Roasted Squash Orzo

I am really feeling fall this year. This time last year, I was about to move and I missed out on making any fun autumn-themed goodies. So this season I am taking full advantage of all of the pumpkin puree, gorgeous squash, and crisp apples that I can get my hands on!

I saw this recipe online one day and it got stuck in my head. Then at the farmer’s market I found the delicata squash that the recipe called for and snatched it up immediately. I had never tried delicata before but oh man, it was crazy good. You need to go out, get some, roast it just like I did and just eat it. It’s like a squash sweet potato? I don’t know how to describe–it’s just GOOD.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

This is about to be devoured

As soon as the weather even so much as teases colder temperatures, I find myself chomping at the bit to make soup. To me, soup is as comforting to make as it is to eat. It’s so simple and you have the ability to layer flavors and add in hidden veggies–so what’s not to like? This Broccoli Cheddar soup came from a Google search in which I landed here. I was looking for something that didn’t use a ton of cream because I wanted to keep it as light as possible.

Pumpkin Spice Cronuts

Everyone is obsessed with cronuts–you know, the croissant/donut hybrid that has become the biggest deal ever the world!? In Philly we have but a few bakeries turning out these babies but they are still hard to come by. So, like an idiot,  I convinced myself that I could make them myself. They didn’t really turn out looking exactly like cronuts because I improvised in a few spots and because I have really, really bad luck with yeast…and because I probably had no business trying in the first place.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Sometimes I randomly get an idea for a recipe, so I Google it and use the first thing that pops up on the search list.  I don’t know what i actually had in mind when I Googled “healthy pumpkin cookies” but the first thing that came up from Sally’s Baking Addiction sounded good enough. And I already had most of the ingredients so my search for healthy cookies ended as soon as it begun.

Mahi Mahi with Zesty Basil Sauce

I am a seafood purist. I still think there is nothing better than a good fillet of salmon with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon. Zesty basil sauce, however, is one of my favorites ways to spruce up a boring piece of fish. I use this for Mahi Mahi as well most other white fish like tilapia and flounder.

The recipe is from Paula Deen but I’m pretty sure I started making this sauce prior to her demise…but I’m not certain. So, this may be a politically incorrect fish, BUT in a whole new way.

The BEST Challah French Toast

In a past life, I would have loved to have been served sweet breakfast treats like French toast every morning. Now, I seldom crave such things and prefer a more savory breakfast. Somewhere, out of nowhere…. I got the inspiration to make an all-star breakfast which is something I never do. There’s something about preparing a meal after just waking up that’s not all that appealing to me–call me crazy! I don’t know how some people whip up breakfasts regularly on the weekend. It’s just not my thing which couldn’t be more clearer if you looked at the Recipes section of this blog and noticed the lack of breakfast foods I’ve made (especially ones that aren’t baked goods!)

Blueberry and Peach Crumble

Just because summer is “officially” over with the coming and going of Labor Day, doesn’t mean you have to immediately stop making your favorite summer foods. Summer doesn’t really end until September 21st so we still have a few weeks to make all the barbecue, fruit cobblers and potato salads that we didn’t get a chance to all throughout June, July and August!

Beef and Quinoa Meatballs

Meatballs are a kind of weird thing to like but I love them. You can make a sandwich out of them, eat them with spaghetti or if you’re like me, sometimes they’re good all of their own! You don’t hear much about meatballs these days but I’m thinking they’re going to have a resurgence some day just like burgers, cauliflower and fro-yo have. In three years when someone dubs meatballs the food of summer, don’t say I didn’t tell you so!!!

Green Tomato and Fig Cupcakes

I have really grown to love my shadowy, lonely cupcake photos…

Right now I am mourning the end of summer. It’ll take me a few weeks to accept the return of Autumn and get excited to bake Pumpkin bread, enjoy the leaves changing colors and break out some warmer clothing. But not yet, please, nature! I needed some super summer recipes badly, and this cupcake was the ultimate pick-me-up. A birthday request, it used seasonal ingredients that were readily available at the market: sweet, plump figs and beautiful, green heirloom tomatoes. I cried a little bit on the inside when I had to puree the tomatoes up–they were so pretty!

Elimination Diet Vegetable Soup

After returning home from a little trip to Las Vegas, I was feeling leery about returning to the kitchen. Little sleep, the hot desert weather and one red-eye plane ride later, I began to think I forgot how to cook. But after indulging in too much good food & drink, my body was craving some healthy home cooking (and also a few more In-N-Out burgers but since we don’t have them on the East Coast, I quickly got over that urge…)

This is the last Gwyneth Paltrow recipe for a long time, I promise!!! This is a part of her “elimination diet” recipes. You can read more about it at her website: Goop.com. And after days of eating in excess, this vegetarian, easy on the stomach meal was BADLY needed. Badly.