vegetables and fruits

How to Make The Best Grilled Asparagus

Tender, smoky, and sweet, the best grilled asparagus is the perfect, healthy 15-minute side dish for any meal.

Side dishes are the connectors of the dinner table, the unifiers that bring the meal together. And because there’s usually more than one side dish to your dinner menu, it’s a good idea to keep the recipes easy.

So when I have a main dish that calls for a few ingredients and techniques to employ, I turn to my tried and true simple recipes.

This 15-minute, 2-ingredient grilled asparagus (plus salt and pepper) is definitely at the top of that list.

The best grilled asparagus becomes smoky and sweetly caramelized when the grill does it’s job it does so well, when the outside of these bright green spears become lightly charred and crisped, and the interior soft and tender.

Behold, these are the simple steps for making this vegetable side dish creation the easy way.

continue to the recipe… about How to Make The Best Grilled Asparagus

Thai Quinoa Salad

This easy Thai quinoa salad combines protein-rich grains with healthy nutrients from fresh veggies, for a lime-infused flavor bomb with crunch in each bite.

This easy Thai quinoa salad combines protein-rich grains with healthy nutrients from fresh veggies, for a lime-infused flavor bomb with crunch in each bite. It’s great as a side for potlucks and as a main when you add chopped chicken. It’s also an easy and complete weekday lunch too.

I remember being at a Weight Watchers meeting where a woman emphatically stated that she did. NOT. like. quinoa. There was no changing her mind. But in my head I couldn’t figure out why she was putting up the quinoa roadblock.

Quinoa is one of my favorite protein sources, probably because it’s so unassuming. Like a seventh grade girl, it takes on the flavors it’s paired with.

For this quinoa salad, that means the salty flavors of a limey Thai dressing with plenty of veggie crunch. It’s the perfect side dish or main meal if you’re feeling the hug of your waistline just a little too much.

Quinoa is a bona fide super food. It’s gluten-free, packed with protein, fiber and flavonoids with studies showing it as an anti-inflammatory. It’s also loaded with antioxidants to keep those free radicals at bay.

continue to the recipe… about Thai Quinoa Salad

Easy Yogurt Fruit Dip

This easy Greek yogurt fruit dip recipe is made with just 3 ingredients and makes eating fruit dip with apples, strawberries and more seem like a party.

For after school snacks or on weekend playdates, my daughter and her friends were always on the lookout for any opportunity to partake of a snack. As a mom, you know I wished said snack would be healthy. So instead of pulling out a box of this or a bag of that, a platter of bites to snack on became their go-to fave.

The girls called them pupu platters. I called them peace of mind. Knowing these kids were eating good for them snacks made it that much easier to whip them up on a whim. Easy is the name of this game.

This pupu platter has fruit of every color and with a centerpiece of sweet and healthy yogurt-based fruit dip. It’s great to serve on a platter for breakfast or brunch, or take to a potluck with fruit skewers.

With just three ingredients to whisk together, you won’t waste any time making it yourself.continue to the recipe… about Easy Yogurt Fruit Dip

Thai Basil Chicken (Pad Krapow Gai)

This easy spicy Thai Basil Chicken recipe infuses authentic Thai flavors into a coconut sauce that’s dynamite over rice or noodles for a fast dinner you will literally find yourself craving.

When my stock of summer’s sweet basil is ready for harvest, I make a mad dash for caprese salads and homemade pesto. But my love of basil roots don’t stop there.

Each spring I go beyond the bounds of planting traditional sweet basil. In my garden, I always make room for at least 3-4 Thai basil plants, just so I can have them to make this Thai basil chicken recipe. It’s creamy, spicy, and when using rice noodles, it’s gluten-free.

In high school, my sister Holly spent a year in Thailand as a foreign exchange student, and our family’s taste buds haven’t been the same since. Holly originally introduced me to the traditional recipe of Pad Krapow Ga. Then my mom found a variation to this Thai Basil Chicken recipe in an old issue of Sunset magazine.

Over the years I’ve added this and that to make the recipe my own, and come late summer, it shows up nearly every week on our dinner table, taking full advantage of that sweet but savory, homegrown Thai basil.

continue to the recipe… about Thai Basil Chicken (Pad Krapow Gai)

Grilled Zucchini With Goat Cheese and Pine Nuts

When the garden overfloweth, it’s time to heat up the grill for a turn-eth on the coals-eth for an easy side dish of grilled zucchini topped with creamy goat cheese and pine nuts.

Zucchini are the David Copperfield of the vegetable kingdom.

One minute you’re gazing upon 3-inch still-room-to-grow zucchini when BOOM! with the slight of mother nature’s hand that cute little mini squash has suddenly turned into a 4-pound gargantuan with enough flesh for 324 loaves of zucchini bread or 41 pepperoni stuffed zucchini boats.

That’s veggie magic folks.

And this zucchini side dish is magic too. It’s healthy. It’s easy. And like the Italians do, it can be plated and set on a table to be ,served warm or at room temperature so it’s perfect for serving at a potluck or party.continue to the recipe… about Grilled Zucchini With Goat Cheese and Pine Nuts

20 Caprese Recipes You’ll Go Crazy For

From the best caprese salads to caprese skewers and the classic caprese sandwich, this list of 20 favorite tomato, mozzarella and basil themed recipes will have you going crazy for caprese.

You know those quizzes you see all over the internet touting, “Choose your favorite XX and we’ll tell you your personality type”? Well, if I had to choose, my favorite-salad-personality-clone would be the caprese salad.

There’s not much you can’t do with the basic ingredients of the classic caprese salad, from the classic caprese salad to caprese skewers to caprese-topped chicken dinners, all you need to get started is:

fresh and creamy mozzarella (any shape or size, and ultra-creamy burrata makes things even that much better)
the season’s best tomatoes (hopefully still warm from the garden)
spicy basil that smells of summer
the best fruity olive oil your wallet can afford
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper for that hit of spice we all need in our day

Alone as a preamble salad or served as a potluck side dish that will be the first to disappear, a classic caprese is pure love on a plate, in a bowl, or on a platter. But take those classically fresh Italian ingredients and add a dose of inspiration and you have so much more: a topper for chicken, or spritzing up toasts, or making breakfast eggs even more of the best way to start your day. The caprese personality is one everybody will love.

The season is now to capture the rapt ripeness of the best tomatoes. Get them before the getting’s gone. It’s time to get your caprese on.

Start with this list of 20 caprese recipes to crush on now.continue to the recipe… about 20 Caprese Recipes You’ll Go Crazy For

31 Quick Dinner Ideas for Easy Summer Nights

This list of 31 quick dinner ideas will have you in and out of the kitchen (or manning the grill) with plenty of time left to chill out on any hot summer night of the week.

Hello August = Hello end of summer. Please! Say it isn’t so!

There’s no time in what’s left of the quickly dissipating summer schedule for cooking all day in the kitchen. Suntans still need to be worked on. Outdoor activities must be conquered. So with summer readying to sing it’s swan song, laid back summer eats are what’s called for now.

But what should you make for dinner on a hot summer night? Make it real, make it good, and make it happen fast.

This list of 31 favorite summer dinner recipe ideas will put the savor in your last days of summer. So sit back, relax, and chill out with these easy seasonal summer eats.

continue to the recipe… about 31 Quick Dinner Ideas for Easy Summer Nights

The Best Caprese Salad (Plus a DIY Caprese Salad Bar)

The best caprese salad shows off summer’s finest with creamy mozzarella and heirloom tomatoes topped with fresh leafy basil and fruity olive oil. Serve the salads individually or turn this simple Italian staple into a party by creating a DIY caprese salad bar where everyone can help themselves.

I’ve been a fan of caprese salads for as long as I can remember. But it was only recently I was introduced to the brilliant idea of creating a self-serve caprese salad bar no matter how big your party.

My husband and I were at Park City’s Stein Eriksen Lodge’s Hops on the Hill sampling brews, bites, and bands. One of the food stations featured a huge cutting board loaded with a variety of fresh heirloom tomatoes sliced to order by a chef who I likened to a bartender, but who serves up tomatoes instead of cocktails. Now that’s my kind of bar.

Alongside these gorgeous hued tomato orbs were different vinegars, oils, salts, and saucey spreads to choose from, top the tomatoes, and make your own creation.

Trolling the topping options and dressing my salad I literally had one of those, “Why didn’t I think of this” moments. A caprese salad bar is easy entertaining at it’s finest, and it’s a wow-factor presentation for guests to interact with too.

I mean, why should the host be the only one to have all the fun?continue to the recipe… about The Best Caprese Salad (Plus a DIY Caprese Salad Bar)

How to Make the Best Grilled Corn On the Cob

At our house, sweet corn is a summer staple and after years of experimenting, I’ve found cooking corn right in their husks on a hot grill is the only way to cook the best corn on the cob.

three ears of grilled corn slathered with compound butter

One of the reasons I crave summer is ’tis the season for fresh, sweet corn and surprisingly, my husband’s obsession with the husked and cobbed sphere is even greater than my own.

We grill just about anything and everything we can get our hands on during the summertime, and fresh corn is one of our favorites. While I’ll eat it just about any way — stripped right off the cob and raw, tossed in potluck quinoa salads, or turned into slow cooker creamed corn perfect for every eating occasion, grilled sweet corn on the cob with creamy butter takes the cake.

Grilled corn a delicious way to spruce up fresh salads, tacos and salsas, macaroni and cheese, and it makes an irresistible and easy side to your backyard BBQ. I love the subtle smokiness and the beautiful char marks grilling imparts on the corn and it is SO MUCH EASIER than boiling corn on the cob, especially when you’re cooking for a crowd.

Some people may be a tad intimidated by grilling corn, but I’m here to tell you that it’s a breeze. We’ve found there’s no need to soak the corn before grilling and you can grill them right in their husks, creating built-in steam oven jackets.

Follow the easy steps below and you’ll soon discover grilled corn bliss.

continue to the recipe… about How to Make the Best Grilled Corn On the Cob

BLT Pasta Salad with Avocado

This creamy, easy pasta salad recipe is loaded with tomatoes, arugula, and avocado, plus crispy bacon that’s all topped with a super simple Ranch-style dressing made healthier with a combo of Greek yogurt and mayo.

You could say my collection of pasta salad recipes here on the blog are my children, and just like any mother of kids, it’s nearly impossible to choose just one as my most favorite. But, if you’re a fan of a creamy pasta salad, or an ultra easy-to-make pasta salad that’s loaded with healthier goodness (plus bacon!), this avocado and bacon pasta salad is for you.

Once the garden tomatoes come into harvest, BLT sandwiches are a staple at our house. And the only thing that makes them even better is adding avocado for them to become BLATs. Bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato sandwiches that are now a BBQ pasta salad staple.

So when my daughter requested I make a pasta salad that included her beloved bacon in the BLT mix, avocado was an obvious addition to make.

continue to the recipe… about BLT Pasta Salad with Avocado

Sweet and Sour Asian Pickled Cucumbers

These tangy and oh-so-simple-to-make sweet and sour Asian pickled cucumbers take only about 5 minutes to make, and are one of our favorite snacks. They’re also so good served as a cooling side or a crunchy, puckery salad all on their own.

I’ve never met a pickle I didn’t like. And when a quick pickle recipe does double duty as a tangy salad or a puckery snack, I look like that little emoji girl with my hand held high 🙋. Actually, my hand is more likely IN the pickle jar instead of being raised even though my mom ALWAYS told me, “USE A FORK!”

When will I ever learn to listen? Asking for my mom, because, you know, she’s still wondering.

This quick pickled cucumber recipe is exactly one of those recipes I will disregard all of my mom’s Emily Post etiquette teachings for. It’s the perfect topping on a sandwich or burger (like my Korean BBQ Burgers), or served alongside my Grilled Chicken Satay, or for simply snagging from the fridge for a little afternoon cure-all snack. Fork, or no fork, it’s totally your choice, but I bet you know how I’ll be digging for them.continue to the recipe… about Sweet and Sour Asian Pickled Cucumbers

Greek Salad with Avocado

This healthy Greek salad with added avocado and an easy-to-make Greek salad dressing is just the right recipe for simple no-cooking eats all summer long.

Sometimes the classics are just what the doctor ordered. Especially when it’s Dr. SummerHasArrived who’s making the house calls.

Now that we’re moving into the dog days of summer after the 4th of July binge, it’s time for us all to clean up our act and binge on clean eating instead of all of the crapola.

Standard-staple recipes in and out of the kitchen are what I’m craving now. You know, the simple stuff. Recipes that let summer’s best ingredients shine.

This Greek salad with avocado is exactly what the doctor ordered. It’s fresh, crunchy, tangy and above all, delicious. It has the basic flavors of a traditional Greek salad but with that extra somethin’ somethin’ to make your Mediterranean heart happy and healthy.

continue to the recipe… about Greek Salad with Avocado

How to Make Easy Basil Pesto

Homemade pesto is one of the quickest ways to brighten any dish from caprese chicken to pizza and even to macaroni and cheese. This is my tried and true method to make the perfect basil pesto recipe every single time.

I’ve made homemade pesto many times and totally loved it. And just as many times I’ve totally screwed it up. Why? There are likely several reasons, but it’s mainly because I veered away from my perfected proportions and added too much garlic or not enough olive oil or didn’t season my basil pesto sauce nearly enough.continue to the recipe… about How to Make Easy Basil Pesto

Grandma’s Peach and Blackberry Cobbler

Fresh fruit flavors are the star in this decadent but oh so easy peach and blackberry cobbler recipe that calls for a spoonful straight from the pan.

You can have your cake, you can keep your candies. Because my #1 choice for dessert will always fall in the crumble or cobbler category, and when fall rolls around there’s not much I crave more than my grandma’s peach and blackberry cobbler. Unless it’s my go to crumble, that is.

While I’m attributing this decadent but oh-so-easy dessert to the archives of my dear old Grandma Mary Jane, the recipe card my mom took a photo of with her iPad and sent to me when I couldn’t remember the exact proportions (oh my, what would Grandma have thought of that!) is actually named Essie’s Peach and Blackberry Cobbler.

But who’s Essie?

With grandma no longer here, and my mom out of the country as I write this post, I’m guessing Essie is a dearly departed aunt/cousin/really good baker.

Doesn’t the name Essie conjure up images of the sweetest, white haired, comfortable-shoe-wearing great aunt pulling wonderful smelling delights from the oven? Can one of my smartie pants aunts please weigh in here please?

Since I can’t be sure, and since Grandma always made this anyway, the kudos are going to go to her. And to my mom. Because she’s a grandma now, and she makes it too, thereby I declare it shall now be called Grandma’s Peach Cobbler.

While my grandma always made this with Brigham City peaches picked just a half hour from home (or when I was really little straight from the backyard orchard my grandpa obsessed over every harvest), I couldn’t leave it straight up simple so I added to the bevy of baking with the addition of blackberries as big as my thumb.

I’m serious. These things could have passed for beehives! Now wouldn’t that become a succulent honey? Blackberry honey. Something to ponder.

While this easy blackberry cobbler recipe is always good as a dessert later in the day, my favorite way to eat it is straight up from the oven, just cool enough not to turn the top of my mouth into tar paper but still piping warm for maximum flavor melds.

Mind you, I’m not talking about dessert here either. Let’s talk about eating this for breakfast as any good cobbler or crumble should be assigned to.continue to the recipe… about Grandma’s Peach and Blackberry Cobbler

Simple Roasted Tomato Sauce

This roasted tomato sauce is made with 6 simple ingredients and requires less than 10 minutes of hands-on prep work. Enjoy now or freeze it for later!

“Toast to the tomato roast!” Or in perhaps more trendy speak, “totes tomahhhto roast.” Either way, roasting tomatoes has a hold of my heart, and I’m not letting go any time soon.

I spent this past weekend rocking the nostalgic. It was my yearly girlfriend getaway with my college besties. I’m a sorority girl, and because of the amazing friends I made in it, I’m damn proud of it.

The trip is the same as it is every year. No boys. No kids. Just the girls with cocktails and Jell-o shots, trashy magazines, and corn hole, and there always seems to be some sort of water in the form of an ocean, a river, a lake, or even just a hot tub. This year it was the tropical pool that saved us from the Las Vegas heat.

We are a group of girls that know way too much about one another’s past, and know one another well enough to help navigate the present in hopes of a fulfilling future. We’re nothing if not happy to share our opinions in helping one another grow.

It’s all in the name of love.

It was an anniversary year, one of those numbers that you never in your life would think would come so soon, and yet when it does, you marvel at the fortune you’ve found in developing a level of friendship and bond that runs this deep for this long. And the reason it does is because — it’s simple. It’s easy. We all put in and we all draw from the well. We just always have and we always will, at each and every milestone.continue to the recipe… about Simple Roasted Tomato Sauce

Shrimp Scampi Pasta

Fresh tomatoes, garlic and basil bring summertime flavors to a classic dinner of Shrimp Scampi Pasta.

Fresh tomatoes, garlic and basil. Three ingredients that magically transform into very special recipes when a few simple additions are made. Add toasted bread and you have Bruschetta. Add mozzarella and you’ve just made a classic caprese. This recipe for shrimp scampi pasta takes those simple, classic flavors and with a twirl of a fork wrapped around slinky angel hair pasta puts the fresh taste of summer smack dab on your dinner table.

When the summer temps hit 95 degrees and up, as they do from July through August since I live in the desert mountains of the West, you won’t usually find me in the kitchen cooking over a hot pot on the stove. I’m much more of a grill girl when it comes down to dinnertime in the summertime.

Correction: I’m much more of a watching my guy grill when it comes to dinnertime. That’s why if we’re having shrimp, it’s usually been seasoned and skewered and lit up on the charcoals. But a summer of grilling isn’t always what I’m craving when I’m chilling.

The essence of summer was what I was craving when I saw shrimp at the grocery store and had a bunch of ripe tomatoes on my counter. Toss in some fresh chopped garlic, a handful of basil from the garden and I was on my way to a summer dinner wonderland.

I made this with low-carb pasta, which requires less time to cook than traditional pasta, making it an even quicker cook than usual. Getting me out of the kitchen and back to summertime chilling.continue to the recipe… about Shrimp Scampi Pasta

German Potato Salad

Hot red potatoes dressed in a warm bacon, mustard and vinegar dressing are what make this traditional German potato salad a family favorite.

I can taste the pucker now. It’s the telltale sign of the ultimate German potato salad. That vinegar punch mixed with spunky, grainy mustard in a bacon-studded dressing. The unexpected zing that makes me wonder who could possibly pass up a mayo-less ‘tater salad?

Not this German girl.

Although when I just asked Smudge her opinion on which photo to use as the main for this post, she said, “That’s potato salad? I didn’t know it was potato salad when we have it. I always thought it was just hot cooked potatoes.”

I suppose hot potato salad served in a frying pan threw her for a BBQ-side-dish-loop. Surprise is good for her. And for all of us when it comes to giving traditional dishes a try. Leave it to the Germans who originated Christmas, Legos, Nutella and the VW bug to hand down yet another classic.continue to the recipe… about German Potato Salad

20 Potluck Side Dishes for the Classic Summer BBQ

This list of my top 20 classic potluck side dishes are he favorites everyone at your summer cookout will love and are easy to make and to take.

It’s summer, when you’re very likely to be invited to a backyard bbq, or hopefully even host one yourself. Summer’s main dish offerings for a crowd can be pretty standard fare with baby back pork ribs, burgers, and hot dogs likely taking center stage. Where things can go wily in summer cooking’s Wild West is in the side dish area of the party game. There’s so many options, how do you choose what to bring to a potluck?

This list of make-ahead, classic potluck side dish recipes is made up of all the old-time favorites I’ve shared here on the blog that still top my list of those I most often crave. While it’s fun to show off your amusingly inventive recipe creations, sometimes it’s best to just go with the classics, the tried-and-true, the favorites you know everyone at the party will love.

I’m sure I’ll be adding more to this list as the summer goes on, but for now, you know I’ll be sharing these sides on my summer picnic table, and hope you will too.continue to the recipe… about 20 Potluck Side Dishes for the Classic Summer BBQ

Zesty Bread and Butter Pickles

This recipe makes a BIG batch of homemade bread and butter pickles. These can be made as refrigerator pickles, or they can be canned for later!

Creating This Homemade Pickle Recipe

Growing up, we were a house of dill. Everything I ate had to have a dill pickle on it. My lunchtime tuna sandwich wasn’t complete without long slices of kosher dills (plus one or two on the side.) My after school snack of Triscuits, liverwurst, mustard and dill hamburger chips was my favorite treat as I watched Gilligan mess up the rescue attempts of Ginger and MaryAnn every. single. episode. And I will never, ever be able to eat a cheeseburger without some sort of cucumber stick topping (can I get extra pickles please?) thanks to the memories of stacking my mom’s homemade dills high on just-off-the-grill summer cheeseburgers.

I haven’t changed much. You’ve heard of Wisconsin Cheeseheads? I know you’ve heard of Deadheads. Well call me a Picklehead, perhaps in need of a hat or maybe some pickle earrings…

continue to the recipe… about Zesty Bread and Butter Pickles

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

This double chocolate zucchini bread is the best of both worlds: healthy thanks to zucchini and a true chocolate craving cure with a double dose of cocoa and chocolate chips.

Ah September, the most bountiful month of the year, you are my favorite one of all.

I literally can’t even think of going into my neighborhood grocery or taking a stroll though the local farmers market without being stopped in my tracks by the fruits of summer’s labor. And I mean literally stopped because there’s no way I’m going to pass up samples of fresh local peaches and perfectly ripe, juicy watermelon. It makes enduring August’s inevitable round of late summer heat waves totally bearable.

Of course you know fruit isn’t the only seasonal bounty out there come harvest time. How dare we even think of leaving out the veggies in our seasonal haul. And if you’re a home gardener, you’re very likely up to your earlobes in everyone’s favorite grow at home varietal: the mighty zucchini.

One of the most obvious recipes that puts zucchini to work is everyone’s favorite: zucchini bread. And as will happen with classics like this, everyone has their favorite. I did too. Until I tried this one, and now I am not ashamed to say, I’ve totally jumped ship. Sorry mom, your recipe is no longer the favorite child. (Even though I know I still am.)

I can’t take credit for this double chocolate zucchini bread recipe because a far more talented baker created it well before blogs were even a twinkle in the world wide web’s eye. Before blogging (thank you www.com) Letty of Letty’s Kitchen was the Executive Pastry Chef at Deer Valley Resort for more than 30 years.

If you’ve yet to visit Deer Valley, you are missing out on some of the most amazing desserts you’ll ever taste. And most of those are desserts Letty created or had a hand in (and a spoon, and a whisk and probably a whole lot of finger that she licked) and were published in the cookbook The Chocolate Snowball: and Other Fabulous Pastries from Deer Valley Bakery featuring some of Letty’s and Deer Valley’s signature sweet eats.

I’ve been a huge fan of Letty’s skills for years and so of course I had to buy her cookbook, and I haven’t stopped baking from it since the day Amazon dropped it on my doorstep. Because these recipes were created for a ski resort, each one has high altitude adaptations for home cooks like me.

continue to the recipe… about Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

How to Make the Best Creamy Coleslaw

My favorite creamy coleslaw stays crunchy, not soupy, and gets a bit of bite in this slightly sweetened, vinegar-spiked coleslaw dressing.

Potato Salad. Baked Beans. My favorite Burrata and Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad. Those recipes have always made up my barbecue buffet table daydreams. But coleslaw? It was always on the bottom rung of my side dish desires. Show me the shredded cabbage bowl and watch me skip right on by.

But my husband? He’s a coleslaw connoisseur. It’s usually the first thing he goes for. But that doesn’t mean the bites he gets are always good, and that puts our home’s king of slaw down in the dumps.

But this creamy coleslaw recipe always gets not just one, but two big, Big, BIG thumbs up from my man. And now me, too.

It isn’t goopy. Nor is it soupy. And it’s far from overpowered by the bite of raw onion. This here coleslaw, folks, this is the best I’ve ever eaten. And the man agrees.continue to the recipe… about How to Make the Best Creamy Coleslaw

Grilled Vegetables with Chimichurri Sauce

Grilled vegetables get a serious flavor boost with a few spoonfuls of this spunky Argentinian chimichurri as a bright and zesty finishing sauce in this easy vegetarian side dish.

When it comes to grilling vegetables, most figure it takes a soak in a marinade before grilling to infuse flavor into those healthy, veggie plain-janes.

That’s hardly the case.

Times have changed and so have our ideas about how to eat our veg. Adding this easy and tangy homemade chimichurri sauce to the savory flavors of grilled vegetables perks up and adds to the delicious gusto that comes along with cooking them over the fire.

This summer, grill first, marinade after. Rejoice and eat more plants! It’s what all the cool kids are doing.continue to the recipe… about Grilled Vegetables with Chimichurri Sauce

How to Make the Best Chimichurri Sauce

This Argentinian chimichurri sauce is a fresh parsley and cilantro salsa that gives grilled steak, chicken, fish and vegetables a garlicky kick.

Firing up the grill is a summer habit I’ll never get enough of. The smokey flavor and char of any protein or veg is something I crave all year long. But I also crave the tangy ying to grilling’s savory yang, which is why I totally dig a zesty, herb-infused chimichurri sauce.

Adding flavor to foods that hit the hot grill grates is usually accomplished with marinades like this versatile Greek marinade or adding a simple spiced dry rub. But when I want to keep things super simple, my secret to the best flavor bomb is adding loads of that favorite vinegar/garlic/herb flavor AFTER simply grilling my steak, chicken, pork, fish or vegetables.

And that’s when I am very generous with spoonfuls of classic chimichurri sauce.continue to the recipe… about How to Make the Best Chimichurri Sauce

The Best Easy Grilled Vegetables

After years of practice on the grill, these are my tips for the best easy grilled vegetables, enhancing the natural sweetness of summer’s favorite vegetables with each smoky bite.

Adding more plants to meals is always at the top of my menu planning, and summer’s bounty makes it even easier to do. With a hot grill already fired up for grilled chicken, fish, or kebabs, I love slicing up whatever fresh vegetables I have in the fridge and tossing them on the grill for a simple mezze-ish platter side.

Even more, grilled vegetables are a healthy vegetarian main when chopped and added to this favorite healthy pasta salad (with avocado!), or added to healthy Mediterranean grain bowls, or made into one of my favorite easy grilled veggie sandwiches slathered with ricotta cheese.

Grilling coaxes out every bit of deep, roasted, sweetness from any plain old veg, softening and flavoring and bringing a lush, smoky char to each deliciously addicting bite.

This grilled vegetable recipe is another that isn’t so much of a recipe but a method to master, and easy to master it is. These grilled vegetables skip the marinade and the skewers, and there’s no need for a grilled vegetable grilling basket either.

Summer eats are meant to be simple, and these grilled vegetables are falling right in line.

continue to the recipe… about The Best Easy Grilled Vegetables

Sweet Vinegar Coleslaw (No Mayo)

This healthy coleslaw with a sweet vinegar coleslaw dressing is a no-mayo alternative to the classic coleslaw version, covering all the potluck salad bases.

Opposites do attract. It’s why anything that’s both sweet and tangy always taste so good. And when you try this healthy, vinegar coleslaw recipe made with apple cider vinegar and sweetened with just a bit of sugar, you’ll believe it with each and every forked bite.

I’m a fan of any crunchy slaw that comes together fast and balances out a meal, and this recipe is right up there with my best creamy coleslaw recipe. But sometimes I’m more in the mood for a lighter zesty bite than a creamy one.

This coleslaw’s tangy dressing lightens bbq sauced slow cooker pulled pork sandwiches and is the crunchy compliment to classic potluck salads like my mom’s recipe for the best potato salad or the classic macaroni salad.

It’s time to round out the bevy of side dish salads and add this one to your bookmarked recipe list.

continue to the recipe… about Sweet Vinegar Coleslaw (No Mayo)

10 Ways to Save More Money at the Grocery Store

These 10 tips show how to save money at the grocery store and stick to a budget. With a little strategic planning and conscientious purchasing, saving money at the grocery store is totally doable.

This post is brought to you by Kroger

It’s the question we ask ourselves every week: How can I spend less money on groceries? Unless you’re independently wealthy or live off-the-grid and farm/hunt/gather for your meals, grocery shopping on a budget is a goal for us all.

Grocery bills are no joke, especially if you’re a food fanatic like me. Organic and gourmet can be pricy, and going shopping rogue without a list, shopping while hungry, and impulse buys only makes matters worse (I’m looking at you $9 wedge of specialty cheese).

In the past, despite my best, budget-abiding intentions, I would too often find myself overspending and over buying groceries that only led to wasted food and wasted money. But I found a better way, and when I shared my tips for 10 ways to waste less and save more at the grocery store, I heard from so many of you that you wanted to hear more ways to be a better shopper.

As a food blogging, semi-professional grocery shopper, I’ve learned a few tricks over the years. From resourceful meal planning to savvy, organized lists and buying in bulk, these are the tried and true tips to help me spend wisely and stay within my budget.continue to the recipe… about 10 Ways to Save More Money at the Grocery Store

Greek Salad with Chicken

Crisp, crunchy, and fresh with tangy Mediterranean flavor, this Greek salad topped with chicken can be meal prepped ahead for weekday lunches or a light and healthy dinner too.

Lunch. It’s the meal that we all have the best of intentions in planning ahead for, and too often, don’t. Our lack of prep leads to over indulging on more expensive than we budgeted for co-worker lunches, or poor choices at the fast food drive-thru (ummm, suuuuure, I’ll take fries with that.) Or worse, we skip the mid-day meal all together leading to a snack attack of epic proportions as we walk through the after work door.

One thing that’s gotten me through the what-to-eat-for-lunch dilemma is prepping a few fave ingredients for a filling and healthy lunch salad (that works for dinner, too) I know will hold in the fridge the whole week through.

This recipe is a riff on the classic Greek salad and is topped with grilled chicken. The typical Greek and Mediterranean flavors of kalamata olives, tangy feta cheese with crunchy cucumbers are ingredients I crave on a daily basis, with two easy to meal-prep recipes I’ve added in.continue to the recipe… about Greek Salad with Chicken

Grilled Shrimp Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Filled with herbs, veggies, and grilled shrimp, these fresh shrimp spring rolls take some patience to assemble, but they’re so flavorful!

One of the things I’ve read in self-help business books, absorbed from my favorite podcasts and basically just learned along the way of life is that the most successful people are the ones who delegate.

Delegation = Getting Shit Done.

Once upon a time I fancied myself a great delegator. I could look at a situation, see the vision of what needed to get done, figure out the most efficient path to achieve it and direct the peeps in my camp to go forth and prosper. But lately, I feel like I’ve lost my knack in finding the track. And it’s left me feeling a little defeated and floundering like a fish out of water.

That said, my husband will still say I’m bossy. I prefer to call it delegating to others by educating them in my view of efficiencies. Okay, I admit it, I’m a nag. So why is it so hard to let others help? To not just do it all yourself? To share those details you’ve learned in the school of hard knocks? Hey, it’s okay to stop being the martyr!

One of the best and worst parts of working as a solopreneur behind the curtain of a 27-inch HD computer screen is exactly that: you work by yourself. You do the drudge work, you own the good with the bad.

But you can also find yourself reverting to that 6-year-old who has to learn how to share—all over again. Because when you share, good things happen.continue to the recipe… about Grilled Shrimp Vietnamese Spring Rolls

No-Mayo Potato Salad with Herbs

Easy to make and lighter to eat, this healthy no-mayo potato salad with fresh herbs and an easy olive oil dressing is the perfect side dish for a crowd.

There are times when a mayo-free potato salad is exactly what’s needed. Like those backyard barbecues where mayonnaise and summer’s heat simply don’t mix. Or a potluck party buffet table for a crowd where you my Mom’s best potato salad ever’s hard boiled eggs aren’t up to the task of languishing at room temperature all day or night long at the party.

And surprisingly, I heard somewhere out there are eaters who just don’t like a mayonnaise dressing on their potato salad. What the what? Shocking, I know…

For each of these situations, this mayo-free potato salad is the winning recipe solution. I discovered the inspiration for it while leafing through my copy of My Smith’s Magazine I receive each month from my local Smith’s Marketplace grocery store. This potato salad is easy to make and feels a bit sophisticated, just like anything with classic French roots will. It’s loaded with fresh nips of herbed bites, Dijon mustard flavored olive oil, and it won’t go bad before the party ends, and even better, gets more flavorful on the second and third day after it’s been in the fridge..

continue to the recipe… about No-Mayo Potato Salad with Herbs

Killer Spicy Garlic Dill Pickles

A healthy dose of fresh, peeled garlic cloves, a homemade pickling spice, and hot peppers give these spicy pickles a seriously delicious kick.

Homemade Spicy Pickle Recipe

Let’s be clear about one thing: I am a lot of things, but a mathematician I am not. Instead of adding up numbers or figuring out right quadrangles, I’ve always been more of a visual kind of gal.

I can tell with one sideways glance when a picture frame is slightly askew. Let’s just hop over and fix that. There. Much better. I notice when the grocery store clerk gets a haircut. “Looks great!” “Oh, why thank you.” And it’s second nature for me to pick out the subtle variations of Periwinkle from Azure. Periwinkle for the win.

Therein lies the reason I was an art major.

I suck at math.

So when figuring out exactly how many cucumbers are in a bushel to share for this crazy good spicy pickle recipe, well…you’re just going to have to join me and go with the flow on this one. Even though I did indeed get out my pencil, my calculator, and conferred deeply with Google, my calculations may not be exact science.

But, then, except for baking, when ever IS cooking a science?continue to the recipe… about Killer Spicy Garlic Dill Pickles