Copycat Costco Asian Cashew Chopped Salad

As a matter of convenience, among other things, Heather and I are frequent shoppers at Costco. Most Saturdays, while I’m at my second job, she takes our meal planner and grocery list and gets a lot of what we need from the big-box warehouse. Costco has great employee benefits and is a company we can get behind, not to mention it recently passed up Whole Foods as the top seller of organic food in America—pretty cool stuff.

Unrequested Costco blubbering aside, they have some great pre-packaged salads and mixed greens that we rotate on a regular basis. The salad dressings usually end up in our trash, due to the poor ingredient quality, but otherwise the salads give us an easy option to spice up our vegetables. Our friends Matt and Stacy recently cracked the salad dressing to our other favorite Costco salad, so we felt encouraged to do the same. This asian cashew chopped salad is full of flavor, and will feed you and your family for days. We know you’ll enjoy it.

Review, Recipe & Giveaway: The New Yiddish Kitchen

A few weeks ago, we were honored to receive an advance copy of The New Yiddish Kitchen by Simone Miller and Jennifer Robins and yesterday, it officially published for the world to enjoy! While we’re not Jewish, we appreciate the delicious heritage the Jewish tradition has to offer.

Winter Vegetable Soup

Despite the 60-degree and sunny weather this past weekend, I was craving soup. I think my body subconsciously wants winter to stick around a little longer; with snow in the forecast for this Friday, it just might get its wish. How do we have balmy weather one weekend and snow the next? I don’t know—that’s the mid-Atlantic region and global warming for you. But I digress.

This hearty soup is sweet and savory; and, like most soups, it gets better with age. So, make a batch of this on a Sunday and enjoy it through the week (if you can keep yourself from slurping it all up in one sitting!).

Zucchini Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

Puttanesca sauce has been an occasional dinner item when dining out in the past, but I hadn’t had this sauce in years; it is a tangy, flavorful sauce that is bright and refreshing. When I learned the history of this sauce, I knew it was time to make the recipe our own.

The not so family-friendly etymology of puttanesca (allegedly) is from the Italian word puttana, meaning, well, “lady of the night.” Some digging into this folk-lore unravels the story as this sauce was so easy, anyone could make it, or that it was a recipe that these women would make between clients. Another version of this story is that it’s many ingredients (capers, anchovies, olives) is promiscuous, like its namesake. Regardless of the truth behind this name, we think you’ll love this puttanesca sauce. It’s delicious by the spoonful or served with zucchini noodles or your favorite gluten-free noodle.

Lobster Cauliflower Risotto

Sunday was our first Valentine’s Day together as a married couple. Honestly, I nearly forgot it was coming. We have been so busy with work and getting settled into the new house, it seemed to sneak up on us. We don’t normally put a lot of stock into Valentine’s Day, but it crossed my mind that maybe we should have planned something nice.

But, I simply grabbed a few extra special ingredients at the store and we spent Sunday normally. We went to the gym, cooked a few recipes, and watched a movie. Still, something was extra special that day. Maybe it was the magic of Valentine’s Day. Or, maybe it was the magic of this recipe. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!