Soups, Salads and Sides
Squash to Arugula, Basil to Beans – What to do with September Produce
Squash to Arugula, Basil to Beans – What to do with September Produce September in Georgia is still warm, and we’re STILL getting lots of great fruits and veggies to pair up for dinner. (WooHoo!) Here are the three easy recipes to enjoy the best of the season that I...
Traveling and Tasting: All about the Rhone!
If you like Big Reds and Crisp Whites, then wines from France’s Rhone Valley are for you! And the food? Oh! The food. Lyon, the northern anchor of the Rhone Valley has often been called the gastronomic capital of France. The city of Lyon boasts the largest collection...
Kicking the New Year Off Right – A Bright and Refreshing Salad Dressing and Ways to Use it!
Happy New Year! If you are thinking about better-for-you eating, I have an incredibly delicious way to get excited about it. The way I see it, the only way to continue past the first few weeks of this resolution time of the year is to make the food you eat absolutely...
Med Style Watermelon, Beet and Halloumi Salad
Have you had Halloumi? Its the delicious cheese from the eastern Mediterranean that we often find in Greek restaurants. Halloumi has a distinctive chewy texture similar to Indian paneer and has a very savory. salty flavor because its brined in a salt water solution....
How to Make Vegetable Stock – Ten Tips
Veg Stock ready for the freezer! Yup, its January. Here in Atlanta we are doing two things almost every day. Complaining about the cold weather, and craving soup. I love to follow the seasons in my kitchen, and as a teaching chef - January is all about soups, stews...
Just for YOU – 2015 Sneak Peak Classes
Wow! I can tell its time for gifts! I am getting lots of requests for information about 2015 classes. Just for you all, here's a sneak peek at my classes at Cooks Warehouse. The 2015 catalog will be out soon, but for you special folks...for planning...
NINE Fantastic Uses for Leftover Herbs
Its that time of the year, the time of the year when I start getting lots and lots and LOTS of emails about what to do with leftover herbs. Maybe it's the all the herbs that people buy when they are getting ready for the holidays? Maybe the cold weather inspires...
Crockpot Pulled Chicken
I just googled the phrase, “who invented the crockpot”. This is going to sound really sexist, but of course I thought it HAD to be a woman. Who else but a busy workingwoman would think of a way to quickly create a hot, nourishing dinner deserved by her family?...
Tasting Summer’s Best Soup and Wine
Most people are surprised when I tell them that gazpacho was originally made WITHOUT tomatoes. Yes, it’s true. The oldest version of Spanish gazpacho is thought to be from the area around the city of Cordoba, and was made with bread, garlic, oil and water! It was...
Roasted Red Peppers Take Over the World!
A PILE of Peppers! Its often the simplest foods that make me happy. You too? One of my simple favorites are Roasted Red Peppers. I feel a little like the Sham WOW guy when I start talking about them:) Wow! they are a snack, an entree, in a soup, topping a pasta,...
Looking for Spring Soup
Wow! Its been a long cold hard winter here in Atlanta. And yes. I know that many of you have had a much rougher time of it - the polar vortex and all it has brought to the north and midwest. But here in the south, we are usually already looking for signs of spring....
Creamy and Rich Sweet Potato and Roasted Almond Soup
I love sweet potatoes. The great news about them? Unlike most things I love, sweet potatoes are actually GOOD for us. They are one of the best sources of beta-cartotene and are a great source of vitamin A, the vitamin that promotes good eyesight! Plus, in order for us...
Toast is HOT! Sautéed Pears on Warm Goat Cheese TOAST
Who knew? Toast is the next Kale, or at least it is to some of the food-trend-prognosticators that I follow. So imagine my surprise, when presented a menu last week, with an appetizer appropriately named, “Three Toasts”. (Don’t ever tell me Atlanta’s food scene isn’t...
Spicy Tuesday – Apple Carrot Fennel Soup – Mint
A soup made with apples? Oh yeah! At this week's Spicy Tuesday Blog Post, here: Living and Eating Well: Apple Carrot Fennel Soup
Spicy Tuesday – Apple Carrot Fennel Soup – Mint
A soup made with apples? Oh yeah! At this week's Spicy Tuesday Blog Post, here: Living and Eating Well: Apple Carrot Fennel Soup
Inspired by Provence – Roasted Veggie Soup for Dinner Tonight
A fellow chef recently wrote an article all about why she didn't like the word, "veggies". She felt strongly that by referring to vegetables as "veggies" that we were demeaning the most wonderful category of food. The author, Deborah Madison is a culinary rock star....
Cauliflower Tabbouleh
Ahhhh, Pinterest. The source of many great ideas and lots of yummy food. Or at least Lea, my Sous Chef thinks so... You may be more like me, dipping into the pictures and quickly scanning the feed for a little eye candy once in a while. But Lea,...
It HAS to be Soup! Fragrant Spiced Chickpea Curry
Thank GOODNESS the sun is shining because the temp on my phone is still 27F. Yikes, who ordered this weather. Last week I was in St Pete, Florida. Sunshine most days, even on the cloudy ones it never dropped below 60F. Heaven. Today I am cranking out work at my...
How to Make a Creamy Soup, Without Cream!
Yes, there is creamy soup without cream. It tastes better than the tongue-coating-viscous creations made by my French colleagues. (Heresy!! But true.) Plus, it allows you to leave the table without feeling like a food coma is immeninent. Why do we put ourselves...
Creamy Shallot and Manchego Soufflés
Soufflés Out of the Oven and Ready to Serve! Let's just admit it. We all like to have our own teeny tiny personal servings of food. I'm not sure where this comes from - whether its that we don't like to share:) OR we like to play with our food. What ever the reason,...