It’s avocado season again, and that means getting creative with the multitude of avocados I pick from now through May. Every year I get very excited for the first avocados to ripen, which generally happens right around the time of football season, and plentiful guacamole is made. After a while my excitement for guacamole wanes, and I start searching for other recipes to use the avocados in. A while back, while perusing the cooking app from New York Times, I came across a recipe for causa, a cold potato dish from Peru that I enjoy. Inspired by the avocado layer, I bookmarked the recipe for spring when the sun would start shining and I would be tiring of guacamole. (more…)

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Appetizers, Dinner, Gluten free, Lunch by Courtney

Last week I told you about my fabulous Spanish themed picnic, and gave you the recipe for a killer gazpacho that packs a tomato punch but is tempered with some roasted red pepper. Well, continuing in that vein, today I have the recipe for the stuffed piquillo peppers I made for the picnic.

Stuffed piquillo peppers are not the first thing that comes to mind when I think picnic food. Stuffed with softened goat cheese, I wasn’t even sure I could make this work, but they’re so good that I was willing to give it a try. I often make these for appetizers at home, or just as a great little finger food for company. They always get rave reviews, and they never last long.

How did they hold up for the picnic? (more…)

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Appetizers, Gluten free, Spanish, Vegetarian by Courtney

Fried squash is one of those dishes that takes me back to my childhood. I can remember both my mom and great grandmother making fried squash, carefully flipping over each circular slice in the pan, getting an even golden brown on each piece. Back then, it was the only way I would eat squash — probably because it was the only way I had known squash! Fast forward a few years, and we’ve simplified the recipe a bit so you don’t have to tend it so closely. (more…)

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Appetizers, Dairy free, Gluten free, In the Garden, Quick and Easy, Side Dish, Southern, Vegan, Vegetarian by Courtney

It always happens after the big holidays – you have a few leftovers in the refrigerator. At first you work your way through the the prepared foods, simply reheating or making sandwiches from hams and turkeys, but there’s always those extra bits of raw ingredients left over, such as excess vegetables that may not have made their way into the rich dishes you created for Christmas dinner.

Fear not! Instead of simply steaming or boiling these veggies, why don’t you add some spice to your life, making this modern take on vegetable pakora? (more…)

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Appetizers, Dairy free, Gluten free, Indian, Vegan, Vegetarian by Courtney

When fresh figs start appearing in the market, I get excited. There’s something about a fruit so fleeting that you can only get it a couple of times a year. When I made my locavore-inspired dinner a while back, the first figs had hit the market, and luckily Whole Foods wasn’t just carrying the black mission figs I’m not a fan of, but also the greenish-brown calmyrna figs that are my favorite, fresh or dried.

I had picked up a basket of these guys with no idea what I planned on doing with them. The next day, I decided on the summer vegetable gnocchi for dinner, so I began my fig brainstorming with an appetizer in mind. Wine-poached figs? No, that seemed more suitable for a dry fig. Balsamic-glazed figs? Now we’re talking! (more…)

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Appetizers, Gluten free, Gourmet, Quick and Easy by Courtney