Tag: healthy

Spicy Chocolate Chip-Hazelnut Cookies recipe and cookbook review: Season by Nik Sharma

jenniferguerrero1 March 1, 2019

#Season #ABrownTable #NikSharma #ChronicleBooks #chocolate #cookies

Nik grew up in India, then lived in the Midwestern and Northeastern U.S., and finally settled in California with his husband from the Southern U.S. All of those influences are very present in his food, and it makes for the most delightful fusion. I was thumbing through Season: Big Flavors, Beautiful Food, oohing and aahing, flagging recipes to try. His spiced, roasted potato salad called for paneer and chourico as ingredients, but listed page numbers for their recipes. I’d never made cheese before and was delighted that he thought it was simple enough to be just a lead-in recipe. I hopped right in the car to go grab a gallon of milk to get started, and I’m so glad I did! It really was that easy. I can’t tell you how many recipes I’ve passed by in Indian cookbooks if I wasn’t going to have time to pop by a specialty market. That wont happen again! But that’s just background preparation. His dishes have wonderfully complex, deep flavors, and are creatively inspirational. This book was a joy to explore.

Jen’s West African Peanut Soup and a stunning knife

jenniferguerrero1 February 22, 2019

Twenty-something years ago, when we were still newlyweds, I asked my husband if there were any favorite foods he had that I wasn’t making. He thought for a minute and said, “Yeah. Peanut soup. When I was in basic training, we had it once when we were out on leave, and it was one of the best things I’d ever eaten.” Huh. I’d never heard of peanut soup before.

It’s a West African dish, filled with all kinds of nutritious stuff. I had to make it. It was amazing! I kept it constantly in the rotation, tweaking it to my heart’s content, because it’s just as delicious as it is good for you. Perfect.

Jen’s Buffalo Joes – as in the meat, not the sauce ;)

jenniferguerrero1 January 28, 2019

Oh January, how I love you! After 5 fast-paced months, good old sleepy, relaxing January shows up, and I have very little to do. I love to really take advantage of it by getting double workouts in every day (well, 5 days a week), and go freezer diving for the dinner centerpieces. What do I find in that freezer? A lot of healthier cuts of meat that my well-intentioned self buys if I go to Costco hungry, and then they sit in the freezer waiting to become something.

Jen’s Smoky, Cheesy, Bacon & Chicken over Spaghetti Squash with Lots of Complementary Vegetables. Mmmmm.

jenniferguerrero1 January 21, 2019

It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day, National Hug Day, and my birthday! And yesterday was National Cheese Lover’s Day. Time for a combination of two wonderful things: cheese and smokiness. I fell in love with a pasta dish from a recipe card that came with a Pampered Chef pan years ago, and have adapted it to my taste over the years. It’s pretty distant from the original, but that was the inspiration. Glorious inspiration. I hope you love it!

Jen’s Feel oh-so-good Juice with Fresh Turmeric

jenniferguerrero1 December 27, 2018

My husband and I ~~run~~ jog 5 miles 3 times a week and do kettlebells, bike, or yoga another 3. I remember reading years ago (probably Dr. Weil) that pineapple, garlic, and ginger were great for inflammation and joint health. Okay! Those are easy ingredients to keep in the rotation. Do they work? Well, in regular everyday life, are you really going to scientifically test things in isolation to know? No, of course not. They’re all tasty, and I’ve felt fine up til now, so I’m keeping them in. 😉 About a year ago my elbow started hurting. I tried to ignore it. But it continued hurting. Badly. Was it the kettlebells? Was it that I held my water bottle in the same hand every time I run? Was it because I’m forty-something and time is really unkind? Who knows?! Read More

Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipe for Bridget Jones’s Pan-Fried Salmon with Pine Nut Salsa and Cookbook review: Ottolenghi Simple

jenniferguerrero1 October 16, 2018

#ottolenghi #ottolenghisimple #tenspeedpress

I was flipping through the book, flagging recipes to try, and read, “This is the dish Patrick Dempsey’s character tells Renee Zellweger’s Bridget Jones that he would have brought her on their imaginary date in Bridget Jones’s Baby. “From Ottolenghi,” says Dempsey, “delicious and healthy!” And easy we might add! What sounded like a bit of product placement on our part was in fact no such thing. The recipe didn’t even exist on our menu, so this is a retrospective acknowledgment.” Okay, I was trying to steer clear of it, and cook absolutely everything else in the book, because it sounds like a one-liner. Curiosity got the better of me. Wowza! Bridget Jones’ Pan-Fried Salmon with Pine Nut Salsa is an amazing salmon dish. lol! Read More

Poppy Seed Danish recipe and Cookbook Review: Scandinavian Comfort Food: Embracing the Art of Hygge by Trine Hahnemann

jenniferguerrero1 May 16, 2018

I grew up in Wisconsin. People know about the cheese, beer, and bratwurst. Scandinavian bakeries are a really big deal there, too. Everyone’s got strong opinions about which bakery is the absolute best to get kringle and Danishes for holidays, gatherings, and weekends. Oh, I miss those bakeries! When I have a craving, I love to make them at home now. One of my favorite Scandinavian cookbooks is Scandinavian Comfort Food: Embracing the Art of Hygge by Trine Hahnemann. A huge thank you to Quadrille for letting me share her recipe for Poppy Seed Danishes with you! They are so delicious! (And yeah, she has a recipe for Kringle in there, too!) My review of the book is right after the recipe. Amazing book.

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