Monthly Archives: August 2012

Skillet Grilled Peppers and Onions for Tacos

Aug
31

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I am personally not a huge fan of char grilled food. I was never much of a meat lover and nor have I ever particularly enjoyed foods dominated by the flavor of smoke. But I do appreciate how the grill facilitates simple cooking and minimal clean up. This summer I enjoyed experimenting with cooking outdoors in new ways. My cast iron skillet became my best tool.

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Bittersweet Chocolate Popsicles

Aug
28

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In my former life working in restaurant kitchens, I made a sinfully rich chocolate sorbet that was a favorite on my dessert menus. This summer while I was obsessing over things to make into popsicles, I thought that my chocolate sorbet base would make an excellent candidate for the molds. My recipe was scaled for large production and with the summer heat peaking, I was just too lazy to scale it down. I turned to the recipes of David Leibovitz for a recipe that would be satisfactory to me. The ingredients he used were identical to that of my own recipe, and there was a comfort level in knowing that his recipes consistently work out pretty well. I was actually hoping that his recipe would be slightly less chocolaty than mine, but as luck would have it, it was spot on. Making it into popsicles worked out as I had hoped, but be warned that this is no fudgsicle. It is a serious dark chocolate lover’s delight.

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Being Vegan on Vacation

Aug
18

Aloha from Hawaii where I am enjoying the end of summer vacation with my family. The beach is perfect, the ocean is clear and warm, and the plumeria scented air is glorious. It is everything one could hope for…almost. One of the greatest challenges of traveling when you are vegan is finding food on the restaurant menus that accommodate your needs. Sadly, most of the options are not even healthy. Kids eat free in our hotel from the kids menu, but that menu is limited to hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, and fried foods. As someone who puts a strong focus on eating well, it’s pretty disappointing that a few sticks of carrots and celery are what they consider to be vegetables, and fruit smoothies are made from concentrated juices and something called smoothie mix.

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Spaghetti Squash with Creamy Spinach Sauce

Aug
15

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Years ago I knew a chef who made the most incredible mouth watering sauce with cooked spinach, heavy cream, and loads of parmigiano reggiano. It was delectable and decadent. I would not dream of going near it today, but that does not mean that it would be impossible to mimic with healthier ingredients. I recreated it with great success by taking many of the principles of a pesto recipe with the addition of ingredients like avocado, almond milk, and nutritional yeast to make it creamy and flavorful without the cholesterol, dairy, and fat. It is pictured here tossed with baked spaghetti squash and fresh cherry tomatoes. If spaghetti squash is not to your liking, toss it with gluten-free pasta or a pasta of your choice. It would also be delicious as a spread for sandwiches or crostini. 

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Gazpacho of Fresh Summer Vegetables

Aug
11

IMG_9204If you have ever had a vegetable garden, you know all too well how rewarding it can be to grow tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers during the summer. By late in the season, you probably have more of them than you know what to do with. Making a batch of gazpacho soup is a perfect way to put such seasonal vegetables to use and and a tasty way to cool you down when it is hot outside. Even if you do not have a vegetable garden, there is an abundance of fresh and affordable produce in farmer’s markets and grocery stores during the summer.

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Chicken Salad with Grapes and Almonds

Aug
07

One of the great challenges in cooking is finding ways to turn leftovers into something really good. I had bought a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store the other day when we had some friends over for lunch, but only a couple of pieces got sliced off. My husband had some for lunch the next day, but quite a bit of meat still remained. I used the meat to make a quick and simple chicken salad that breathed new life into a two day old chicken.

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Granola

Aug
07

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You might say that my culinary career began with a single recipe. Over 20 years ago before I was sucked into the vortex of working in restaurant kitchens, I launched a small business making and selling granola to restaurants, hotels, and gourmet food purveyors in the Los Angeles area. Today I am sharing that recipe with you. I have made a few tweaks since then, but it still delivers the same flavorful mouthfuls of toasty crunch without being too sweet or heavy. 

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Peanut Butter Cookies (gluten-free and vegan)

Aug
01

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It is easy to find recipes for vegan cookies or gluten-free cookies or even healthy cookies. But when you want one that fits the bill across the board, you sometimes have to create one yourself. That’s what I did with these peanut butter cookies. 

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