I almost always have pistachios in my house, they are a favorite of my husband and me. We both love them on their own, as a garnish, or incorporated into different recipes.
The flavor of pistachios is buttery and sweet, so they work really well in a number of different recipes. They are great in savory recipes sprinkled on top of a meal, or added to baked goods.
October is National Cookie Month, so what better time to try out a new cookie recipe?
This Pistachio Sugar Cookies recipe incorporates one of my favorite nuts into a chewy sugar cookie.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup shelled pistachios, divided
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Note: I was sent a box of various Bob’s Red Mill products to make the below recipe. Opinions are mine alone.
I’m still rolling through the freezer-friendly recipes my friend and I made a couple of weeks ago. This recipe for Cinnamon Peach Oatmeal Cups was specifically for her oldest son, who absolutely loves oatmeal, particularly when topped with cinnamon and fresh peaches.
This freezable version of Cinnamon Peach Oatmeal Cups substitutes in frozen peaches, but the tradeoff for convenience should make it worth it.
These make a tasty breakfast readily available any day of the week, and can be customized to fit specific tastes.
Note: I was sent a box of various Bob’s Red Mill products to make the below recipe. Opinions are mine alone.
Lentils are one of those foods that I wish I had experimented with earlier in my cooking. They are easy to cook, really tasty, and packed with nutritional goodness. Just one serving (1/4 cup) of red lentils has 14g of fiber and 13g of protein. Red lentils in particular are great for soups and stews because they cook really quickly and break down when heated, making for a nice thickened base.
This Lemony Red Lentil Soup is adapted from a New York Times Cooking recipe. I mostly kept to the original recipe, but increased the spice and lemon and added in another carrot.
The half chunky half smooth soup is super comforting and makes for a really satisfying lunch or dinner.
My friend and I made this during our cooking day and froze it for future meals.
Ingredients:
3tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1tablespoon tomato paste
1teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground chile powder, plus more for garnish
1quart chicken broth (or vegetable broth to make vegetarian)
Note: I was sent a package of Matcha Green Tea from Tenzo Tea in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone.
I’ve been on a bit of a muffin kick recently. I’m trying to make sure we have as many “quick meals” as possible on hand during the busy fall season!
I was recently contacted by Tenzo Tea, a matcha green tea company that is based in Los Angeles. They were kind enough to send me some Tenzo Matcha to try in a recipe.
Matcha is finely powdered green tea leaves. To make into a tea, you just add a teaspoon of matcha powder to hot water and whisk until frothy. Because you ingest the whole tea leaves (rather than just steeping leaves in normal tea), there are a bunch of health benefits attributed to matcha.
I have never tried matcha before, but my sister is a huge fan, so I figured it was worth my time. Coconut matcha lattes seem to be quite a popular way to enjoy matcha, so I decided to turn that into a muffin I could enjoy during the week.
This Freezable Ratatouille is another recipe my friend and I made last weekend during our cooking marathon. This time of year is perfect for making a huge batch of ratatouille and freezing it!
Ratatouille is a produce-heavy dish, using eggplants, zucchini, onions, and peppers. My friend doesn’t really love eggplant, so I used fairy tale eggplants which are smaller, with thinner skins and are a bit sweeter than regular eggplants.
This Freezable Ratatouille also allows you to do a lot of the prep work ahead of time. The vegetables are cooked separately, so prep work does go into a bunch of bags, but it makes the cooking process much easier. We used a recipe from The Kitchn as our base.
Ingredients (makes 8 to 10 servings):
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
3 medium green bell peppers, chopped
6 to 8 medium zucchini, cut into bit sized pieces
4 large tomatoes, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 fairy tale eggplants
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 bay leaf
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1/4 cup basil, sliced into ribbons, plus more for garnish
Note: I was sent some coupons for Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk in order to make this Blackberry Peaches and Cream Cake. Opinions are mine alone.
Last weekend, I had friends over for dinner. Planning what to eat dinner was pretty easy, until I realized I hadn’t thought of a dessert!
Luckily, I had picked up some Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk the last time I was at the supermarket and had the remaining ingredients on hand as well so that I could make this Blackberry Peaches and Cream Cake.
Not only is this Blackberry Peaches and Cream Cake super tasty, it can be made with pantry items without needing to make another trip to the supermarket. So it’s the perfect “just in case” recipe to make when needed!
My mom makes a mean pasta salad. Her mayo-less version is a mostly traditional Italian pasta salad which marinates in an Italian salad dressing for a few hours before enjoying.
This Grilled Vegetable Pasta Salad version is based on hers, but I decided to make it all the more summery but adding grill-friendly vegetables.
This is mostly a make ahead recipe. Right before serving (or while grilling up the main dish), you just add the veggies to the grill, then toss into the pasta.
Excuse the lack of posts, my husband and I went to Montreal and Quebec City last week, so no cooking for me! Both Montreal and Quebec City are pretty amazing food cities, and I definitely made to eat my way through both. (And yes, we somehow managed to have poutine four times!)
Needless to say, when we returned to Philly, we both were looking to eat a bit… lighter.
This recipe adapted from Cooking Light for Shaved Cucumber Greek Salad is a simple but different take on a traditional Greek salad. It looks fancier than it really is, the only special tool needed is a veggie peeler.
Ingredients:
2 cucumbers
1 large heirloom tomato, cut into wedges
2/3 cup pitted Castelvetrano olives
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled (I suggest using French feta)
We were recently heading to a friends house for dinner and were asked to bring a salad.
I didn’t necessarily want to bring a traditional lettuce-based salad, so I went in search of something that made the most of what’s in season at the moment, like this Peach and Tomato Salad.
My husband absolutely loves peaches, specifically peach desserts. However, peeling and slicing a bunch of peaches is kind of a pain. So, hooray for frozen cut peaches! Also hooray for slow cookerdessert recipes, like this Blackberry Peach Slow Cooker Crumble!
This recipe, adapted from a Cooking Light recipe, is really simple. Just mix together a few ingredients, add to your slow cooker, and wait.
Three hours later, your house will smell fantastic, and you’ll have enough Blackberry Peach Crumble to feed a crowd! Just top with ice cream and dig in!
There is a little cafe in Old City Philadelphia that I absolutely love called Wedge and Fig. It’s essentially a cheese shop converted into a bistro, so they really know how to choose the best cheese for a particular dish. One of my absolute favorite dishes they serve on their brunch menu is a spinach and cheese strata “savory layers of egg, Cantal cheese, spinach, shallots and bread.” It’s absolutely fantastic.
This weekend, I kind of had an epiphany: strata is a great make ahead option! I decided to make a batch of my own ahead of a busy week, and then portioned it out into containers to bring into work.
Like Wedge and Fig’s version, I used Cantal cheese, spinach and shallots. Cantal is a farmhouse cheese from France that has a flavor somewhat similar to Cheddar — buttery and tangy. I added in some Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese as well as some sourdough bread to bring a bit more tanginess to the dish.
Tomorrow is one of my favorite events of the year: Flavors on the Avenue! I’ve written past posts about this event, but this year, they are switching things up a bit. The event, usually held under a tent, is coming out onto the street to make for what should be a pretty awesome five block street festival tomorrow, April 30 from noon to 5 pm. The event will be held around the Singing Fountain at the intersection of S 11th, Tasker and Passyunk.
Tickets aren’t required to attend the event, although they are strongly encouraged. Cost is $50 each and include all of the dishes, two glasses of beer or wine, and valet parking – a $130 value. You can also pay as you go; each dish will be priced at $3 to $6. Further details can be found here.
East Passyunk Avenue is known for its fantastic restaurants, and a bunch of them (27!) are participating in this event. There will also be free kids’ activities and a crafter’s market. Here is a list of participants and the food they will be serving: (note: options shown in photos above are in bold)
Bing Bing Dim Sum: Pork Buns, Corn Rangoon
Birra: Pizza slices, plain and pepperoni
Brigantessa: Chorizo Cotto with whipped ricotta and peas
Cantina los Caballitos: Tacos al Pastor, Elote, Classic and Cucumber Margaritas
Chhaya: Fried chicken and waffles, Iced coffee
El Sarape: Tacos al Pastor, Pina Coladas
Fond: Salmon Tartare with sesame, nori and avocado
Izumi: Pork Gyoza
Laurel: Chocolate egg cream pudding pops
Le Virtu: Octopus and chick pea salad
Mamma Maria: Cheese ravioli
Marra’s: Mozzarella pizza
Noir: Arancini balls, watermelon salad
Noord: Bitterballen (Dutch meatballs with nutmeg and mustard)
Paradiso: Arancini Di Riso
Perla: Pork Belly, Adobo with garlic rice
Plenty Cafe: Choripan (Traditional South African sandwich with chorizo, chimichurri, and pickled red onion on a baguette)
Will BYOB: Caramelized onion crepes, Banana and caramel crepes
I had the opportunity to go on a media tour a try a bunch of these bites. Noord’s Bitterballen remains one of my favorites (they serve it every year, and every year I love them). New to Flavors is Sate Kampar, and all of their offerings are fantastic! Absolutely go try the Achat, Sago Hula Melaka, and Chicken Sate.
One of the restaurants on the media tour was Brigantessa. If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen my high praise for their Charred Ramp Arancini. They were absolutely delicious. Unfortunately, Brigantessa is not serving these for Flavors, but is serving Chorizo Cotto with Whipped Ricotta and Peas that sounds right up my alley as well. There will be plenty of arancini available though, a few restaurants are serving it.
I wanted to try my hand at making the Brigantessa Aracini, so here goes! I adapted this recipe to include charred ramps, which adds a slight onion flavor to the cheesy rice ball.
Note: I was sent some products from Bob’s Red Mill, including Orca Beans. All opinions are my own.
There are some ingredients that catch your eye, and you just know you have to use them in a recipe. Orca beans are definitely one of those ingredients. Luckily, Bob’s Red Mill sent me a bag of their orca beans, which are grown in Moses Lake, Washington exclusively for the company.
Orca beans, also known as calypso beans, are black and white splattered, and keep their cool coloring even after cooking. This heirloom bean is high in fiber and iron, and work great in any recipe where you would normally use beans.
But. They are so darn pretty I wanted to let them stand out by using them in a very colorful dish.
Cowboy Caviar seemed like the perfect way to show the orca beans off. Typically made with black eyed peas, cowboy caviar is a bean salad / salsa that is great as a party app, on top of grilled chicken, or just on it’s own!
