It’s not a secret that I’m a big fan of salads that have a warm component to them. Whether it is a warm blackberry vinaigrette or adding freshly made buffalo strips, having something warm with my greens makes a salad feel substantial, like a real meal for me. So when I was raiding my refrigerator the other night for things to pair with my baby spinach, it’s no surprise that my first instinct was to sauté or roast the pears I found. But then, I noticed the cucumber sitting next to it, and I decided to go a different route.

One of my favorite ways to enjoy cucumber is with a Japanese bent – soak the cucumber slices, strips, or cubes with onion in a dressing of rice wine vinegar, salt, and sugar. (more…)

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Asian, Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Lunch, Salad by Courtney

Cinnamon-dusted roasted blueberries. Slivers of ginger crisped by the oven. White peaches just slightly warmed. Sometimes the best recipes are born of the random ingredients one has in hand. My husband has a love of blueberries that always leads him to pick up a pint at the grocery store, but then they end up forgotten, stashed in the produce drawer. I’m not a fan of the remnant bud on them, so they’re the last thing I want to snack on, and thus, they stay in the drawer. Until this week, wanting something light, I decided to make a salad. I figured roasted grapes are good, so why not roasted blueberries? Where on earth I had the idea to dust them with cinnamon I’ll never know. But I’m happy it did. (more…)

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Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Quick and Easy, Salad by Courtney

I love it when recipes come together so easily. A couple of weeks ago, I was looking for a simple meal that wouldn’t take any time to prep. I actually had the luxury of time for it to cook, but I needed to be taking care of other things around the house, so the situation called for something that didn’t need baby sitting and would get me to work ASAP. Usually my go to in this situation is a roasted chicken, but I’ve made quite a few of those lately, so I turned to the cookbook Rôtis for some inspiration.

While I love this cookbook, I wasn’t too hopeful about finding a recipe I could make as most of them, though they need little prep, usually require forethought because the recipes have wonderful marinades. To my surprise, I stumbled upon a recipe for roast pork with lemongrass and tea that required no marinade, 15 minutes of prep, and about two hours to cook. Sold! Off to the store I went. (more…)

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Asian, Dinner, Gluten free, Prep for Later Use, Wine pairings by Courtney

At the end of last week I shared with you what is quickly becoming my favorite roast chicken recipe, and I promised a follow up post with a chicken soup that could be made with the leftovers, if you had any. While you could just as easily make a traditional chicken noodle soup following the same instructions, I decided I wanted to give my soup a little kick this time around with a few Asian flavors – ginger, lemongrass, and just a hint of Thai chile. It sounded like the perfect match for a chicken and rice soup, and I agree even more so with that sentiment now that I’ve devoured a large potful of it. (more…)

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Asian, Comfort food, Dairy free, Gluten free, Soups by Courtney

A couple of weekends ago, I had a friend mention offhand to me that she tried making my green juice, and it didn’t turn out as she expected (that was her nice way of saying it wasn’t so good). She had seen a Daily Nosh lunch posting and decided to put those exact same items through her juicer, but with less than stellar results. (more…)

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Dairy free, Drink Time, Gluten free, Vegan, Vegetarian by Courtney