Aldie is just about 6 years old and loves to help out; she is especially good helping me find things in an unfamiliar kitchen, opening cans of olives with the can opener, spreading olive paste on baguette slices, and serving the finished work to her guests. Thanks Alden and thank you Heidi (Alden’s mom) for the recipe! Add Parmesan, butter, and olive oil, and process into a paste. Add butter mixture to bowl with olives....

Egg recipes are a favourite around here because I always have some on hand! Try omelettes the Chinese way with Egg Foo Young, healthy grab-n-go Egg Muffins, a big Frittata to share or everybody’s favourite Quiche Lorraine. Who says omelettes are just for breakfast? No no no!!! Omelettes are terrific for any time of the day. And it’s a master recipe that everyone should know! How to make an omelette It’s this simple:...

I want to just pick up a utensil (probably a spoon, but maybe a fork) and dig in. The recipe is made with simple ingredients, with the secret ingredient to getting the topping to look and feel like a traditional crisp or crumble being coconut butter. Have you used it? It is a little different than coconut oil. Coconut butter includes the meat of the coconut, while coconut oil does not....

Enter beef jerky. However, you can’t just simply go to the store and find a good, healthy bag of beef jerky made with quality beef and without ingredients like soy and sugar. Even in specialty health stores and online “real” paleo beef jerky is hard to find. We find that even some of the stuff labeled as paleo usually has some added sugar or soy based flavoring in it. So instead of buying it at the store sometimes you just have to make it yourself....

This French picnic sandwich, pan bagnat, is your new best friend for any outdoor excursion. You can—and should—make it ahead. It’s supposed to be a little soft and squishy on the inside from the tuna fish and olive oil soaking into the bread. It is, well, magnifique! Where Does Pan Bagnat Come From? Pan bagnat is to the area around Nice (in the French Mediterranean) as muffuletta is to New Orleans....

An upside-down cake is a gorgeous and time-saving dessert that will impress at any gathering. The moist cake and fresh fruit topping are baked together in one step, so all you have to do is turn it out onto a platter and serve a dazzling dessert. There’s no better way to end a summer barbeque than with a peach upside-down cake, and maybe a side of vanilla ice cream too....

Here, juicy pears and spicy, warming ginger are combined with tart apple cider vinegar for an invigorating non-alcoholic drink. And the best part is, it’s completely customizable to your taste buds. What Is a Shrub? Shrubs are an old way of preserving fruit in vinegar that has found new life in the cocktail world. The result is a sweet-tart syrup that can be added to cocktails, or served on its own with a splash of club soda or seltzer....

My skinny-as-a-spatula 10-year old nephew who won’t eat anything ate this penne pasta with gusto and asked for more. My carb-avoiding sister couldn’t resist it. My father declared it a triumph! Later that night, Dad had my mom recount to him exactly what she did to make this particular penne pasta dish. Thank goodness, because experience has shown that my mother’s memory for recipes has a half-life of only a few hours....

This homemade soup is the epitome of comfort. Usually I associate comfort food with recipes that are rich & creamy or sweet & gooey, but this soup hits the spot just as it is. I’ve been eating this soup since I was a kid. It My mum also makes a turkey version (a huge batch!) from the leftover turkey at Christmas. I remember coming home from nightclubs rather worse for wear in my late teens (the drinking age is 18 in the UK) and my mum heating up a bowl for me so I didn’t burn the house down whilst trying to heat it up myself!...

What If You Don’t Have A Spiralizer? Well, first of all you should really just invest in one. They aren’t super expensive like some other kitchen gadgets, but affordable and something you’ll definitely get a fair amount of use out of. Here’s the one we like. I was able to find a 20% off coupon to save a few bucks. Simple Italian Sausage Meat Sauce We like using Italian sausage for our meat sauce because it adds tons of extra flavor without extra ingredients....

This recipe makes the most of citrus by using the segments as a component of the salad and the juice as the base of a simple vinaigrette. Radicchio adds a nice bitterness and deep reddish-purple color, while a bit of arugula lends a peppery bite. Homemade rustic croutons, toasted walnuts, and crumbled feta cheese join forces with the rest of the ingredients to create the perfect salad for a respite from the winter blues....

I think a good quality joint of lamb has got to be one of the most flavourful meats going. The natural fat in a lamb joint ensures the meat is juicy and succulent, and it’s actually a particular fatty acid in lamb fat that gives it its distinctive rich and slightly gamey flavour. According to Cook’s Illustrated “Meat Book” cookbook (note: this is an affiliate link. Also it’s one of my favourite books to understand everything you need to know about meat), grass-fed lamb is best - because a diet of this type (rather than grain-fed) results in a higher concentration of branched chain fatty-acids - which leads to a more flavourful and sweeter-tasting meat....

Ready in just 30 minutes, this flavorful dish is an interesting variation on eating them raw. Leftovers are great too! I don’t know about you, but I think tomatoes are wonderful whether raw or cooked. I adore them raw in a tomato salad or in this amazing Caprese salad, but I also love them cooked. Cooking really concentrates and brings out their unique flavor. And it has a way of making them more savory than sweet....

Enter these fluffy, vegetarian egg bites loaded with succulent roasted red peppers, fresh chives, and creamy goat cheese that you can bake on a Sunday night and enjoy all week long. Sure, they’re delicious, easy-to-make, and certainly low-carb, but that’s not even the best part. All you’ll have to do is pop an egg bite or two into the microwave, reheat, and devour as you race out the door during busy mornings....

Enjoy!

It may seem like an odd choice to pair Parmesan alongside fennel, but the combination works well. The fennel keeps its crisp structure, even when thinly sliced, and its licorice hinted flavor beautifully complements the warm, salty, cheesy savoriness of Parmesan. Thyme and parsley provide the accents along with a simple olive oil and lemon dressing. This is a quick and easy, simple-to-make salad that would be perfect for a lunch, or as a side salad for dinner....

Use a Wok or a Skillet With Lots of Surface Area If you have access to a wok, that is definitely the standard for stir fry recipes, but it’s far from essential. I’ve made stir fries in a variety of skillets over the years. The most important thing is to make sure you have a skillet with a lot of surface area so your ingredients can cook quickly. A large 12-inch skillet or cast-iron skillet will work if you don’t have a wok handy....

Unlike Chinese-style deep fried spring rolls, these Vietnamese spring rolls are very light and fresh. You wrap thinly sliced vegetables, cooked shrimp, and fresh herbs in a neat rice paper package. They’re the perfect pre-dinner snack! I often buy cooked shrimp for spring rolls because I can’t be bothered to cook the shrimp and wait for it to cool. Pre-cooked shrimp makes the prep work quick and easy. I also use fresh vegetables in my spring rolls instead of the traditional pickled vegetables....

It may feel like a tricky or complicated piece of butchery but all you need to do is turn the bird breast side down and cut down eat side of the backbone, which allows you to open it up and press it out flat. A sturdy pair of kitchen scissors is the best tool for the job, or you can use a sharp chef’s knife. Harissa: Spicy and Delicious Harissa is a fragrant spicy chili paste from North Africa....

My mother makes this dish at least once a month and we were raised just calling it by the noodle name, vermicelli. All you have to do is say that word and the collective eyes of our family light up with happy anticipation. What Does Sopa Seca de Fideo Mean? The name “sopa seca de fideo” translates to “dry soup with noodles.” It’s not soup, it’s called a “dry soup” because the noodles absorb all of the wonderful rich stock, making the noodles taste more delicious than you can possibly imagine....