Category: cooking

Meatless Monday – Spicy Coconut Noodles

Happy Halloween! Chili on Halloween has become something of a tradition for our family, mostly because it's healthy comfort food to warm up your insides on a cool fall evening but also because you can make a BIG pot and share it with friends. We have enjoyed Halloween parties with friends most of Tween's school … Continue reading Meatless Monday – Spicy Coconut Noodles

Meatless Monday – Fruit Tart

Friends invited us for dinner at their house. When I asked what we could bring our hostess quipped, "Dessert. If my attempts to cook vegetables go south, at least we'll have wine and dessert!" So I wanted something easy, delish, and striking. Fruit tart! This recipe is versatile--you can change it up with different fruit-and-jam combinations as … Continue reading Meatless Monday – Fruit Tart

Meatless Monday – July 4th Ice Cream

Tween had cake for breakfast. To be fair, it was packaged and presented as a "muffin," but I say we should call a chocolate-chocolate chip "muffin" with cream cheese filling by its true name: cake. Whatever. He's 12 and it's a holiday. Full disclosure, I had ice cream for breakfast. Actually, I had coffee before … Continue reading Meatless Monday – July 4th Ice Cream

Meatless Monday – Quinoa Two Ways

Summertime is all about salad--cold, make-ahead, no fuss food. Which is why quinoa has become one of my fav's. Quinoa is a grain and contains protein, making it crazy healthy. And it's so versatile that it can be a side dish, a salad base, a salad topping, or an ingredient in another dish altogether. The first few … Continue reading Meatless Monday – Quinoa Two Ways

Meatless Monday – Three Bean Salad

Having worked as a cook in the General Motors building in New York City, my grandma did a lot of our at-home cooking while I was growing up. Occasionally, she would send me outside with a bowl of fresh crisp green beans, a pair of scissors, and a pot, with instructions to trim the ends, … Continue reading Meatless Monday – Three Bean Salad

Meatless Monday – Chocolate Stout Cake

Last night friends hosted a lovely backyard dinner party. The group was a mix of friends from church and neighborhood. At what became the first annual dinner two years ago, they toasted us off on our Costa Rica sabbatical. At this third annual dinner, neighbors we met two years ago have become friends with whom we … Continue reading Meatless Monday – Chocolate Stout Cake

Meatless Monday – Cajun Pasta

I cook most nights of the week but during spring break I wanted a, ahem, break. Tween and I mostly ate easy foods - big salads, bean dip that became burritos and nachos, and I made a big pot of Cajun Pasta that lasted through several meals. Which gave us more time to rest, read, relax … Continue reading Meatless Monday – Cajun Pasta

Meatless Monday – Pancakes!

For Monday morning of Spring Break, Tween requested ice cream for breakfast. Of course he did. What kid wouldn't want an ice cream treat for breakfast? We're enjoying a staycation while the rest of the family travels the world. That might not sound fair, but it's just the right speed for the two of us … Continue reading Meatless Monday – Pancakes!

Meatless Monday – The Greenest Soup

It was one of those weeks when the Universe declared, "Your plans be damned!" Extra meetings. Tasks took too long. Hormones flared. Perfectionism roared. Memories failed. Schedules ran amok. The internet went down at work and, as soon as it was restored, it went down at home: three repairmen in three days, to discover that the … Continue reading Meatless Monday – The Greenest Soup

Meatless Monday – Spicy Black Bean Soup

I love love love black beans. Next to spinach, they might be my most regular go-to ingredient for daily yum. Black beans taste fab in chili and burritos, refried in quesadillas (sans cheese - all you need is refried black beans, salsa, & tortillas), on salads and topped on baked sweet potatoes. And in soups. Last week … Continue reading Meatless Monday – Spicy Black Bean Soup