Tag: cooking

ABC² Pesto

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Months ago, there was outrage and chaos when the internet suggested we add peas to guacamole. We might have a similarly sacrilegious recommendation when it comes to pesto. Pesto, traditionally defined, is: pesto ˈpestō/, noun, a sauce of crushed basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and olive oil, typically served with pasta. We’ve made some different pestos in the past, and you can find them here on the blog, but this version is a bit more controversial.

First, we’ve added clove. Basil and clove might sound like a strange combination, but the sweet and spice of each play off of each other really well. Also, we’ve substituted pine nuts for raw cashews. We completely skipped the cheese, and instead added a ripe avocado. You heard it here, folks. Avocado added to pesto is absolutely amazing. It makes for a creamy sauce that is to die for. Follow the recipe below and you’ll see how to make it yourself.

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Greek “Orzo” Cauliflower Salad

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If you work in a traditional office, you’re aware of the catered meeting that is often built around: cheese, wheat, and more cheese, with some vegetables and soy for those who don’t eat meat. For those who would rather just have some meat and vegetables, this can be a challenge. Normally, I pack my own lunch, but this can be an awkward situation when you’re “that person” bringing in your own food to a catered meeting.

That said, this Greek “Orzo” Cauliflower Salad is in homage of a orzo salad that was at a catered meeting at my office. Colleagues were nice enough to ask me if I wanted anything special, but I had packed my own salad for the day. The only thing that isn’t in our version, which was raved about, is the crumbled feta. Feel free to add 1/2 C of quality, crumbled feta if you enjoy and can tolerate cheese. I’m looking at you, primal folks.

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Schweinebraten

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Just over a year ago, Brent and I took our first vacation since 2011 to attend my German cousin, Steffi’s wedding in southern Germany. We had an amazing time exploring Munich, nearby Augsburg, and even took a quick flight up to Berlin for a couple of days. We enjoyed meeting my family, the scenery, the culture, and the food.

Less than two weeks ago, Steffi and her husband Andi came to the U.S. and spent a couple days with us. Our time together exploring D.C. reminded Brent and me of our time in Deutschland and inspired us to try (again) to create one of our favorite Bavarian meals—schweinebraten.

This flavorful, crispy-skinned pork roast is traditionally served with potato dumplings, sauerkraut and gravy made from the pork roast drippings. We decided to serve it with sauerkraut and sautéed greens. Whatever you chose to have on the side, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as we did.

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Braised Ethiopian Chicken Thighs

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Once upon a time, in seventh grade, I had a friend from Ethiopia. Dinners at her house were the most flavorful and spicy I had ever experienced. She recently found me on Facebook and I have daydreamed a few times about the delicious meals we had together as children.

This recipe was inspired by that experience. It also came about because I was in the mood for chicken and stew a few weekends ago, but didn’t want to wait hours on end for a chicken stew to cook. We had experienced chilly, rainy weather for a few days straight and I needed comfort food.

Braising allowed me to get some aspects of a hot, rich stew without all the wait-time. I hope you’ll find this Ethiopian-inspired meal as comforting and enjoyable as I did!

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Sardine and Scallion Salad

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This sardine and scallion salad is inspired by a local business owner and chef in the town where I grew up: Sheboygan, Wisconsin. A woman named Toy was famous for her international grocery store, restaurant, and very popular cooking classes. She was generous with many of her recipes, but kept a few ‘up her sleeve’ that nobody could seem to wrangle from her.

This salad is one my mom recreated during Easter weekend, almost entirely from memory. It has some reminiscences of a Thai fish salad, as I attempted to reverse engineer the recipe through Google, and is a nice change of pace from your more traditional tuna or chicken salad. We hope you’ll enjoy!

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