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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

Chicken and Mango Rainbow Veggie Wraps

If you’re still debating whether a wrap is really a sandwich or not, you can use this one as proof that either which way the vote comes in, we all agree that healthy, crunchy rainbow wrap lunches are what make the world go ’round.

This post is brought to you by Almond Breeze

My daughter is mildly amused with the return to my teenage fascination with rainbows.

Chalk it up to reliving the memories of my eighth grade year as she makes her way through hers. Or it may be thanks to my continuing countdown of the quickly fading days of this age of innocence for my lil’ baby. Or maybe it’s thanks to the ’80s boomerang of denim overalls, scrunchies, boom boxes, Polaroid cameras, casseroles, mom jeans and new remakes of Full House, CHiPs and Roseanne.

🌈 Either/or/and/alloftheabove…ahhh, 8th grade. Best year ever. 🌈

This easy, veg-heavy Thai-flavored lunch wrap represents all the things right with eating the rainbow. You’ve heard it a hundred times. At least I hope you have: Eating the rainbow is one of the best ways to ensure you’re getting all the right nutrients in one fell swoop. And it’s just one more reason that eating a healthy wrap for an easy lunch or quick dinner is a good idea.

continue to the recipe… about Chicken and Mango Rainbow Veggie Wraps

Quick Korean Spicy Slaw Recipe

This quick coleslaw version of Korean kimchi has all of the classic Asian flavor but is ready to eat in 30 minutes or less.

Kimchi is having it’s day in the culinary spotlight with a whole new slew of devotees who are loving the vibrant flavors of its age-old traditional Korean fermented flavors.

And then, there are the haters. Okay, that’s a strong word. Let’s instead call them the misinformed, those who sadly share a not always positive perception of kimchi. “Ew, it smells.” “Why would you bury your food in the ground?” “It must be hard to make.”

Hardly so. Especially when you make take all the flavors to make a quick Asian cabbage slaw instead. continue to the recipe… about Quick Korean Spicy Slaw Recipe

Hawaiian Chicken Skewers With I Wash You Dry

This easy chicken kebab recipe is especially flavorful thanks to a simple soy and orange marmalade marinade and it is sure to become a family favorite.

Like many other food bloggers out there, Shawn Syphus has no formal culinary training. Instead, a series of happy kitchen accidents, and some one-on-one lessons with her mother-in-law helped shape her into the cook she is today.

The food obsessed mom of four has been cooking and writing for her blog I Wash You Dry since 2010, creating quick and easy recipes that require minimal clean up — and obviously by the name of her blog, she’s not so fond of dishes!

Shawn’s first cookbook, Express Lane Cooking includes 80 quick and easy recipes with five ingredients. We love that Shawn’s cooking style is fuss-free and to the point. Her recipes are simple and approachable, fast and delicious.

Having fewer dishes to wash and recipes like these Hawaiian Chicken Skewers that you’ll find at the end of this post also makes us weak in the knees!

continue to the recipe… about Hawaiian Chicken Skewers With I Wash You Dry

Thai Coconut Noodle Salad

Almond Breeze Almondmilk Coconutmilk is my secret to a lower calorie instead of canned coconut milk for dressing this flavorful, Thai-inspired noodle salad.

This year I’m partnering with Almond Breeze to create and share recipes using almond milk. This noodle salad recipe takes full advantage of this flavored almond milk’s ability to infuse the distinctive Thai taste of coconut milk, but is a lighter alternative that cuts the calories and keeps the taste.

I’m sure I’ve shared here on the blog that during my sister’s senior year of high school she spent the year as a foreign exchange student in Thailand. Growing up in Utah, the geography, culture and certainly the food was worlds away from what she was used to. And she loved every single minute of her year-long immersion there.

When it was time for her to come home, my parents and I traveled to her adopted land to explore her new world. We quickly became fans, too. The beaches. The kindness of the Thai people. The vibrant heart of the culture. And for a food lover like me, the sumptuous and exotic dishes simply sealed the deal.

Ever since, when I’m craving dishes with a balance of spicy and sweet, Thai flavors are at my cooking epicenter. When you search my recipe archives it’s proof in the pudding, the Thai pudding so to speak. Hey, now! There’s a recipe idea I haven’t tried out yet…

continue to the recipe… about Thai Coconut Noodle Salad

Blackened Seafood Pasta

This is one of those dishes that originated in one of our favorite restaurants—actually the restaurant where my husband and I met—and made it’s way to our at-home dinner table.

It’s one that is so good, you figure out what that special thing is that makes it so craveable and it becomes part of your family foodie vernacular.

Blackened Seafood Pasta. It’s what’s for dinner.

continue to the recipe… about Blackened Seafood Pasta

Gluten-Free Quinoa and Cauliflower Chowder

Do you have your megaphone ready? I’m digging my husband’s out of the garage.

Yep, he has a megaphone because he’s in a band, you know, for “special effects” and stuff. He also has these weirdo 1960’s goggles and a suit covered in Christmas lights—because he’s in a band.

But that’s another story for another day.

Today’s story is that we’re all banding together and shouting at the top of our lungs—or into said megaphone if you have one handy—we’re shouting, “GOODBYE FROZEN TUNDRA, and good riddance.” Why? Because (happy dance) this week marks the official first day of spring. Yes!

But that certainly doesn’t signal the end of eating savory soups and stews. Heck, this is just the beginning.

And since we’ll probably do the winter/spring dance tease of warm one day, cold the next and I’m sure I’ll have to cover my tomatoes for at least two more snow storms, this gluten-free chowder is just one way to walk the tightrope of comfort food cravings and spring clean eats desires.

Last week I may have said I wasn’t a devout whole foodie. And now, here I am, posting whole foods. To me, that is exactly how a foodie should be. Balanced. Eating what feels right. What cures the craving.

Lightened up, but still savory, this chowder is a great #MeatlessMonday meal. Because that’s what I’m craving now.

continue to the recipe… about Gluten-Free Quinoa and Cauliflower Chowder

Crab Cake Poppers

These past few weeks I’ve spent an absurd amount of time with some amazing food bloggers. Absurd to me only because I’m not sure I could have ever imagined the reality of my journey from an office stiff to a travel-when-the-opportunity-strikes online content creator.

While the time I spend ensconced in my home office or toiling away at the library allows me plenty of alone time, these blogging trips and the relationships I’ve created with my fellow bloggers are the glue that binds my love for what I do.

I love creating ebooks, magazines and photography, but creating recipes is the part of the job that truly, mainly because it’s part of my life, it’s what I do to survive. To make food and eat it.

continue to the recipe… about Crab Cake Poppers

Mango Gazpacho with Quick Pickled Shrimp Plus 5 Fruity Recipes

He’s on a diet and in his book that means one thing. Soup for dinner. But every night?

Soup is my man’s default meal when he wants to drop a few lbs. and with his band’s final reunion gig just around the corner, he’s definitely made the commitment to come out strong and looking gooood. He’s even switched from his beloved Sierra Nevadas to light beer. HORRORS!

Thus his creativity in the kitchen has taken a nose dive. And since I’m not a big fan of soup in a can I had to take things into my own hands.

A week or so ago Smudge requested that I get her some mangoes. Wow, okay, that’s pretty adventuresome for her since mangoes are a fruit we don’t generally keep in our regular arsenal. I was impressed at the request and shot down to Costco to pick a jumbo size pack.

Why. Did. I. Do. That?

Long story short, it wasn’t fresh mango she wanted. Oh no, she wanted DRIED mango. Ah-ha! Fine then.

So what do I do with all of these mangoes? When life gives you mangoes, make mango gazpacho.continue to the recipe… about Mango Gazpacho with Quick Pickled Shrimp Plus 5 Fruity Recipes

10 Great Corn Recipes plus Grilled Corn and Pasilla Pepper Salad

Corn. It’s the new black.

It’s on every corner (ehem, gas station farmer’s market) it comes with color blocking in its DNA (alternating white and yellow kernals) and it looks good on just about everyone.

It used to be that one had to wait anxiously for harvest season to roll around before noshing on the sweetest corn in town. Now that new corn genes have been developed, its a rare day in the sun when cooks have to make do with sub par kernals of sunshine. Have you had enough with the trite phrases already?

In preparing to make this recipe, I did the usual routine of filling my pasta stock pot with water and dumped my farmer’s market cobs into the pool, husks and all, with the intention of soaking them for 30 minutes to add a little extra moisture for roasting.

Five hours later I realized I had become completely distracted—I’m not going to admit or lay blame to anything that may or may not have been being surfed on the internet— and quickly pulled my soggy cobs to safety.continue to the recipe… about 10 Great Corn Recipes plus Grilled Corn and Pasilla Pepper Salad

Kale and Cabbage Coleslaw with Marcona Almonds

I’m into layering. Not just in my clothing options—yes, I’m a big fan of piling on the tank, then the shirt, then the sweater, jacket or blazer—but also when it comes to cooking.

Layering flavors and textures in a dish—and even an entire menu—is the sign of an adventurous and accomplished home cook. The cook that takes the uneven path and changes our anticipated cravings with a little extra crunch or flavorful zing is the cook that delivers memorable meals. And by memorable I do not mean complicated or over worked. Just. Good. Food.

I’ve been partial to this mindset ever since I can remember when my favorite after-school snack was crunchy Triscuits topped with creamy liverwurst—hey, I’m German, what can I say? A tuna fish sandwich wasn’t complete without a layer of crunchy potato chips and puckerey kosher pickles. It was all about the texture combos for me, and it still is.

Cabbage is the perfect example of an ingredient that can use an extra oomph, a little push to the flavorful side.

continue to the recipe… about Kale and Cabbage Coleslaw with Marcona Almonds

Lobster Etouffee and 5 Cajun Crustacean Recipes

Baby its cold outside and I’m ready for some heat. So this big mama is pointing my cookin’ compass to ‘Nawlins baby!

My first intro to real New Orleans cooking was years ago thanks to my little sister and bro-in-law, both oil execs who were working just outside New Orleans, who had invited us for a visit and our first Jazz Festival excursion—which if you haven’t experienced is a bucket list must do if only to try Crawfish bread. That’s all it took to become big fans of the little suckers.

A couple of years later, and after a transfer to Houston, bro-in-law treated us to another crawfish tastey, his recipe for Crawfish Etouffee. To some cooks, this dish seems out-of-your-league-fancy just by looking at the spelling of its name, what with it’s double ff’s and ee’s and sounding all French and haute.

But here’s the secret: it isn’t fancy, or hard. It’s just good. Spicy and good.

photo > FoodieCrush

So when G and I were recently perusing the lovely aisles of Au Costco, we jumped at the seafood bait when we discovered langostinos in the seafood case.

No they weren’t fresh crawdads like you’d find on the coast, but any quality frozen nugget of the sweet crustacean style is all this recipe needs. So use what you can find: crawfish, shrimp or like us, little lobster longostinos. continue to the recipe… about Lobster Etouffee and 5 Cajun Crustacean Recipes

5 Gazpachos and a Bloody Mary Gazpacho

The combination of soaring temperatures and farmer’s markets leads me to one conclusion. It’s time for gazpacho. With sweat-drenched home cooks and their ovens and stoves going on strike, it’s that time of summer when a no-cook meal is in order.

I love gazpacho. I’ve made it with a variety of veggies gleaned from the garden (and sometimes from cleaning out the fridge) but this time around I wanted a gazpacho with a little kick. Hello…bloody mary anyone?

It was a very natural transition. Afterall, gazpacho require manys of the same ingredients as a great bloody mary. All that’s needed is some heat, a little Mary spice and wa-lah! BM in a bowl. And if you’re feeling particularly dandy or serving it for brunch, throw in a shot or two of vodka for a little bloody buzz.

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Bloody Mary Gazpacho
serves 8

4 ripe tomatoes, quartered
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 large cucumber, cut in 2-inch chunks
1 yellow bell pepper, cut in 2-inch chunks
3 ribs celery, cut in 2-inch chunks
1 large shallot, quartered
2 cups canned tomato juice or V-8 vegetable juice
1 T red wine vinegar
1-2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice, depending on taste
1 1/2 T prepared horseradish
1T celery salt
3 T Worcestershire sauce
3 T olive oil
1 T Tabsasco sauce, or to taste
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
garnish: thinned sour cream, chopped green olive, chopped yellow bell pepper and celery

In a medium size mixing bowl, combine first 6 ingredients. In a blender, pulse half of ingredients in bowl until smooth. Pour pulsed mixture into a large bowl. Add the rest of the batch to blender and pulse until chunky, you’ll want it this portion to be somewhat chunky for texture. Add to the smoothly blended tomato mixture. In another bowl or 4 cup Pyrex measuring cup, combine tomato juice and next 8 ingredients. Pour into large bowl with tomato mixture and combine. Chill for 1 hour for flavors to combine or eat at room temperature. Garnish and serve.

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Gazpacho is super versatile, and doesn’t always include tomatoes and can be whatever color its base is. Try one of these variations (cherry? almonds?) from some of our favorite food bloggers.

photo > La Tartine Gourmande

Reliving the traditions of her French roots, Bea’s philosophy of eating veggies and fruits in season, and when at their freshest stage possible, makes La Tartine Gourmande‘s Tomato Gazpacho especially lively and satisfying as a main course, appetizer or amuse-bouche palette cleanser.

photo > Linday Hunt

Marcus Samuelsson’s hunt for the world’s best restaurant found Chef Jordan Frosolone, of New York City’s August Restaurant, and his White Gazpacho recipe. It blended creaminess comes from blanched almonds, creme fraiche and whole milk and with the added punch of cucumbers and grapes, the hit of chile oil offsets its cool creaminess.

photo > Christopher Cina

Along with sharing the secret to perfectly cooked shrimp (you’ll have to click the link to find it out) Chef Chris Of Christopher Cina ‘s Gazpacho with Spiced Shrimp, Lemon Crema is a classic tomato gazpacho with a kicked up garnish of spiced shrimp. And don’t forget the crema. NEVER forget the crema!

photo > Running With Tweezers

Throwing a contemporary spin on classic gazpacho, Tami combines tomatillos, watercress and cilantro with cucumber an yellow bell pepper (green although the right color might wouldn’t be mellow enough) for Running With Tweezers Green Gazpacho with Spicy Croutons (or as I like to call it: a green goddess love fest with a smokey crunch.)

photo > The Winter Guest

That’s the beauty of tomatoes. They tend to complement nearly every other red fruit (think watermelon and strawberries), but when I discovered The Winter Guest‘s Cherry Gazpacho I realized there’s a whole realm, cherries, that I’d never known! And as Miriam suggests, nothing is better than enjoying to enjoy a nice cool gazpacho in the summer heat.

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