It’s funny how winter weather just creeps up on you. Here the weather has been staggering between cool, autumn days and sunny, early-summer-like days. Then all of the sudden, yesterday morning, with no warning, I wake up and the house is 63 degrees inside. Brrr! Needless to say, I quickly turned on the heater and downed a cup of cappuccino, attempting to warm myself up.

I’d picked up plenty of food to cook for the weekend, but suddenly spaghetti squash with sea scallops and angel hair pasta with passata didn’t sound so appetizing. I wanted some stick-to-your-ribs, warm-you-to-the-bone fare. I wanted chili. (more…)

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Chili, Comfort food, Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Lunch, Quick and Easy, Soups by Courtney

This recipe is one of the gems I discovered this summer in Tennessee. We grilled out at my dad’s one evening (very different from barbecuing in the South), and on the menu was chicken wings. I have to say, I was a skeptic that these were as wonderful as my dad and his wife touted, but they definitely delivered on flavor. Plus, the recipe is pretty darn easy to pull together, and once you’ve made the marinade, you’ve got enough for more than a couple of batches of chicken wings. (more…)

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Cooking outdoors, Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Lunch, Prep for Later Use, Quick and Easy by Courtney

Continuing with the tapas this week, the Spanish tortilla is a super-duper easy dish to make, and it can be served warm, cold, or room temperature. One of the best things about the tortilla is I usually have all of these ingredients on hand – eggs, onion, garlic, potatoes, olive oil – all staples in my kitchen. The key to a good tortilla is making sure your potatoes absorb a lot of flavor from the spices and garlic/onions. (more…)

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Appetizers, Brunch, Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Lunch, Quick and Easy, Spanish, Vegetarian by Courtney

One of my favorite quick meals in the summer is a stuffed piquillo pepper. Piquillo peppers are a roasted, red Spanish pepper. They’re not too spicy and have a hint of sweetness about them. You can stuff them with any number of things, such as cheese, seafood, meat, rice. While one of my favorite ways to enjoy them is stuffed with a goat cheese (more on that another day), I had eyed this shrimp salad recipe from Martha Stewart for a long time and decided it must be tried. One super-simple summer meal coming up! (more…)

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Appetizers, Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Lunch, Quick and Easy, Spanish by Courtney

For the past few months I’ve had a craving for pimento cheese. While I’ve found it in the grocery here in the past, I wanted a homemade pimento cheese, because I remember it being so much better than something out of a plastic tub.

A friend had posted about pimento cheese a while back, so I asked for his recipe. I have to say while it sounded wonderful, it missed on one main note for me — it called for scallions, the green parts. I didn’t remember any green in my pimento cheese, so no matter how tasty (or how may scallions I have in my garden right now), it wouldn’t do. So his recipe was my jumping off point, and I started tasting, adding, and came up with this recipe. (more…)

Filed under:
Appetizers, Comfort food, Gluten free, Lunch, Quick and Easy, Sandwiches, Southern, Vegetarian by Courtney