The Most Delightful Salad

Make this salad. Recreated from a recent meal at Prezza in Boston.

Honey Mustard BBQ Chicken

I’m bumping this post up from the archives (2010!). This is my go-to grilled chicken every summer. Feel free to switch up the cuts of chicken – sometimes I”ll use a mix of thin breasts and thighs, sometimes breasts only. Mix it up, go nuts.

Risotto Primavera with Shrimp

Oh, hello there. I thought I’d share a favorite recipe with you just in time for spring. I added cooked shrimp to this at the end, but feel free to omit for a vegetarian option. Or, swap it out for some cooked lobster or crab, if you like – would be yum. This risotto comes together in about 30 minutes start to finish, and oddly enough, I find it to be a relaxing dish to make after a long day.

Three Bean Minestrone with Pesto

I realize I have been MIA from this blog for a long while, but this soup was too good not to document. This is truly a ‘meal soup’, especially when served with a simple prosciutto, baby arugula & provolone panini like we did. So, so good.

Tarragon Mustard Cream Fish and Veggie Foil Packets

Welcome to my new favorite cooking method.  Foil packets on the grill. Wrap up some veggies and some easy, flavorfully sauced protein in some foil, throw on the grill, and dinner is served within 15 minutes from start to finish. I served it with my favorite frozen bread product, Alexia Garlic Bread, to sop up the sauce. Absolutely perfect for summer. This recipe is from Pam Anderson’s awesome book The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Eating Great. Let me just say that I LOVE this cookbook. She really encourages as much mixing and matching so that there really is no set recipe per se, but plenty of guidance and ideas…not to mention so many fantastic lightened recipes that don’t feel lightened one bit. I have multiple recipes from this book on my menu this week – this was tonight’s!

Dallas’s Grilled Balsamic Eggplant

This recipe hails from my mom, Dallas. This recipe makes for a great, easy summer side dish and it is my absolute favorite way of cooking eggplant. Enjoy!

Shrimp, Bacon, and Corn Thin-Crust Pizza with Garlic Lemon Cream Sauce

This pizza is so good we made it twice in one week. This was kind of inspired by a pizza I shared with some friends at Posto outside of Davis Sq. in Somerville, MA last week. I mean, I really need no inspiration when it comes to pizza because it’s my favorite food (besides eggs) and I will most likely love anything atop a pizza crust. However, this one is pretty special. I do love shrimp on pizza but the addition of crunchy corn and salty bacon…I mean…

Also, the garlic lemon cream sauce as a base? Awesome.

Egg, Kale, and Hummus Breakfast Wraps

I’m always looking for breakfast recipes that incorporate veggies – especially greens because they’re my favorite and super healthy.

This recipe comes from Giada De Laurentiis’s book, Feel Good Food, which I totally love and have been cooking from a lot lately.

For this recipe you can use any type of whole grain tortilla you like. I found some low-carb whole grain roll-ups at Costco (Damascus brand) that are perfect for this. 

Spaghetti with Roasted Eggplant and Tomatoes

This was one of the first recipes I ever made when I was first learning how to cook and I’m so happy I rediscovered it.

Is it bad to say that the only reason I’m blogging is because I don’t want to forget about this recipe again? It’s not like I haven’t missed blogging over the last few months…(I didn’t really miss it, sorry), but I am reminded of why I actually started to blog to begin with – to keep track of my tried and trues.

This recipe made me and a few of my girlfriends very happy this past week. I even used low-carb pasta and none of them were the wiser. Dreamfields spaghetti and linguine tastes exactly like regular pasta and I love it. Enjoy! xo

Chrissy Teigen’s Boursin and Bacon Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Since this is about the 3rd or 4th time I’ve made this chicken, I figured it deserved a spot on the blog. I love Chrissy Teigen – she has a super entertaining Twitter presence, she’s freaking beautiful, and she has an awesome – albeit somewhat abandoned food blog (though I realize that I shouldn’t judge in this category too much). I think I first stumbled upon her blog because it was highlighted in some low-carb spotlight in a magazine, but her enthusiasm for of all types of food really comes through.

This chicken is pretty simple and straight-forward, but so so so good. Check it out!

Scratch Chicken Soup with Farro and Kale

This is the first homemade chicken soup that I’ve ever made (stock and all). Considering allllll of the soups that I make regularly, this fact is crazy to me. I picked up two cutie organic chickens at costco this weekend and decided to put a stop to this madness and make chicken soup. I now understand why people make chicken soup from scratch.

Eggs with Pesto, Tomato, and Avocado

This isn’t exactly a “recipe”, it’s really just cooking some eggs and assembly. This was my favorite breakfast over the summer when I had tomatoes coming out of my ears. These days, when tomatoes are mostly sad and flavorless, I make this whenever I can find some good looking ones. It’s quick, super flavorful, and pretty darn healthy.

Cauliflower Soup with Crème Fraîche

Who knew you could make crème fraîche at home? Seriously, who did and didn’t tell me?? I went to a cooking class at Stonewall Kitchen in York, Maine not too long ago and my brain exploded when I learned about this. I love crème fraîche so so so much (here’s another good application for it), but I rarely buy it because it is kind of expensive. It’s super easy to make, as is this soup, and it’s wicked delicious together. This might make a cauliflower lover out of haters – it has with us!

Mini Shrimp Calzones

This is the second time I’ve made this recipe and absolutely love it. We’re trying to behave calorically around here – and theses taste positively decadent but clock in just around 500 calories. Next time, I will make a little more sauce to reserve for dipping because the sauce is amazing. Enjoy!

Herby Kale Soup with Chickpeas and Sausage

I am digging this recipe out of the archives because it’s one of my favorites and I make it all the time as soon as the weather dips a little. It’s super simple, hearty, and when served with some crusty garlic bread, makes a perfect meal.

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf

This is THE BEST meatloaf ever. The combination of the ground beef + pork, all draped under a layer of streaky bacon…to die for. I’ve made this a couple of times now and it’s just too awesome not to share. Now, I never grew up eating meatloaf so this whole thing is somewhat new to me. But I like it. We served it with some steamed veggies and some frozen mashed sweet potatoes (which are kind of weird and bland, don’t recommend). Perfect Sunday meal. Also! I have fun plans for re-purposing the meatloaf leftovers – stay tuned.

13 Bean Soup with Chorizo (slow-cooker)

My slow cooker. I’m really starting to love that thing. Especially when it welcomes a pile of raw ingredients and, while I’m at work, turns it into something awesome. Something dinner worthy and that justifies a long-ass Monday. This soup is definitely going to be a stand-by, which is a good thing, because this makes a BIG batch. I plan on banking the remaining 8 servings in the freezer for a couple more effortless meals. Win win.

Sausage, Pumpkin, Potato and Halloumi Bake

This is fall cooking. This is what I’m talkin’ about. Roasted acorn squash (use any seasonal squash/pumpkin you like), buttery yukon gold potatoes, sausage, tomatoes, and squeaky and salty halloumi cheese. Homey and comforting and the best thing I’ve had this fall. And not just because ‘fall’ just officially began today, either.

Grilled Chicken with Brie and Prosciutto

An unexpected heat wave in Boston led me to ditch my plans for oven-roasted chicken to something lighter on the grill. I love summer (and summer foods), but enough is enough already. I CANNOT wait to make soups and roasted foods again and omg CHILI with all the fixins? Yes, please. Summer, I’m all set with you. But, for now, temps in the 80s and 90s are where we’re at and this dish is perfect for a hot summer night.

Spaghetti Squash Chicken Pad Thai

Um, this dish is amazing. I’m so excited about it that I  feel like that’s all I can say…but I’ll try to expound a little. Roasted and shredded spaghetti squash perfectly imitates those mushy pad thai noodles. The sauce is perfection and made from ingredients that are probably in your cabinet. This is such a healthy and hearty dish because of the sheer mass of vegetables. New favorite dinner, hands down.