Genius! Instead of plain old boring croutons, make grilled cheese and cut it into cubes for grilled cheese croutons. Makes the classic winter meal a little fancier and is completely amazing, especially if using fresh mozzarella, which I did.
Category Archives: Salads, Sides, Snacks & Soups
Oven Risotto
People think that risotto is hard to make. And it is, but only if you use one of those recipes that has you standing over the stove mixing the wine and chicken stock and adding ladlefuls each time the liquid is absorbed. One of my favorite people ever, Ina Garten, just makes her risotto in the oven. So easy! Especially if you have homemade vegetable broth in the freezer, like I always do.
Tokyo Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing
Salad is usually more of a side dish or appetizer for us; it’s not a meal on its own. Whenever I pack salad to bring to lunch at work, I always end up hungry in the middle of the afternoon. Even if it has a hard-boiled egg in it! This salad is different. Like Jessica’s Salad Nicoise, it stands alone as an entree salad. It’s packed with protein and substance from the soba noodles and tofu, so it’s healthy, filling and delicious. Continue reading
Pesto
Pesto is one of those things that are so easy to make I can’t believe people buy it. I mean, if you have a big enough freezer, a few batches of this with some summer basil will last you the entire year. I’m not saying no one should buy pesto, but if you have a blender or food processor, try making this. You might never go back to store-bought again. Continue reading
Asian Corn Salad
We love corn. And we really love corn salad.
So, when my friend Daniella told me about a great corn salad recipe I had to make, I knew I would make it for Shabbat. The problem? She told me one recipe, and I made a completely different one! Oops, I guess that’s my lack-of-sleep-because-of-Richie brain. I’m glad I made that mistake, though, because everyone loved the corn salad recipe I made, and there were actually no leftovers. Continue reading
Corn Souffle
Summer means corn season! And while we love grilling corn and making corn salad, I wanted to do something a little different this time. Of course, I consulted my favorite book and found an amazing sounding corn souffle.
We’ve made souffles before, and they’re fancy without being too hard to make. So, I decided to use Richie’s all-time favorite food and make it a little bit fancier for dinner.
Salad Nicoise
Sometimes, the best lunch is just a big giant salad. But not just a boring lettuce and veggies salad, a delicious one with tons of protein, carbs, veggies, and lots of flavor. So when my mom was having company at the pool, I decided to do just that. A giant salad for lunch. It was easy to make, though it took a while to do all the steps, and was definitely worth it. For dinner I would sear tuna steaks, but for lunch, 2 cans of tuna is perfect.
Cauliflower Gratin
We love cauliflower! And eat it many different ways. Of course, it’s always delicious just roasted with some olive oil, salt, and pepper. But this cheesy and oniony dish is simple, toasty, and not much harder than just roasting. It’s a great side dish that’s become a staple in our house. Continue reading
Crispy Potato Roast + a Giveaway!
Happy birthday, baby foodie! Today is Richie’s first birthday. On July second just one year ago (it was Saturday), I was in labor. At 6:49 pm, Riche arrived and screamed his first of many cries. He ate his first meal, and made us all extremely tired and happy. So, in honor of Richie’s birthday, we are doing a giveaway. Instead of Richie getting all the gifts, one of our readers will have the opportunity to receive a wonderful cookbook!
Summer Corn Soup
When you think summer, you definitely don’t think of eating hot soup, but I was looking for a new way to eat all of the corn I’ve been enjoying this season, because you can only eat so much corn salad, and this corn soup is definitely a nice, fresh summer soup!
You may also think it’s weird to eat avocado in a soup, or warm avocado in general (even though jessica eats baked avocado) but it actually works really well. you don’t actually cook it, and the creamy texture with the brothy soup, the crunch of the corn, and the crispy tortillas are an awesome combination!
You can make this with chicken stock, too, but I had some homemade vegetable broth in my freezer. I really don’t like the boxed kind, so I always try to have some stocked (heh) away. Instead of throwing away the ears of corn after cutting off the kernels, I simmering them in the soup; not really necessary, but it adds nice depth of flavor.
Did I mention how easy this is to make? Because the hardest part is figuring out how to get the corn to not fly all over the place when you’re cutting it. And it takes maybe 20 minutes from start to finish, including the chopping and dicing. So there!
Summer Corn Soup from Ruhlman
Ingredients:
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 large onion, small diced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked hot paprika or ground chipotle, or more to taste
- salt to taste
- 1 quart homemade vegetable broth
- 1 plum tomato, diced
- kernels from 2 ears of corn (keep the ears)
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- lime juice to taste
- 2 avocados, large dice
- 3 corn tortillas, baked crispy
- cilantro to taste
Directions:
- Saute the onion and garlic in the oil in a large pot over low heat. Add salt and spices.
- When the onion is translucent, add the broth—and, if you want extra corny flavor, the ears of corn —and bring it to a simmer.
- Add the tomatoes and kernels, bring back to a simmer, and that’s it! Soup is ready to eat, it just needs some dressing up. Oh, discard the whole corn ears, too.
- Serve soup in bowls (duh) with a squeeze of fresh lime juice, garnished with diced avocados, tortillas and cilantro.