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Carrot Cake Granola

I’ve been craving carrot cake for weeks, but summer’s coming up quickly and I really don’t need to be eating cake right now. I decided to make carrot cake granola instead! It’s loaded with all of the goodies that you’d find in your favorite carrot cake: coconut, walnuts, raisins, and warm spices. I even got all trendy and threw in some quinoa, which adds a nutty flavor and slightly chewy texture. This is one of my new favorite treats – I keep disappearing into the kitchen to sneak a hand full. It’s also great sprinkled over yogurt – I recommend coconut or lemon!

Prosciutto and Artichoke Quiche

The best pizza I’ve ever had was at a little neighborhood restaurant in Paris. It was the kind of place where, rather than letting me order a second glass of wine to meet the credit card minimum, they trusted me to go to the ATM across the street and come back to pay. The pizza, which I later learned is called Pizza Quattro Stagioni (or Four Seasons Pizza), was topped with salty prosciutto, earthy mushrooms, delicate artichoke hearts, and briny kalamata olives.

Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Piri Piri Shrimp

I absolutely adore everything about this soup. Despite the fact that it’s totally healthy, it’s luxuriously rich and creamy and is the perfect way to warm up on a cold day. Top it off with shrimp cooked in spicy piri piri sauce and you have a meal that’s just about perfect in every way.

Seafood Chowder in Bread Bowls

Soup weather is officially here and I couldn’t be happier! There’s not much that’ better than warm soup eaten out of a bread bowl, is there?

This seafood chowder was inspired by one that I had a few week ago at The Original Soup Man; I love how thick and rich it was and couldn’t get enough of the sweet bay scallops. I drank every last drop and left with plans to recreate it at home ASAP!

wilted spinach salad with goat cheese and pecans

Wilted Spinach Salad with Chevre & Pecans

I’m not typically a fan of spinach salads, but this one is different – and I’m obsessed! To make it, you sautée onions and the throw the spinach into the hot pan. The heat from the pan gently wilts the spinach just enough to soften it up a little and take some of the bitter edge off it. Then it all gets tossed with toasted pecans and crumbled goat cheese. The contrast between the sweet onions, crunchy pecans, and creamy goat cheese (which melts a little from the residual heat) is amazing!

Two-Minute Salmon Terryaki

I saw this salmon teriyaki over on The Kitchn a few weeks ago and immediately ran to the store to get the ingredients to make it. I’m so glad that I did, because now not only do I have a new go-to weeknight recipe, I have a fail-proof new way to cook fish! I feel like this photo doesn’t do the recipe justice at all; the salmon is incredibly succulent and falls apart into big, tender flakes with a gentle tap with your fork. Served over rice it doesn’t look like much, but we’re still talking about it weeks later and I can’t wait to make it again.

Rather than cooking this salmon on the stovetop or roasting it, you cook it very quickly under the broiler – it literally only takes 2 minutes!

Vietnamese Summer Rolls with Sausage

Summer rolls are the perfect light meal in this stifling heat. They’re similar to Chinese egg rolls/spring rolls, but are eaten raw instead of fried. They’re stuffed with thin noodles, fresh herbs, raw vegetables, and, optionally, a (cooked) protein like shrimp or sausage.

In my attempt to recreate the restaurant version, I made my own sausage. A google search resulted in tons of recipes, so I mixed and matched to get something that seemed right. The sausages themselves were really easy to make and tasted phenomenal. My version was a little more mild than what I had originally hoped for, but I’ll definitely make them again.

Miso-Roasted Salmon Salads

I’ve been really into miso lately. Until about a month ago, I had never had it in anything other than miso soup, which I’ve always found to be kind of plain and boring. Miso paste, on the other hand, is a different beast altogether. It’s flavor is difficult to describe, but if you’re familiar with the term “umami” this is it. It’s very rich and complex, a little salty, and almost nutty. It might sound silly, but the flavor feels very full and round in your mouth. If you haven’t tried it, you really should! It’s a great way to elevate a few simple ingredients and transform them into a spectacular dish.

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