olives

Mediterranean Chicken Meal Prep Bowls

August 6, 2019

Mediterranean chicken meal prep bowls are a tasty way to stay on track and eat a nutritious, flavorful lunch. A few minutes of planning ahead and you will have a week’s worth of lunches ready for the work week.

Meal prep can be the difference between staying on track with healthy eating choices or going off the rails and finding yourself ordering a Mc whatever through a speaker in the drive-through.

Chicken meal prep, like this Moroccan Chicken Meal Prep Bowl, is likely the easiest to do because it’s what most of us eat. Dedicating a few extra minutes on weekends to set up your meals for the week is time well spent. Whether it be lunches, dinners or both – planning ahead is essential.

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Mediterranean Orzo Salad

July 6, 2019

Most recent update: 7/6/19
It’s finally summer and you know what that means – picnics, barbecues and long days at the beach. This Mediterranean orzo salad is perfect for taking on the go. It is light, yet substantial and dressed in a light vinaigrette.

I love this particular pasta salad because of all of the fresh vegetables it has. If you really wanted to load it up – broccoli, julienned zucchini, summer squash, cauliflower, red bell pepper or even summer beans would all be great in this salad.

Making salads of all kinds is my go-to during the warmer months. Check out my favorite summer salads post, you might find a new favorite!

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Tomato Cucumber Salad Recipe

September 2, 2018

This Tomato Cucumber Salad Recipe is a great way to use up your end of summer bounty. As summer comes to an end, tomatoes and cucumbers are plentiful and this salad celebrates all the flavors of the season.
With ripe heirloom tomatoes, seedless English cucumber, kalamata olives, marinated artichokes and a burst of lemon, this salad is the perfect summer side or light lunch.

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Easy, Spanish-Style Marinated Olives

December 26, 2017

Marinated olives are a great party nibble. They are best when made ahead, which makes life a little easier when you are hosting the gathering. I like to take homemade (food) gifts with me when I am a guest at a party, especially during this time of the year. New Year’s Eve is only days away and I’m sure if you showed up to a shindig with these in hand, the host/hostess would be very happy. The olives are ready to serve, all that needs to be done is pour them into a bowl. And who wouldn’t appreciate an extra appetizer that arrives ready to serve?
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Flour, Salt, Water, Yeast

June 10, 2012

These basic four ingredients that most of us already have in the pantry plus a few other add ins and that’s all that is needed to turn a few basic ingredients into focaccia.

I had been thinking about making it for months, but for one reason or another talked myself out of it every time… until now. I was thinking that it was such a hassle (it’s not) and that it would be a process (it hardly qualifies as work) to make it… blah, blah, blah. It had been awhile since I had made focaccia and I had just forgotten how ridiculously easy it is.

It is as simple as weighing some flour, mixing yeast & water and turning on a mixer. I should be ashamed of myself for putting it off for so long, especially when it really is that easy.

If you don’t have a kitchen scale, a cup of flour weighs approximately 5 ounces.
There are 16 ounces in a pound, so therefore 1 lb and 4 ounces of flour is 20 ounces. Divided by 5 gives you 4 cups of flour. I used a little more than that. I weighed my flour first and then measured it so I could give you the cup measurement and for me it came out closer to 4 and a half cups.

I know with all this math, I’ve probably just talked you out of weighing flour but it really isn’t all that bad. Please forgive the math lesson and let’s get on with the dough…

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Cod & Tapenade

May 9, 2011

Some things just go together… peanut butter & jelly, bacon & eggs, mashed potatoes & gravy, champagne & … hell, ANYTHING.

For me, another one of those pairings is fish and any kind of salty condiment. I love salt. I know it isn’t good for you in excess, but I can’t help it. There are at least 8 different kinds of salt in my kitchen at this very moment. Smoked Salt, Truffle Salt, Hawaiian Pink Salt, French Sea Salt, Kosher Salt, Maldon Salt, Australian Pink Flake Salt, Sel Gris, but NEVER idiodized table salt.

I am not alone in this near-obsession. As is the case with most Chefs, we have a salty palate. What I mean by that is we are so accustomed to highly seasoned food that for the average person it can be a bit too salty. (My Mom used to tease me that she was going to buy me a salt lick at the feed store by our house).

To feed my addiction, I made olive tapenade. It is one of the most delicious things and it will keep in your refrigerator for over a week. It can be eaten on its own: spread of a piece of warm, toasted baguette, or use it as a flavoring on a piece of fish for example. Luckily for me I have a great fishmonger a few blocks away, which brings me back to some things just go together… Fish loves salt. It doesn’t have to come from actual salt, it can come from bacon, capers or olive tapenade! If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Where do fish live? (in salty ocean water…)

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