for new food finds. After a taste, I was a fan and would buy them by the armful from the local co-op (which said hippy friend introduced me to, of course). After a short while I decided to save the trip to the store (and some money) and began making them myself.
But I never thought of them as kid-friendly food until my niece came over and I gave her a few chips to try. Seconds later, she was tugging at my hem, asking for more, and the rest is history. What makes these such a kid-worthy snack is that kale is one of the most nutritionally dense foods available with loads of calcium, fiber, vitamin A, C, K, and tons of fiber. But enough about nutrition, they’re also tasty and super simple to make. My niece and nephew (aka my guines pigs for all my kid-friendly recipes) nosh them as is, but the chips are also great stirred into mashed potatoes, crumbled and tossed with popcorn, or eaten with a dip.
In case I haven’t made it clear, I have major love for chickpeas. Their nutty, sweet taste is thoroughly addictive, which is why I use them everywhere from salads and stews to veggie burritos and sliders. So you can imagine how jazzed I was the first time I tried fried chickpeas.
When I was working in the CHOW test kitchen, we developed them for Hanukkah and every time we’d test the menu, the chickpeas were the first to go. But I couldn’t help thinking how unhealthy they were, which is a shame since chickpeas themselves have loads of fiber, iron, and protein. So, I began roasting them and, along the way, made the process simpler and much less messy, which is why this is one of the picks for this week’s healthy back-to-school recipes.
Continue Reading: Spiced Chickpea Snackers →
School keeps starting earlier and earlier each year, but I still think of Labor Day as the official back-to-school kickoff. That’s why I’m dedicating this week to school-worthy (make ahead and transportable) kid-friendly recipes that are healthy and (mostly) vegetarian. I cooked these recipes today for a family-friendly picnic at the Los Angeles-based food fest, The Taste and while they’re fab eaten together, they’re also great on their own.
Continue Reading: Toasted Garlic Edamame Hummus →
Have you ever had a Bramble? No, I’m not talking about the thorny bush, but about a cocktail. If you haven’t tried it, consider this an intervention — you must have at least one before the summer is through.
I can’t remember where or when I first tried the Bramble, but I do recall that I fell for it instantly. That’s saying a lot because it’s gin-based and I’ve never been big on the often overpowering flavors of gin. But, the Bramble’s a different story. It’s a balanced mix of sweet, sour, fruity, and botanical (from the gin), so no one element overwhelms the other.
There’s something about the drink — perhaps the name or the traditional method — that has an air of an old school cocktail, but, by cocktail standards, it’s a spring chicken. The London-based bartender, Dick Bradsell, came up with the Bramble in 1984 when he added berry liqueur to a Gin Sour. Since then it has since become so popular in England some have coined it the Cosmopolitan of the UK. (Though, it must be said, that I think the Cosmo pales in comparison to the Bramble.)
And, as you can see above, this drink has as much going for it in looks as it does taste thanks to the berry liqueur that stains it an intense purple hue. But, my favorite part? The whole thing gets strained over crushed ice and looks like a snow cone, be it a very adult, boozy take on a snow cone.
