With Valentine’s Day coming up this weekend, I wanted to provide you with a delicious homemade gourmet meal that is suitable for most diets out there (gluten free, grain free, can be dairy free) and pleasing to different tastebuds. Large thick slices of purple cauliflower make beautiful steaks, a warm smoky salad with light basil [...]
Gluten Free
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Roasted Vegetables 101
February 2, 2016Roasted vegetables have become a staple in our household and swayed my children as well as myself to eat certain previous untouchables. Suddenly, thinly sliced eggplant makes for delicious, smoky chips and cauliflower tastes like popcorn. Broccoli is addictive and onions are less pungent. The natural moisture that evaporates in the oven brings out a sweeter, [...]
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Urgent Tomato Soup
January 24, 2016Winter hit Charlotte these last couple of days with snow and ice. We just don’t have the equipment and means here to carry on so of course the town pretty much shut down. Tomato soup was in order after playing outside with the kids and feeling absolutely frozen! I created this recipe a year ago [...]
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Piping Hot French Indie Lentil Soup
January 14, 2016The chill has officially set into Charlotte and soup season is well underway in my kitchen. To me, the W in winter means WARM me up. My Piping Hot French Indie Lentil Soup is a staple through this time of year. Lentils are a universal food found in African, European, Middle Eastern, Asian and other [...]
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Clean Party Eats: Spiralized Sesame Slaw Salad & Truffle Sweet Potatoes
January 4, 2016Happy new year! Who said the partying can’t continue with your resolutions? Check out how I entertained with tofu caprese, chickpea salad in endive boats, spiralized sesame slaw salad, cheese and crackers, polenta cakes, and roasted truffle white sweet potatoes. I’m starting my 2016 off with reseting back to more planned and cleaner eating again. There is [...]
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Stove Top or Slow Cooker: Tuscan White Bean & Swiss Chard Soup Two Ways
December 29, 2015I hope everyone is having a good holiday season enjoying good food, family, and friends! Pictured above is our Christmas Day dinner: Tuscan White Bean & Swiss Chard soup, decadent truffle macaroni and cheese, maple pecan Brussels sprouts, and a kale pomegranate garden salad. Over the last month, I have been trying really hard to focus on [...]
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Time Saving Restorative Slow Cooker Black Bean Chili
December 16, 2015We had a gorgeous 75 degrees sunny, Carolina blue sky day in Charlotte today. That alone begged me to get outside rather than spending time in my favorite place, the kitchen, But the reality is that it is December and a time of year during which more people than ever are sick, overwhelmingly busy, and [...]
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Festive Savory Holiday Tart Featured on FOX & You Have To Laugh At Yourself
December 2, 2015This has been a fun and fulfilling food week! Yesterday, I had to plan, shop for, and make a holiday themed dish for Fox’s Good Day Charlotte show as well the event I mention towards the end of this post. They have a segment called “What’s Your Dish?” and it requires bringing in all of [...]
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Thanksgiving Edition: Cranberry Pecan Maple Scalloped Sweet Potatoes & Parsnips
November 24, 2015All of the traditional Thanksgiving colors are reflected in this unique twist on sweet potato casserole. I know some families are also pretty split on a sweet versus savory version. The creamy scalloped version, smoky paprika, and salt please the latter and the maple syrup and cranberries provide just enough sweetness for the former. The [...]
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Thanksgiving Edition: Thyme For Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie
November 23, 2015Comfort in a big ole casserole. Herby, hearty, healthy, and more. A medley of colorful vegetables which I chose carefully to combine and they also cook at similar rates. I can’t stand biting into something that has varying spots of doneness. Do not be afraid to make these mashed potatoes and use real butter. A [...]