It’s Granola Season

Super Seedy Nutty Granola As hard as it is to say goodbye to summer, cool fall weather green lights turning on the oven. A box of oats and a selection of nuts and seeds in my freezer was a strong suggestion to make granola. I’d forgotten just how addictive the crunchy, toasty mix can be. […]

Wake Up Your Morning Oat Routine

Baked “Carrot Cake” Oatmeal Locked into a daily bowl of oatmeal? Shake up the routine and bake your oats into an almost carrot cake situation. It tastes like dessert for breakfast.  For more staying power serve it with Greek yogurt which pumps protein to at least 20 grams – my minimum for a meal. The […]

Invite This Salad to your Holiday Table

Christmas Slaw with Farro, Pomegranates, Cherries and Pistachios Every feast needs something fresh and crunchy to balance rich holiday foods.  Here it is.  Call it a slaw, since it has purple cabbage, but that’s where ordinary ends. This slaw is powered with super-food status foods with histories of nourishing people since ancient times. Farro, an […]

Fuel Up For Winter Sports

Chocolate Oat Breakfast Sundae I don’t typically make much of breakfast, but there’s nothing like a series of snow storms to work up an appetite for a hearty start to the morning. An upcoming snow shoe adventure got me cooking. Warm oatmeal is a winter classic. Chocolate, berries and nuts make it even better. Steel […]

Let’s Go Bowling!

Italian-Style Grain Bowl with California Figs Bowls are the “it” way to eat. Everywhere you look for recipe idea you’ll find noodle, smoothie and grain bowls.  Recently I created a bowl recipe and  my family was smitten. I got it. Bowls are perfect for personalization. Today people expect to have food “their way.”  (Reference 1.) […]

Break Bread this Thanksgiving with Rustic Grain, Fig and Walnut Rolls

The classic must-have Thanksgiving dishes of today vaguely resemble what historians say was served at the “First Thanksgiving,” shared by the Pilgrims and Wampanoag people at Plymouth Colony in 1621, according to an article “What Was on The Menu at the First Thanksgiving” (Reference 1).   Wild turkeys were available but they were more likely […]

October is National Pizza Month

Caramelized Onion and Fennel Pizza with Sausage I love pizza and I’m not alone – 94% of Americans eat pizza on a regular basis according to pizza.com (Reference 1) which also posts: •The average American eats 46 slices per year •Kids between the ages of 3 and 11 prefer pizza over all other foods for […]

Chew On This!

Spring Herb Risotto with Toasted Grains What I love about the gluten-free trend is it has brought more grains and flours to our fingertips.  I’ve got red, black, brown jasmine and brown basmati rice in my pantry along with amaranth, millet, bulgur, farro, freekeh and a rainbow of quinoa. Grain choices don’t stop there  I […]

What is An Anti-Inflammatory Diet?

Mixed Grain, Mango and Black Bean Salad with Cumin-Chili Dressing I was recently asked, “What is an anti-inflammatory diet?”   A simple answer: A diet built around whole foods with lots of produce, whole forms of grains, healthful fats and a couple of servings of fish each week (or equivalent omega-3 fatty acids).  An anti-inflammatory […]

Culinary Ennui? Try Freekeh

Freekeh, Fava, Fennel and Eggplant Salad Moving forward with a healthy diet sometimes pushes us to reach back in time.   Freekeh, a rediscovered form of wheat used in ancient Egypt, Syria and Lebanon, recently caught my eye and palate. If you like food romance, the following story of this ancient grain, described on Freekehlicious.com, may […]