Lemonade-inspired lunch

When I was in sunny CA two weeks ago, my sister Alyssa made the most delicious dinner! It was a variation on a recipe from Lemonade, a great lunch chain on the west coast that defines it's cuisine as Southern California comfort food. One word: Yum. :)

In their cookbook, they have a recipe for Avocado, Cherry Tomato, Pine Nut and Lime Vinaigrette. It's delicious—but to make it a bit more hearty, my sister serves the vinaigrette over quinoa veggie burgers from Trader Joe's. She also added a slice of extra sharp cheddar cheese and sautéed mushrooms. I'm planning on making this my new go-to dinner for the nights I have no energy/time to cook. The best part: the vinaigrette can be refrigerated for up to a week. 

Of course, during my week out there, Alyssa didn't want to deprive me of the real deal so we stopped into Lemonade on my second to last day. Totally wish this place would open in New York!

Asparagus and Pesto Ravioli

Ever since I took a pasta-making class last summer, I've been eyeing machines (like this one) so that I could make my own pasta from scratch. Enter this recipe for Quick Pesto Tortellini with Asparagus and Capers. Bloggers Nicky and Max have a work-around so you don't need a machine to serve up this airy, flavorful treat. They use puff pastry for the pasta part. Brilliant!

The result looks delicious. You can find the full recipe on their blog over here. 

What do you think? Would you give this recipe a whirl?

(Images via Nicky & Max)

Roasted carrot and avocado salad

It's so hot and sticky in the summer, there are so many nights where all I crave is a delicious salad for dinner. Lately, Matt and I have been making variations on this recipe from ABC Kitchen. There's something so tasty about roasted carrots, avocado, a lot of fresh lemon juice, and a little salt and pepper. It is so filling, too! The roasting can take about 30 minutes, but otherwise, it's a pretty fast and easy dish for the nights we don't feel like cooking a lot.

Do you have a go-to summer salad that you like to whip up?

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The perfect salad

When I was home for the long weekend, my parents and I had a huge BBQ to celebrate July 4th. As usual, my mom made her signature garden salad—with most of the ingredients picked from our backyard. Sure, it's a basic salad, but somehow, it always tastes crisp and crunchy and looks fluffy and fresh. 

I finally asked her to share her secret: she uses paper towels to dry off every vegetable she adds to the bowl after washing them. For example, after pre-washing the lettuce, she leaves it in a plastic bag with a paper towel to soak up any excess moisture. She also lets ingredients like cucumbers and tomatoes air dry on a paper towel before adding them to the salad. What a difference this makes! 

Do you have any salad-making tricks?

My darling Clementine

Thanks to my sister Alyssa, Matt got the best Christmas present ever: the Jerusalem cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. We've been trying so many of their delicious, mouth-watering recipes, but our new favorite is for Roasted Chicken with Clementines and Arak. The flavors! You won't believe me until you try it yourself. The clementines are the genius ingredient that add a tangy sweetness to each savory bite.

The full recipe is available here, but make this dish soon: Clementines are only in season in New York for a couple more weeks!

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The best kale and brussels sprouts salad

Since my friend Shalah was in town for a visit, we got to have an impromptu recipe session, just like old times! The dish she introduced me to? This delicious kale and brussels sprouts salad from Epicurious.com. If you like kale and brussels sprouts, this is a recipe you have to try. It takes about 30 minutes to make—including time to chop everything up—but it has just the right amount of zing and crunch. We served it with pizza, and it was a hit!

Do you have a favorite fall salad recipe?

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The best lemon pasta recipe

Lately, I've been craving lemons. I add it to avocado to put with my eggs at breakfast, I spritz it over broccoli as a snack, and I've been seriously thinking about snagging this citron pressé set from Provisions by Food 52. Over the weekend, I decided to kick things up a notch and try a new dish: lemon spaghetti by Giada De Laurentis. It was delicious! With six ingredients (spaghetti, lemon, olive oil, parmesan, basil, and black pepper), it's cheap and ready in 15 minutes or less. The dish is a new staple I'm adding to my recipe box.

Slowly, but surely, I'm working on my cooking skills!

More of me in the kitchen here, here, here, here and here.

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Heirloom tomatoes

Every Saturday this month, Matt and I have been waking up and going straight to the farmer's market near Borough Hall in Brooklyn. The reason? To pick up as many heirloom tomatoes as we can carry. 'Tis the season after all, and the mouth-watering selection—well over 10 different varieties—is impossible to resist. I pepper Matt with questions like, 'Do you think we got enough black princes? Let's get one more' or 'Are you sure we don't need another green zebra?' The selection process is made all the more fun by the vendor, who allows you to sample bites of each kind.

Let's just say Matt and I purchased enough heirloom tomatoes to eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner this week. :)

A great recipe for an heirloom tomato salad (with burrata!).

More tomatoes here and here.

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Insta-salads

With the way the temperatures keep climbing, the only thing I've been craving lately is a fresh—and inventive—salad. That's why I am completely obsessed with Sarah Yates' Instagram feed and the mouth-watering salad pics she posts. Seriously, how yummy do the combinations above look? Notice that all three salads include a favorite ingredient of mine: avocado. :)

Just in case you want to create these lunch or dinner options yourself, Sarah has posted the recipes here on her blog, A House in the Hills.

What do you think? Will you try any of these? If you have a yummy go-to salad recipe, I'd love to hear!

More summer salads here and here and a sad desk salad here.
 
(Images via A House in the Hills) 

The best cauliflower soup recipe

Ever since I got back from California, I have been craving cauliflower soup. Cauliflower has become my vegetable of choice and after talking with Matt's sister about her favorite recipe for roasted cauliflower, leek and garlic soup (very similar to this one from Love and Lemons), I decided to make my own batch. As you know, I'm not terrific in the kitchen, but this recipe was very easy to follow. We paired it with some sourdough bread, and yum—a perfect spring dish.

Are you a soup fan? Do you have a go-to recipe for the spring/summer months? 

(Image via Cooking for Seven)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, my darling readers! Are you doing anything special to celebrate? It's funny—Valentine's Day really isn't my thing. But Matt loves the holiday, and always finds a way to make it special. This year, we decided to compromise: We're staying in to cook! The plan is to rewind back to our third date when Matt whipped up these delicious mango, black bean and poplano quesadillas. They are delicious (but a lot of work to prepare)! So as a special treat, we're making these tonight, and bringing this recipe back into the mix. :)

After dinner, the plan is to go out for hot cocoa at the Chocolate Room, one of our new neighborhood spots.

What are you doing? Staying in? Going out? Whatever the plan, remember how sweet you are—and that you are loved!

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Gorgeous recipe cards

How do you keep track of the recipes you try and love? I'm pretty old school about it, jotting down step-by-step instructions on index cards and clipping those cards together to store all in one place. But I'm about to upgrade: After seeing these adorable recipe cards from Rifle Paper Co., how can I not? They are beautifully designed and clever, too. Plus, the heirloom recipe box gives storing them a vintage feel. I'd love to have this wooden file in my kitchen, ready to pull out anytime I decide to cook. 

What's your method for recording recipes? I'd love to know!

More recipes here and here.

(Images via Rifle Paper Co.)   

The best winter salad (ever)

Trust me: This recipe for Balsamic Roasted Winter Squash and Wild Rice Salad is perfect. Courtesy of the New York Times, I stumbled across it about a month ago, and I'm so thankful I did. Something magical happens when squash and balsamic vinegar mix. Place it on top of arugula with a bit of wild rice, and you'll find one of the most delicious—and satisfying—recipes you've ever tried. The toughest part is chopping up the squash. :)

Do you have any fun, new go-to winter recipes to share?

More cooking here and here.

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Farmers Market Fix

Two weeks ago, I was the lucky recipient of the most delicious gift: a meal — delivered to my office door — by Farmers Market Fix. Founded by Cathy, this delightful service aims to bring fresh and local food to all New Yorkers looking to get (wait for it) their farmers market fix. Sign up for the weekly newsletter, choose from one of Cathy's mouth-watering recipes, and enjoy the fun when all the ingredients (and spices!) get delivered to your office door the day you plan to cook. Matt and I tried the Grass-fed Steak with Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Smashed Potatoes. We were so pleased with our choice! And to walk in the door after a long day with all the ingredients in hand was a treat. And such a fun date night, too! 

Cooking Page: Take 2, 3 and 4!

I'm thrilled to report: my cooking lessons with Shalah have continued! And I think I'm improving, although I'd still call myself the sous chef. :) We're making the transition from the cold weather to warm in New York, and the dishes above reflect this change. 

The first: a delicious recipe for chicken parmesan. The fresh mozzarella and basil really made the flavor pop. It was a rainy, cold night when we decided to give this dish a try. Definitely warmed us right up!

The second: our mouths watered at the sight of Deb's recipe for extra garlicky pasta with broccoli rabe on her food blog Smitten Kitchen. As an hors d'oeuvre, we also made white bean dip from scratch, and served it with bread. This recipe was so easy to make. And fresh broccoli rabe — how can you go wrong?

The third: this week, we decided to have a burger party. Shalah picked up some ground bison, and we also made a vegetarian option, following Gwyneth Paltrow's recipe for homemade veggie burgers. The bison was a hit; the veggie burgers might take a bit of practice to perfect. :) As a side dish, we made a fresh zucchini salad, seasoned with lemon, salt and pepper, and a touch of cilantro and mint.

The cooking lessons will continue — check back for more recipe recommendations soon!

Cooking Page: How Easy Is That?

I'll admit: when it comes to cooking, I'm not the best chef. That said, I've made a 2012 commitment to showing noticeable improvement in my culinary skills. :) My secret weapon? The help of my friend Shalah, who is a natural in the kitchen. Instead of splurging on high-cost cooking lessons, we have created a girl's night where we choose a new recipe, one of us grabs the groceries, the other picks up a bottle of wine, and we get to work! I'm amazed at how much I have to learn. (If you don't believe me, ask about my lemon zesting technique for the recipe above.)

For our first dish, we made Ina Garten's lemon chicken from her Barefoot Contessa: How Easy is That? cookbook. It was delicious! As side dishes, we made roasted brussels sprouts and potatoes. This week, we're at it again with plans to attempt our own version of chicken parmesan. Details (and hopefully pics) to come!

Who taught you how to cook? Do you have any tried and true tips that every cook should know?

PS—I just picked up Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook — there are so many great recipes that I can't wait to try!

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The great cookie catastrophe

You know what they say — if it was easy, everyone would do it! I wish that thought entered my mind this weekend before I attempted to make a recipe from Momofuku Milk Bar, a cookbook from New York's very own dessert legend, Christina Tosi. 

The Confetti Cookie recipe looked delicious and relatively easy to make. After a trip to (count them) six different grocery stores, I was ready to bake. All I can say is thank goodness I live in New York, where grocery stores are plentiful and accessible. After botching the first part of the recipe a couple of times, I needed to replenish my previously purchased ingredients. Finally — five hours after the project first began — the dough was mixed, and the Birthday Cake Crumb was prepared. But clearly reading the fine print was essential — "refrigerate [the dough] for up to a week" the recipe says. "Do not bake your cookies from room temperature — they will not bake properly." 

The last photo pictured above is the end result of my labor-intensive efforts: one massive cookie. Sure, there's more dough to work with, but I've made a decision. I'm leaving this one to the experts!

Holy guacamole!

To me, there's nothing more summery than freshly made guacamole. How delicious do the avocados above look? Yum! Do you have a favorite recipe for making your own guac? What secret ingredients do you use to punch up the flavor? Check out a couple of the recipes I'd like to try here and here. Also for you, some tips from the king of Mexican cuisine himself, Rick Bayless. Enjoy! 

(Image via Lyla & Blu)

DIY gnocchi

Gnocchi. The word alone makes me go weak at the knees. Saturday night, Matt and I ate dinner at Fragole in Cobble Hill. The gnocchi special? Some of the best I've ever had! Equally impressive is Elephantine's at-home attempt — she made the recipe above from scratch! Check out more of her photos here. While she doesn't post the exact recipe that she used, she does offer a suggestion or two for ways to replicate her work. :) 

(Via Elephantine)