BRUSSELS SPROUT, ARUGULA AND APPLE SALAD WITH SPICED PEPITAS

Posted on by Laura Geraty – By

Brussels Sprouts, Arugula and Apple Salad

This Brussels Sprout, Arugula and Apple Salad with Spiced Pepitas has everything I love about a good salad:

  • Tons of texture in the form of leafy greens, the crunch of crisp apples and toasted pepitas, and bites of creamy feta;
  • The perfect interplay between sweet, salty and spicy;
  • And, of course, visual beauty before you even take your first bite.

It’s what I call a “gateway salad”, one I’d prepare to help turn the tide for any self-proclaimed (but clearly misinformed) salad haters out there. I find salads with fruit + cheese + nuts can help open people’s eyes to how delicious salads can be.

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CRUSTY BAKED RIGATONI WITH BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND BRUSSELS SPROUTS

Posted on by Laura Geraty – By

IMHO, there is no dish as belly and soul-comforting as a pasta bake.

  • Oozy cheese enveloping every nook and cranny of noodles and vegetables
  • Loads of crispy bits – burnt cheese! toasted breadcrumbs! pasta “chips”!
  • Little surprises each time you dig your fork into the casserole

Need I say more?

Beyond the cheese and noodles, I like mine packed with vegetables. In fact, mine usually ends up being a 50/50 mix of vegetables to noods. This adds flavor and texture and allows me to pile my plate high without feeling like I have a brick in my stomach afterwards. When it comes to eating, I’m a volume girl.

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STICKY RICE WITH CRISPY TOFU AND BRUSSELS HASH

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My love affair with tofu started somewhere around age 10. My favorite Thai restaurant (which was the only Thai restaurant within a several town radius of my own) served the most perfect fried tofu triangles with peanut sauce. The tofu was crunchy on the outside and moist and simply flavored within. Smothered in rich peanut sauce and quickly dipped in the restaurant’s bright nuoc cham, each bite was an adventure for my inexperienced palate.

This flawless little appetizer is the reason I’ve stuck with making endless rounds of mediocre tofu for decades, ever in the search of some cooking method that would replicate that early food memory. I’ve shallow-fried, deep-fried and roasted infinite sheet trays. I’ve drained and pressed tofu overnight in the refrigerator, frozen and thawed it, and worked with every texture from silken to extra firm. I’ve quick-marinated and left tofu to sit with seasoning for several days before cooking. While much of these efforts came with some reward, the texture has always been…meh.

It wasn’t until I came upon a recipe from Cookies and Kate that I discovered the merits of cornstarch.

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