Tag: healthy

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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Jen’s Strawberry Spinach Salad with Raspberry Poppyseed Vinaigrette and Grilled Orange Rosemary Chicken

jenniferguerrero1 April 24, 2018

Summer’s on its way! I saw a recipe for a strawberry spinach salad in a Penzey’s catalog years ago. I loved it. It’s the most friendly salad ever. I’ve played with it to make the dressing a little lighter, added grilled orange chicken, and changed the pistachios to candied pecans. It’s perfect with Pellegrino with lime if the kids have talked you into playing outside after dinner, or with a lovely Pinot Grigio if you’re planning to relax.

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Cookbook Review: Eat a Little Better: Great Flavor, Good Health, Better World by Sam Kass

jenniferguerrero1 April 10, 2018

I was just listening to the end of Marcus Samuelsson’s Yes, Chef, when he mentioned that Sam Kass introduced him to the Obamas, and that’s how Marcus got to cook dinner for them, when this book, Eat a Little Better: Great Flavor, Good Health, Better World, came across my desk. I was very excited to thumb through it and see what a president gets to eat, and I wasn’t disappointed at all. Beautiful book. I was surprised by the simplicity of the dishes. Kass’ style is simple preparations of nourishing food, with easy, perfect techniques that develop a lot of flavor. It’s good for you, feel good food, and it’s yummy. It’s all family pleasers. The kids have enjoyed the dishes as much as my husband and I.

Who’s this book for? I’d recommend it to anyone that wants nice healthy, nourishing food without cutting anything out. The recipes are on the easy end of the spectrum, and my kids love them, so I think it’s a good fit for anything from someone’s first apartment to the experienced cook. Read More

Jen’s Pina Colada Coconut Pancakes. Healthy, Deeeeelicious, and Vegetarian.

jenniferguerrero1 February 15, 2018

Oh brunch! How I love you! A few years ago, we spent a few days in Denver on the way to Yellowstone. What a cool city! If you go, the art museum there is absolutely amazing. Definitely in my top 5 art museums ever. There’s a breakfast place there called Snooze. http://snoozeeatery.com/ You have to wait to get in, but it’s oh so worth it! Mmmm. Sweet potato buttermilk pancakes topped with homemade caramel, candied pecans and ginger butter. Buttermilk pancakes with caramelized pineapple chunks, housemade vanilla crème anglaise and cinnamon butter. I LOVE those pineapple upside down pancakes!

I started playing with that idea in my kitchen trying to bring a little vacation home. I added dollops of crushed pineapple and a sprinkle of sugar to each pancake before flipping it, and it caramelized so nicely. Delish. Then it hit me! Coconut flour is healthier than regular flour and it’s banging the same tropical vibe. And coconut milk makes everything more decadent even though it’s good for you. Oh baby! The wheels were spinnin’! Coconut flour and almond flour pancakes love to stick to the pan, so you need to make them smaller. And that would make adding a little dollup and sprinkle to each fussy. Hmmm. In Maricel Presilla’s Gran Cocina Latina: The Food of Latin America, she makes the most cravable caramelized pineapple, avocado, and red onion salad. (She has a killer restaurant in Hoboken, New Jersey, right through the Lincoln Tunnel from Manhattan, called Cucharamama, and you must go if you’re ever near there. She’s a culinary genius and food history nerd extraordinaire!) The pineapple is caramelized under the broiler, just getting turned once. Perfect technique for this!

They’re healthier this way, but they’re yummier, too! It tastes like an island vacation. It’s a little plate of sunshine. Delicious, delicious sunshine.

It’s a weekend, so let’s set the kitchen mood! Put on a Marley’s Legend or turn your XM to 42 for the reggae channel. Prefer a little Cuban music? Albita’s No Se Parece A Nada wonderful. Or a little Jazz or Blues is always brunch appropriate. Or crank Metallica’s Kill ‘Em All (Remastered). You do you. Open the windows. But brunch is really at its yummiest on the porch. Truth.

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Jen’s Avocado, Sweet Potato, and Bacon Breakfast

jenniferguerrero1 February 8, 2018

We eat everything, but I end up with a lot of vegetarian and vegan books because I’m a massive produce-head. I stumbled upon a recipe in The Simply Vegan Cookbook: Easy, Healthy, Fun, and Filling Plant-Based Recipes Anyone Can Cook by Dustin Harder (Great book – at the very healthy end of the vegan spectrum and super easy), where sweet potatoes stood in for the bread in avocado toast. I loved the idea. A total vitamin punch with twice as much vegetables in breakfast – I’m in! I wanted stronger flavors and enjoy a little protein in the morning, so I started playing with the idea.

If you love them, please come and find me again! :D Or you can hit that big, shiny follow button and you’ll get an email once or twice a week when I post.

If you love it, come back and find me again! :D

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