smoky-sweet mango salsa

pepper jack cheese is my favorite. this week, i’ve been using the shredded trader joe’s variation (highly recommended) on everything from my egg white omelets to super simple quesadillas. yesterday, i decided to spice up my quesadilla a little bit since a friend was coming over for lunch. i sauteed portobello mushrooms in paprika, garlic powder, cayenne pepper & red pepper flakes & added those to the quesadillas. we ate them with greek yogurt & an impromptu mango salsa inspired by this post, which i pinned for later & never actually read. so this recipe should be a little different from that one, if not a lot. good different. i loved this salsa, as did the friends with whom i shared it. i could eat it plain, but then again i could eat most salsas plain if we’re being honest. it’s a spicy one, so be sure to reduce the amount of chipotle peppers & adobo sauce if you can’t handle the heat.

quinoa tabbouleh

i think it’s finally safe to say that summer’s come. it’s been deliciously warm the past few days & my body has officially switched from craving warm, hearty, heavier meals to craving cold, zesty, lighter ones. tonight’s dinner fit the bill perfectly: tabbouleh, a traditional middle eastern parsley-based salad that i grew up eating, was given a modern, healthful update in this month’s bon appetite. their take on my beloved salad takes its status from measly side dish to impressive main course by adding a good amount of protein-rich quinoa for some staying power. the dish is super easy to prepare–i did it in the small pocket of time i had today between a friend’s grad party & a great yoga class at perennial yoga in fitchburg. you can find the recipe here. it’s a great recipe that i’ll definitely be keeping on my radar, but i’d just point out that the quinoa definitely requires more water to be cooked (i added water throughout the cooking process). i’ll also play around with less oil next time–although i wouldn’t say it was too oily at all. it just seemed like a lot of oil to me. let me know how you like it!

easy homemade guacamole

this month’s bon appetit featured a mouthwatering spread of taco fillings–shrimp in adobo sauce, seared short ribs, fresh chorizo, rajas poblanas & cumin & ancho chicken. i went grocery shopping last night accordingly, picking up guacamole ingredients only as an afterthought (“oh, that would be good with the tacos.”). lo & behold, after spending the first half of my day sunning myself at james madison park, i came home this afternoon famished & craving a fresh, bright summer snack. i made the guacamole with every intention of limiting myself to a snack-sized portion & saving the rest for the upcoming week’s dinners only to devour the two-and-a-half cups my recipe yielded. i guess that means i liked it… so maybe you will too!

strawberry rhubarb quinoa muffins

after loving & leaving yoga journal’s wonderful blueberry quinoa muffins, i had been looking for a way to sneak this healthful grain-like, protein-packed seed back into a muffin recipe. i wanted this recipe to involve rhubarb & strawberries, the sweethearts of spring.  after attempting three batches of these muffins in a matter of a week (i shared, don’t worry), i was finally able to figure out a great recipe that married rhubarb, strawberries & quinoa. although generally i’m not a fan of polygamy, i’m happy to report it worked out well in this scenario.

spring vegetable tart with thyme & gruyere

saturday morning was cold & rainy. after waking up early for a run, i took a hot shower, bundled up & headed to the farmer’s market. armed with cups of hot tea & fresh pastries from stella’s bakery (apple turnover for me, bearclaw for her), my friend kari & walked around the capitol square at a leisurely pace, admiring all the pretty produce. we walked away with lots of springtime goodies like asparagus, green onions, shiitake mushrooms & rhubarb. i also got some cherry tomatoes, basil, a spring mix of lettuce & fresh colby jack cheese curds.

i knew what i would be doing with the asparagus & mushrooms. i had some ingredients leftover from an asparagus gruyere tart i made last weekend using this martha stewart recipe (pictured above). it was so delicious that i knew i needed another one in my life soon. tonight, i decided to put a little spin on that recipe by adding mushrooms, garlic powder & thyme. ugh. so good. you must make this as soon as possible (with fresh & local ingredients if you want good karma).

rhubarb & raspberry clafoutis

my beautiful friend jen gave me an equally beautiful cookbook for my birthday a few months ago. i set it on my nightstand where it sat for almost a month before i finally had time to page through it before going to bed one evening. i could barely put it down. the photographs are stunning & the writing is lovely–the author, beatrice peltre, is a french food blogger living in the states.

i have always been fascinated with french food & culture–mostly because i studied french & lived in france for a bit while in college. the food there is so simply prepared yet so complex-tasting. when i lived there, i ate whatever i wanted whenever i wanted. the only exercise i got was on the commute to the local university where i took french classes, yet i was the thinnest i’d ever been since i was a teenager. i’m sure the lack of synthetic junk in the food there has a lot to do with it–there’s definitely something to be said about the honesty of the ingredients used there.

anyway, i’ve been on the lookout for a french cookbook & jen read my mind perfectly when she turned me on to ms. peltre. although the following recipe is actually adapted from one she shared on her blog, i would never have wandered over there had it not been for jen’s generous gift.

chicken salad with tarragon

i know it’s not quite summer yet, but i was hit hard this week by a craving for chicken salad. it’s the quintessential summer dish–light, yet filling, with the delectable crunch of green onions & celery. i also like the versatility of the chicken salad. i usually add it to a plate of greens for an instant salad, pile it on an english muffin or into a pita pocket for a quick sandwich, or eat it straight out of the container (i won’t admit to my favorite of these serving suggestions, but i’m sure you can guess).    i also have a feeling that tofu could easily be substituted for the chicken in this recipe, although i’ve never tried it. let me know if you do!

caramel apple cheesecake from happy endings

now this is what i call a cheesecake: behold the caramel apple cheesecake from happy endings, a bakery housed in the lower level of an eclectic old victorian home in muskegon, michigan.  i am a sucker for apples & cinnamon (see here & here & here for a few of my favs), so it should come as no surprise that this is my favorite cake of all time. growing up, i would beg my mom to get this cake for any occasion i could think of–birthdays, graduations, the fact that i finally cleaned my room (you name it, i tried it). since i’ve lived away from home for almost six years now, this cake is a must-have whenever i’m back in west michigan. it’s sad the way the owner looks at me when i walk in & says “oh, you. home from school again?” but not that sad, because… there’s a happy ending! the cake! see what i did there? anyway, i’ve tried making this cake a couple times but not recently, so i don’t have a recipe to share with you. instead, i’ll leave you with a pretty picture & a suggestion that you stop by happy endings to taste it for yourself. thank me later.

 

my new favorite chocolate cake

at some point last week, i decided to go grocery shopping on an empty stomach. this is always a stupid idea. i always end up buying way more than i can eat. so, as a precautionary measure, i made myself eat dinner at whole foods before filling up my cart. i use the word “dinner” loosely, which, if you haven’t noticed, is how i use most words. dinner that night was a piece of flourless chocolate cake from the bakery section. as i ate it (in all of the three bites), i thought “why haven’t i eaten this before until now?” you can imagine my excitement when a cursory google search produced the recipe.

it turned out rich, fudge-like & chocolatey–all qualities i enjoy in many things in life, but especially in cakes. i enjoyed this cake a little too much. in fact, i think i may like it even more than my beloved red wine chocolate cake (vegan or not). because i liked it so much, i made sure to give most of it away. half of it went to nathan & a quarter of it went to my friend sarah & her boyfriend. i just don’t trust myself to be left alone with such things! especially things made with 2+ sticks of butter & an entire bag of chocolate chips. hey, i never said it was healthy.

here is the recipe. go forth & bake :)

stuffed french toast with raspberry sauce

morning star cafe, a little breakfast joint back home, is one of my favorite places to eat, ever. growing up, i would always order the stuffed french toast (sweetened cream cheese sandwiched between two thick pieces of french toast & drizzled with raspberry & vanilla sauce). now that i’m older & no longer weigh 100 pounds soaking wet, the stuffed french toast is more of an indulgence. but an indulgence is exactly what was in order over here yesterday morning. even after my week full of deadlines & due dates had ended, i still had an all-day edit-a-thon ahead of me on saturday morning, which involved (among other things) me sitting on my ass for about 7 hours straight. to propel me through the long day ahead of me, i decided to try my hand at making my beloved stuffed french toast. it was so great…i couldn’t believe i waited so long to try making it–even though it looks kind of fancy, it was actually pretty simple & not really time-consuming at all.