I absolutely love grilling. When given the chance, I’d choose it over cooking on the stovetop or in my oven. So I am thrilled that the weather is turning and I can get back to using my favorite appliance as much as possible. To start the season off, here’s a recipe for Grilled Salmon and Asparagus Foil Packets that tastes awesome and is super easy to clean up!
This recipe is also really adaptable, so I’ve given a couple of suggestions below, but definitely make this your own!
Ingredients (serves 2, multiply as needed):
2 (8 oz) salmon fillets
salt and pepper, to taste
1 lb asparagus, woody ends removed
2 tablespoons olive oil
one lemon, divided
1 teaspoon hot sauce or your favorite mustard
1 shallot, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
One of my favorite quick dinner options is Sausage, Pepper, and Onion Sandwiches. I thought it might be nice to lighten it up a bit and make it into a one skillet (ok, one skillet plus a small pot) recipe. The result is this yummy recipe for Sausage and Peppers Quinoa Skillet.
This recipe for Sausage and Peppers Quinoa Skillet is made with sliced bratwurst, a bunch of colorful bell peppers, sautéed onions and quinoa and makes for a hearty and healthy dinner that can be made in less than 30 minutes!
I can’t tell you how many times my InstantPot has saved me for dinner. All too often, I’ll look up from my computer at 7pm and realize I haven’t even thought about what we are going to eat! This recipe for Pressure Cooker Chicken Adobo is one of those time-saver meals – it takes about 45 minutes to make. (For comparison, my Pork Belly Adobo recipe takes about 2 hours to make, not including time to let the meat marinate!)
This recipe comes together quickly but tastes like it’s been cooking all day. Ah, the magic of the InstantPot!
Ingredients:
4 drumsticks
4 chicken thighs
ground pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 large onion, chopped
2/3 cup low sodium soy sauce (or coconut aminos to make gluten free)
Nearly a decade ago, I shared a recipe for a Bunny Carrot Cake. Although it’s super cute, I figured it was about time I shared a decidedly less creative dessert that is still perfect for Easter and spring in general: Carrot Cake Cupcakes!
These Carrot Cake Cupcakes are based off the original recipe I shared 9 years ago, but I substituted in walnuts for the raisins. They are topped with cinnamon cream cheese frosting and then sprinkled with carrot-shaped sprinkles to make them extra adorable.
A few years ago, I realized that the concept of what I know as Classic Shrimp Scampi is kind of an American one. To Americans, Shrimp Scampi is shrimp cooked in butter and typically served over pasta. But scampi is actually its own type of crustacean. So it appears that when Italian immigrants came to the US, they adapted the recipe to substitute in shrimp and then kept both names.
Now that you’ve had a history lesson on Shrimp Scampi, let me get to the actual making of the dish. This version is relatively classic, where you cook the shrimp in a butter white wine sauce with a little bit of crushed red pepper and then finish it off with fresh parsley and some lemon juice. To soak up the yummy sauce, serve with pasta or crusty bread.
I have quite a few St. Patrick’s Day recipes on here, but I thought it was worth adding in one decidedly untraditional and whimsical recipe: Lucky Charms Marshmallow Treats!
The treats are made the same way as other chewy bars from your childhood but have the extra fun of colorful marshmallows! To keep the marshmallows mostly intact, this recipe adds the marshmallows back in at the end.
I know I’m a little late to the “whipped coffee” or Dalgona coffee trend, but I wanted to hold out for St. Patrick’s Day to make this awesome Whipped Irish Coffee!
Whipped coffee became quite the trend early in the pandemic. It’s made by whisking equal parts instant coffee granules, sugar, and hot water until it holds stiff peaks. You serve it on top of hot or warm milk, and then stir to combine, so adding whiskey to this lovely mix seemed like a no brainer to me.
Irish coffee is actually traditionally enjoyed the opposite way… kind of. Whiskey, sugar, and coffee are stirred together and then topped with heavy cream, while this whipped Irish coffee has the milk on the bottom rather than on top (although with whipped coffee, you do stir the milk and coffee together before enjoying). This recipe is to make the whipped Irish coffee iced, but you can easily adapt it to use warmed milk instead. If you’re looking for another spin on an Irish coffee, I also have a recipe for a Frozen Clover Cocktail you might want to try.
Ingredients (makes 2 servings):
1/4 cup instant coffee granules (normal ground coffee won’t work!)
1/4 cup sugar (or brown sugar to make it a touch more of a traditional Irish coffee)
Before I get to this awesome recipe for One Pot Jamaican Curry Chicken and Potatoes, I wanted to share with you a new addition to my kitchen that I’m madly in love with. One of the most important tools in any cook’s kitchen is a skillet. I use my skillets more than any other pot/pan in my house (although my Dutch oven gets a pretty good workout too). So having a good, sturdy, evenly cooking skillet is super important. I’m not exactly kind to my pots and pans… they get frequent use, and my husband isn’t the best at remembering not to use metal utensils on my non-stick cookware (sigh)… so having a skillet that can put up with some abuse is really important to me.
Which is why I’m so excited to share the 11-Inch NanoBond Skillet from Hestan Culinary, handcrafted in Italy. Not only is it beautiful, the NanoBond technology makes this skillet darn near indestructible.
Here are some of the features:
Molecular titanium bonds thousands of nanolayers for a lifetime of beauty
400% stronger than stainless steel
35% better heat conduction than aluminum-clad cookware
Additionally, the skillet is high-heat tolerant to 1050°F! So it’s perfect for searing meats or even cooking right on the grill.
To test out my new skillet, I wanted to make something I’ve been craving for a while now: Jamaican Curry Chicken and Potatoes.
This one pot (or skillet) wonder simmers chicken and potatoes in a seasoned curry sauce until the chicken is fall-off-the-bone tender.
Ingredients:
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
2 pounds bone-in, skinless chicken thighs and drumsticks
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 large onion, sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons Jamaican mild curry powder (I used Jamaican Choice)
1 habanero pepper
2 medium Yukon Gold Potatoes, washed and cut into bite sized pieces
I have used Butcher Box(note: affiliate link) for a while now, and love the quality of the meat and seafood they offer. I tend to switch up what comes in my boxes so I can work with different cuts. My latest box had a boneless pork butt, so I figured it was about time I created and shared a pressure cooker pulled pork recipe.
I do have a few other pulled pork recipes on my blog, and they are all fantastic, but they are slow cooker based. So here’s a recipe that helps get that yummy pulled pork on your table a bit faster using an Instant Pot or other multi cooker without losing that cooked-all-day flavor!
Fettuccine Alfredo is essentially glorified mac and cheese (or more accurately, mac and cheese is a less glamorous fettuccine alfredo). I had a craving for some fettuccine alfredo on one of the multiple snow days we just saw in Philadelphia, and luckily I had everything on hand to make this ultimate comfort food, so it’s about time I shared a recipe for easy fettuccine alfredo!
This recipe for easy fettuccine alfredo uses just 9 ingredients, including salt and pepper. It doesn’t exactly reheat well though, so it’s not the best make ahead meal, but I have a good feeling it will be polished off in no time!
Note: I was sent coupons from Nasoya in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone.
Despite working from home for nearly a year now, I feel like I have less time to cook! I have a feeling I’m not alone, so I wanted to share a healthy, quick, and comforting recipe for a yummy Crunchy Noodle Salad that you can get on the dinner table in ~40 minutes.
This Crunchy Noodle Salad is made with glass noodles, sugar snap peas, shredded carrots, bell peppers, and crispy tofu tossed in a yummy peanut dressing, and can be served at room temperature or cold, so it makes for a great dinner-plus-leftovers option.
Don’t let the whole vegetarian/vegan/gluten-free part of this recipe throw you, it will fill you up! I this recipe uses Nasoya’s Organic Super Firm Tofu that delivers 15g of protein per serving to keep you full. Nasoya’s Organic Super Firm Tofu is also pre-pressed and drained so it’s perfect for quick dinners. Plus Nasoya’s Organic Super Firm Tofu is non-GMO project verified, USDA organic, cholesterol free, gluten free, and made with no preservatives. Nasoya is widely available in most grocery stores; I stopped into my local Shop Rite (it’s also available locally in Philly at Walmart Supercenters, Giant and Giant Heirloom Markets, The Fresh Grocer, and Wegmans), plus you can use their store locator to find which local grocers near you carry it.
Ingredients (serves 4):
6 oz glass noodles
8 oz sugar snap peas
1 package Nasoya Organic Super Firm Tofu, cubed
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup carrots, shredded
1 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
2 scallions, sliced
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, divided
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup tamari (or low sodium soy sauce if you don’t need this recipe to be gluten-free)
1 1/2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon honey
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1 tablespoon roasted white sesame seeds, plus more for garnish
I’m so excited to be a part of the 2021 Good Cookie Food Blogger’s Valentine’s event this year! The event brings a bunch of food bloggers together to post a Valentine’s Day themed recipe as a way to bring awareness and hopefully raise some money for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, so I decided to make these Valentine’s Day Almond Flour Brownies.
Cookies for Kids’ Cancer is a national non-profit organization committed to funding new therapies used in the fight against pediatric cancer. This is an organization that I try to bring awareness to whenever I can. This is actually my 12th post highlighting them!
Cancer is the #1 cause of death of children by disease in the U.S. There are 40,000 U.S. children actively battling cancer right now. The National Cancer Institute’s budget for childhood cancer is less than 4%. It’s such a small number and that’s why I got involved. And with the ongoing pandemic, children are still being diagnosed with cancer. It’s imperative that we raise awareness and continue to raise funds to fund the ongoing pediatric cancer research!
Help us make a difference by donating to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer! Our goal is to raise at least $3000. Because OXO, Mediavine and Dixie Crystals have each pledged to match our donations raised through this campaign up to $3000! That means when we raise $1, it turns into $4!
Thank you to so many of you who have already donated, please help us reach our goal so we can get the full matching donations and help us make an even huge difference! So if you’re in a position to do so please consider donating today.
Now for the recipe. This recipe was inspired by my husband, who I’m pretty sure has never met a dessert he didn’t like. He is particularly fond of anything chocolatey and covered in sprinkles. So I decided to bake him chocolate almond flour brownies topped with heart sprinkles.
Some traditional dishes eaten on New Year’s Day have less to do with the new year and more to do with a country’s history. So this year, I’m sharing my adaptation of an Independence Stew from Haiti. Celebrated every January 1, Haiti proclaimed independence from French colonials on New Year’s Day 1804 following a 13 year revolution. Soup Joumou, a comforting stew traditionally made with beef, pumpkin, pasta, and a bunch of veggies and spices, has become a New Year’s Day dish to commemorate Haiti’s independence.
I adapted this recipe from Epicurious, scaling it down quite a bit and swapping butternut squash for the pumpkin because I couldn’t find any pumpkin that wasn’t already pureed.
Ingredients:
Marinade:
1/2 small onion, coarsely chopped
1 bell pepper (any color), coarsely chopped
1 scallion, coarsely chopped
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup parsley leaves
1 basil leaf
the juice of 1 lime
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
Remaining Ingredients:
1/2 cup plus 1/2 tablespoon distilled white vinegar, divided
1 pound stew beef cubes
7 cups chicken or beef broth, divided
2 beef bones
1 pound butternut squash, cut into cubes
2 medium russet potatoes (about 1 pound), finely chopped
1 large carrot, sliced
1/4 small green cabbage (about 1/2 pound), very thinly sliced
1/2 small onion, sliced
1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
1 leek, white and pale-green parts only, finely chopped
1 small turnip, finely chopped
1 teaspoon habanero chile hot sauce, or to taste
1 cup uncooked rigatoni
3 whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 parsley sprig (optional)
1 thyme sprig (optional)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter (omit to make dairy free)
Note: I was sent some Philly Pretzel Factory coupons in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone.
It is no secret that I am a proud Philadelphian. It’s also no secret that I love me a good charcuterie board / cheese plate. So it’s about time I make a Philadelphia themed charcuterie board!
What could possibly make a charcuterie board Philadelphia themed, you ask? The inspiration of this board came from Philly Pretzel Company, and their pretzel rivets and mini cheesesteaks. Instead of using crackers, I substituted in their yummy pretzel rivets and added in some mini cheesesteaks for good measure.
I then added in ingredients from some of my other Philadelphia favorites: DiBruno Brothers, Dietz and Watson, and Third Wheel Cheese Co.
The result is a wonderfully Philly-centric charcuterie board that is guaranteed to be a hit!
So, let’s break down what exactly else is on this board, starting with the ingredients from Philly Pretzel Factory:
The pretzel rivets are the perfect addition to a charcuterie board
Mini cheesesteaks combine some of the other ingredients on the board into one yummy bite
The spicy brown mustard works well with the rivets, plus many of the meats and cheeses on the board
The melted cheddar cheese is a must-have with the rivets (plus, dipping some of the meat into it is kind of amazing)
Next, Third Wheel Cheese. You can order these cheeses separately, or as part of a “Choose Your Own Adventure” cheese sampler.
Noblette Brie – Buttery, earthy, mushroomy, brie-like goodness. The tart, lactic and creamy cheese is aged 4-6 weeks.
Abruzze Jawn – Spiced with whole peppercorns, garlic, onion powder, and red pepper flakes.
Goat Rodeo Bamboozle – Semi-soft texture with notes of prosciutto and peanuts, this washed rind goat and cow’s milk cheese is aged for at least two months and washed with beer from Pittsburgh’s Cinderlands Beer Co.
Birchrun Hills Blue – Sweet and peppery with delicate blue flavors and a creamy texture.
Truffle Salami Medallions – Salami made with truffle
Dietz Nuts Original – Savory sausage bites, based on Dietz & Watson’s traditional European landjaeger.
And last but not least, I used a bunch of ingredients from DiBruno Bros.
Manchego – Buttery and springy, tinged with fresh Spanish grasses.
Beef Salami – Brooklyn Cured Smoked Beef Salami
Auricchio Straveccio Provolone – A sharp yet creamy provolone
Onion Jam – Slow-cooked caramelized onions and smooth Cabernet Sauvignon combine to make a savory spread.
Mild Abbruzze Sausage – Firm and mild, with hints of garlic and spice.
Green Cerignola Olives – A mild and easy-pleasin’ olive for even the most discerning of palates.
Spicy Soppressata – Rustic, savory, and spicy.
I finished the board off with some dried cherries, and some local honey from my neighbor, Bee Here Now.
We snacked on this ALL day. It was awesome! I even made myself a cheesesteak-themed bite – beef salami, onion jam, and provolone!
Naturally, I also had a side of pretzel rivets dipped in spicy mustard!
This Charcuterie Board would be a great add to a small get together, although my husband and I enjoyed it as a grazing station of sorts for us all day.
A Philadelphia themed charcuterie board created with ingredients from Philly Pretzel Factory, DiBruno Bros., Third Wheel Cheese Co., and Dietz & Watson
Course Appetizer, Party Apps
Keyword Charcuterie, Charcuterie Board, Cheese, Party Apps, Philadelphia, Soft Pretzels
Prep Time 30 minutesminutes
Total Time 30 minutesminutes
Servings 8servings
Ingredients
Philly Pretzel Factory:
Pretzel Rivets
Mini cheesesteaks
Spicy brown mustard
Melted cheddar cheese
Third Wheel Cheese:
Noblette Brie
Abruzze Jawn
Goat Rodeo Bamboozle
Birchrun Hills Blue
Dietz and Watson:
Truffle Salami Medallions
Dietz Nuts Original
DiBruno Bros.:
Manchego
Beef Salami
Auricchio Straveccio Provolone
Onion Jam
Mild Abbruzze Sausage
Green Cerignola Olives
Spicy Soppressata
Other Ingredients:
Dried cherries
Local Honey
Instructions
Philly Pretzel Factory:
The pretzel rivets are the perfect addition to a charcuterie board
Mini cheesesteaks combine some of the other ingredients on the board into one yummy bite
The spicy brown mustard works well with the rivets, plus many of the meats and cheeses on the board
The melted cheddar cheese is a must-have with the rivets (plus, dipping some of the meat into it is kind of amazing)
Third Wheel Cheese. You can order these cheeses separately, or as part of a “Choose Your Own Adventure” cheese sampler.
Noblette Brie – Buttery, earthy, mushroomy, brie-like goodness. The tart, lactic and creamy cheese is aged 4-6 weeks.
Abruzze Jawn – Spiced with whole peppercorns, garlic, onion powder, and red pepper flakes.
Goat Rodeo Bamboozle – Semi-soft texture with notes of prosciutto and peanuts, this washed rind goat and cow’s milk cheese is aged for at least two months and washed with beer from Pittsburgh’s Cinderlands Beer Co.
Birchrun Hills Blue – Sweet and peppery with delicate blue flavors and a creamy texture.
Dietz and Watson
Truffle Salami Medallions – Salami made with truffle
Dietz Nuts Original – Savory sausage bites, based on Dietz & Watson’s traditional European landjaeger.
DiBruno Bros.
Manchego – Buttery and springy, tinged with fresh Spanish grasses.
Beef Salami – Brooklyn Cured Smoked Beef Salami
Auricchio Straveccio Provolone – A sharp yet creamy provolone
Onion Jam – Slow-cooked caramelized onions and smooth Cabernet Sauvignon combine to make a savory spread.
Mild Abbruzze Sausage – Firm and mild, with hints of garlic and spice.
Green Cerignola Olives – A mild and easy-pleasin’ olive for even the most discerning of palates.
Spicy Soppressata – Rustic, savory, and spicy.
Other Ingredients
I finished the board off with some dried cherries, and some local honey from my neighbor, Bee Here Now.
‘Tis the season for coquito! If you’ve never had coquito before, it’s a bit like eggnog.
Coquito means “little coconut,” and gets its flavor from coconut milk, cream of coconut, rum, and spices. For my version, I also used a coconut spiced rum to really up the flavor!
Coquito is a traditional Christmas drink that originated in Puerto Rico, but there are versions of it throughout the Caribbean. It’s absolutely delicious, plus it’s really easy to make!
Ingredients:
1 cup (8 oz) white rum (I used a coconut spiced rum)
