ROASTED ROMANESCO WITH PICKLED SHALLOT, CILANTRO AND GREEK YOGURT

     I have a real love affair going on with full fat Greek yogurt. Yes, I like it like everyone else with granola and fruit or blended into smoothies, but my favorite way to enjoy it is in savory preparations.

I spoon a thick layer of it across the bottom of a platter and heap atop highly seasoned roasted vegetables like eggplant or the Romanesco here; a fresh salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions and plenty of mint; dressed grains, or simple olive-oil fried eggs dusted with smoked paprika. The smooth Greek yogurt has a way of both carrying and mellowing out flavors. It adds richness to whatever you put with it, making it feel decadent and filling. Continue reading “ROASTED ROMANESCO WITH PICKLED SHALLOT, CILANTRO AND GREEK YOGURT”

KALE PESTO PASTA WITH ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND MINT

Kale and squash are two of my kitchen staples in the fall and winter. In fact, they have already been so heavily in rotation around here that you’d think I was on a mission to see how quickly I can burn myself out. (For the record, I’m not even close.)

While they are a perfect match in salad, sometimes a girl just wants pasta – kale pesto pasta with roasted butternut squash and mint to be exact. The kale lends its signature grassy flavor to the pesto, which is captured by the curves and grooves of al dente fusilli. The deeply roasted butternut squash provides caramelized sweetness and the mint a hit of freshness.

Continue reading “KALE PESTO PASTA WITH ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND MINT”

SLOW ROASTED VEGETABLES AND HOW TO USE THEM

Now that the weather is a bit cooler, slow roasting vegetables is my ideal type of weekend prep – a couple of sheet trays loaded with barely prepped produce, an oven set to a low temperature and a long cooking time that leaves little room for error or need for attention. Slow roasted vegetables are luxurious in texture and intense in flavor. Almost all vegetables can be cooked this way (though maybe not the potato family) and can be used in a multitude of dishes. I’m sharing how I used four of them below.
Continue reading “SLOW ROASTED VEGETABLES AND HOW TO USE THEM”

TWICE BAKED SWEET POTATOES WITH TAHINI YOGURT AND POMEGRANATE

There is a lot of inspiration behind this dish. This picture on Sprouted Kitchen’s Instagram sent me on a hunt for Bon App’s method of twice baking these crispy, irregular shaped potatoes. Rather than pairing the butter/honey/cider vinegar bathed beauties with coconut yogurt and harissa like Sprouted Kitchen, I piled them on a generous bed of tahini yogurt and finished them off with a mix of herbs, nuts and seeds. I’ve made this dish countless times, a rare testament to how good it is. The recipe is long but not nearly as hard as it looks.

Continue reading “TWICE BAKED SWEET POTATOES WITH TAHINI YOGURT AND POMEGRANATE”

Potato Salad, Deconstructed and Brought to Greece

As you’d expect from a group of Millennials, Instagram is where we get at least half of our cooking inspiration. While we rarely follow links to recipes, photos alone serve as a jumping off point for all types of culinary adventures. A recent post of a deconstructed potato salad arranged on a bed of herby yogurt by Jill Ferguson from @feedtheswimmers led to daydreams of a Greek-style version—creamy yet crisp twice-baked fingerling potatoes served on a bed of cucumber- and garlic-studded tzatziki topped with a host of the usual Greek salad players.

Continue reading “Potato Salad, Deconstructed and Brought to Greece”