my life my menu

Try this lightened up all American coleslaw recipe. Less Mayo. Less sugar. Easy to make and prep ahead of time and the ingredients stay fres

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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