my life my menu

CLEAN RECIPES. MEALS PLANNED.

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"Hi, my name is Emily. I'm a chef, a wife and a mom of two boys. I create healthy and simple recipes using whole foods for the busy person. My Life My Menu helps you plan out your menus one meal at a time."

RECENT POSTS:

Nuttiest, Chunkiest Granola

Pignoli Cookies

Brownie Baked Donuts with Chocolate Glaze!

Apple Crisp

Coconut Pancakes

Butternut Squash and Chickpea Salad

Chocolate Chip Breakfast Muffins

Arugula and Quinoa Salad with Peanuts and Apricots

Cauliflower and Kale Soup

Blueberry Lemon Financier

Roasted Corn with Coconut Barley

Perfect-Every-Time Salmon

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Butternut Squash and Chickpea Salad

Butternut Squash and Chickpea Salad

Thanksgiving is such an nostalgic time for me. Growing up I was always home with my family doing the traditional American meal. It was very family oriented and the food was delicious. I was always involved in the cooking (or at least that's how I like to remember it.) But now, I'm married with two children of my own and we have adopted my husband's tradition of traveling on Thanksgiving. I definitely enjoy getting away, I won't lie. But there have been a few sporadic years th

Arugula and Quinoa Salad with Peanuts and Apricots

Arugula and Quinoa Salad with Peanuts and Apricots

I was going through my older recipes and realized that when I updated my website some of my favorite recipes got lost in the shuffle. Some recipes never made it back on to my website. So over the next couple of days I'm going to be sharing some oldies but goodies! It also gave me an opportunity to see how far my photography has come! Enjoy the nostalgia... Arugula and Quinoa Salad with Peanuts and Apricot Click Here for print friendly version Ingredients for Salad: 1 cup quin

Roasted Corn with Coconut Barley

Roasted Corn with Coconut Barley

I have been hoarding my summer corn. For anyone who knows how sweet and fantastic it is right now is just like me, and needs lots of corn recipes on hand. This one fits the bill perfectly. I originally wrote this recipe for roasted corn, which is great for the rest of the year, but today I made this with my bounty of sweet and starchy raw farm corn. I cut it raw right off the cob and mixed it right into the cooked barley. Whether your corn is raw or roasted this recipe is fi

Corn and Parmesan Salsa

Corn and Parmesan Salsa

One of my favorite summer ingredients is fresh corn. Most people don't know you can eat it right off the cob! Here is a great salsa recipe that highlights the corn's sweetness and the best part is that you don't have to put on the oven or even boil water! My kind of recipe. Did I mention it has Parmesan? #FDNoCook #FDSummersBest #WhatsForDinner #FreshDirect Serve this as a simple salad or as an accompaniment to to a simply grilled piece of fish. Corn and Parmesan Salsa Ingred

Mexican Black Bean Salsa/Salad

Mexican Black Bean Salsa/Salad

So why do I write salsa/salad? I actually make this recipe two ways: A quinoa salad and a salsa salad. They both have the same ingredients except the quinoa salad just has the added cooked quinoa. The salsa version is so yummy that you can eat it straight up as a salad itself or put it on top of some simply grilled salmon or other fish. The quinoa version can be a main for lunch or a side dish to a mea. lNo matter which version of this recipe you make it's a winner. You know

Citrus Salad with Arugula and Fennel

Citrus Salad with Arugula and Fennel

Fresh Direct has really revolutionized my life. Living in Rockaway may be living the beach dream but it's definitely not living the organic food dream. They make me a more functional human being. My Life My Menu is really about creating recipes that are not just clean but that can be pulled off on my time schedule. Without their delivery service I would be at the grocery at 11pm. Without their organics I would have to shlep to a grocery 40 minutes from my home. Without their

Fattoush Salad

Fattoush Salad

This salad is from Robin Jemal’s cookbook “Dare to be Different, Volume 2.” It’s a great book filled with lots of practical, flavorful recipes that are perfect for a busy family. Wholesome ingredients and not too fussy. This one in particular has been in the rotation for almost a year! Follow Robin on Instagram at @daretobedifferentcook Fattoush Salad CLICK HERE FOR PRINT FRIENDLY RECIPE Ingredients: Pita Chips: 3 pita bread pockets Olive oil spray Zaatar spice Salt Zaatar D

Simply Dressed French Greens

Simply Dressed French Greens

This salad came to me via my customer, Yvette, during my catering days. She is a very elegant French woman who claimed this was the only way to have a salad. I may or may not have rolled my eyes, but in the end she was right. This recipe really allows for the lettuce to shine through. This clean, simple recipe is an absolute favorite. I like to use fresh lettuces to mix together- soft Boston Bibb is a favorite, Red Leaf Lettuce, Mache, Radicchio or even arugula (the fresh

Heirloom Tomato Salad

Heirloom Tomato Salad

While tomatoes are at their peak in summer, this winter I have been coming across the most beautiful and sweet heirloom (organic!) tomatoes for a very decent price. Sometimes the mini sized tomatoes come pre-packed and make buying a cinch. See these gorgeous options by Fresh Direct. Kid Friendly Idea: Also, my kids love the different colored tomatoes but if your kids have yet to come around to tomatoes and their texture, trying just slicing a few plain with a sprinkle of salt

Kale Salad with Grilled Chicken and Ginger Carrot Dressing

Kale Salad with Grilled Chicken and Ginger Carrot Dressing

Imagine chopped kale layered with grilled chicken cubes, hemp seeds, sesame seeds and avocado all covered in a delicious ginger carrot dressing. Now stop imagining and do it. This salad is legitimately a complete meal. I even give you the suggested option of adding brown rice right into the salad! Then it is really a complete meal. You know my husband who absolutely doesn't eat raw kale? He eats it here. Where to put it in your menu? I serve it as a complete meal for grownups

My Americana Coleslaw

French Lentil and Quinoa Salad

French Lentil and Quinoa Salad

Maybe not beyond. Let's just speak about Thanksgiving. Ok so this title kinda came from the Toy Story movie that is on repeat every day in my house. Sometimes you have to be practical about where you're at in your day and not overshoot. When planning a menu, I urge you to think smart. Start pulling dishes onto the list that you can make from before. Things that freeze, or that at least that have elements you can make before hand and just assemble on the big day can really

Autumn Arugula Fruit Salad

Autumn Arugula Fruit Salad

Recipe #3. The beauty of this salad is its versatility. The base is the peppery arugula and the fruit and seeds can be swapped out as you feel the need. Even the name can change- maybe it should be the Summer Parm Salad? That might include the arugula with shaved parmesan (YES!) and heirloom tomatoes? The dressing always stays the same and so does the arugula. This keeps it simple. But you change out the main veg/fruit as your season changes. So for now we find ourselves with

Composing the Composed Salad

Composing the Composed Salad

My favorite recipes to create are by far composed salad recipes. I really think that layering and creating interesting salads are my strong suit. (I’m so damn humble.) What the hell is a composed salad I hear you saying to your iPhone? Composed salad. noun. a salad in which the components are elaborately put together or arranged, rather than tossed. Usage Note. cooking. The NY Times describes it "from the French 'salade compose,' a composed salad is simply salad arranged on a

Cucumber and Dill Simple Salad

Cucumber and Dill Simple Salad

Simple salads are those that highlight one or two main ingredients. When I was staring at 7 million cucumbers in my refrigerator last week I definitely thought about how I could shine a light on the cucumber differently than before. I started thinking about lime, cilantro, hot pepper flakes. Then I got nervous about spicing out my dinner crowd. Sometimes simplicity is best. So I decided, instead of running to modernize or make a spin off of the classic, why not first post the

Kitchen Sink Salad

Kitchen Sink Salad

Sometimes what I'm looking for is a huge trough of salad filled with chopped veggies and proteins. Something reminiscent of a salad from a lunch place in NYC. Something that costs you $15. But I generally don't buy my food at these places for fear of contracting a food borne illness and having explosive diarrhea on the Q train on my way home from work. (PS I don't work in the city) But remember that yummy chopped romaine with all those fun vegetable choices? For example - bab

Purple and Nappa Cabbage Slaw

Purple and Nappa Cabbage Slaw

I love salads. Let’s be honest. My salad recipes are some of the strongest out there. Colorful. Flavorful. Interesting. Filled with fresh ingredients. Different. Inspiring. What’s also great, is that my style of cooking is very flexible. You don’t have an ingredient? Swap it out. Don’t feel like making lentils? Leave it out. Don’t have time to chop red leaf lettuce? Use ready to go baby spinach. Life is crazy. Make it work. But it’s not just the recipe that makes a good sal

Sheppard's Salad with Feta

Sheppard's Salad with Feta

There is a Turkish restaurant in Brooklyn that serves a salad similar to this as an appetizer. They serve it family style on the table on a huge platter. It is the most amazing salad ever and for no particular reason other than it is fresh. The lemon and herbs make the vegetables shine. In the middle east they eat this for breakfast and I think it's time we start too. Put fresh bread and olive oil on the table too. Yum. Feel free to add chopped purple onion (not my thing), or

Tickle My Pickle

Tickle My Pickle

I am a terrible gift giver. Maybe even the worst ever. I literally start panicking before someone's birthday or an occasion if I have to give a gift. It's not that I don't want to give one, but rather the idea of picking the right one is way too much pressure. Even after expending hours of time thinking and dwelling on the right present match, I usually miss the mark. I would much prefer to give a gift certificate, but apparently that's frowned upon. And in all honesty, I lo

Tebbouleh Arugula Salad

Tebbouleh Arugula Salad

Here in NY, it finally feels like spring has made its way back to our pavement. It’s been a long winter and it’s officially over. When the weather starts to lighten up, my mind automatically goes to creating new and interesting salads. Greens on the trees. Greens in my bowl. Tebbouleh by definition is a bulgur salad loaded with parsley and lemon. I have never been a fan of Tebbouleh that is overwhelmingly parsley. Don’t get me wrong- I am very fond of the flat leafed aromatic

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