Food Blog

Panzanella, otherwise known as Panmolle, is a salad that originated in the Tuscan and Umbrian regions of Italy. Its most prominent ingredient is stale Italian bread, which I can only assume was used due to the abundance of bread in the area that wasn’t eaten, but should have been. Not wanting to waste food, a salad was born. I didn’t allow my bread to become stale before preparing this dish, so I pan fried it on my stovetop in olive oil. I basically made croutons, which were incredible. A bit of olive oil, a sprinkle of salt, and lots of flavor. This salad also includes tomatoes, cucumber, colorful peppers, and a wonderful parsley, scallion, and caper vinaigrette. When everything is mixed together, an awesome salad is the result. Click through for the recipe and photos. I think you’re going to love this one. Continue reading…

When you get bored of your weekend morning breakfasts, give fresh muffins a try. There are endless recipes floating around the internet. Type “muffin recipe” into your favorite search engine and pick one that appeals to you. They’re so easy to put together and you most likely have the ingredients on hand already. There’s nothing like the smell of fresh muffins baking at home on a Saturday or Sunday. I baked some this past Sunday morning and I decided to share the recipe I used here on my blog. They’re actually cinnamon donut muffins that taste just like donuts – the type you find at an apple orchard while apple picking in September or October. They’re very good muffins, so I hope you’ll click through to take a look at some photos and the easy to follow recipe. Continue reading…

Some salads are easier to make than others. This is one of the easy ones. The only difficulty might be locating some of the necessary fresh herbs. The recipe calls for young, tender dandelion leaves and sorrel. The trouble is, these two ingredients are only available in the wild during early spring. Since it’s winter where I am and snow is still on the ground, I went to the supermarket and bought an herb mixture that included arugula, baby spinach, red lettuce, and a few other things. I’ll try this recipe again in a month or so because the herbs really are the star of the show. Other than that, everything is straightforward. The salad includes a very nice balsamic vinegar, garlic, and wine vinaigrette and some hard-boiled egg and black olives. There’s hardly anything to this dish, but it’s tasty and easy to make. Click through for the recipe. Continue reading…

There aren’t many frittatas that are as easy to put together as this one is. The recipe calls for a mere seven ingredients and that includes the olive oil, salt, and pepper. What we’re left with is the eggs, bacon or Parma ham, zucchini, and basil or parsley. The zucchini adds some wonderful texture and the bacon adds a nice salty and flavorful bite. Topping with chopped basil or parsley brings everything home nicely. For the simplicity of this dish, I’d say it’s rather tasty. Frittatas don’t need many ingredients as it is. I’ve made some incredible ones that were limited to oil, eggs, and cheese, so the zucchini and bacon just add to the flavor profile. Click through for the recipe. Continue reading…

I don’t buy fresh asparagus all too often. I limit myself to eating it when it’s in season or when I’ve got an incredible recipe that takes full advantage of it. The latter is the case here. In today’s post, I share a recipe for an ultra simple asparagus, tomato, and kalamata olive dish. The entire dish takes about 15 minutes to prepare and is delicious. If you read the ingredient list, you’ll find that there’s not much to it. Beyond what I just mentioned above, the recipe calls for garlic, olive oil, fresh basil, grated Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Like I said, there’s no much to it. Luckily, some of the best eating on earth is simple, so click through to take a look. Continue reading…

I like rustic Italian family style meals most out of any other type of food. A few nights ago, I happened to stumble upon what appeared to be the perfect recipe for the perfect dish. I found the recipe in my favorite Italian cookbook; it’s a rigatoni, vegetable, and cream sauce au gratin and it was a no-brainer for me to put it together. I have to tell you, this was the one I’ve been looking for. Take a look at the photos in this post and tell me you wouldn’t want to scoop some of this au gratin onto a big plate and have at it. Not only was the rigatoni big and bold, the vegetables mixed with the cheesy cream sauce was out of this world. Click through to take a look at this dish. If you’re into Italian food as much as I am, you’ll love it. I’m sure of it. Continue reading…

Lentils are an excellent addition to just about anyone’s diet. They’re high in fiber, protein, and iron. They also include B vitamins, magnesium, potassium, and zinc. And on top of all this, lentils also provide antioxidants such as Vitamin A and Vitamin C as well as tannins and phytochemicals. Needless to say, lentils are what’s considered a “superfood.” The trick is, you’ll need to cook the lentils and add them to a magnificent dish to obtain the utmost enjoyment from them. Luckily, I’ve got just the recipe for you to achieve that goal. In today’s post, I show you the ingredients necessary and the instructions for preparing a divine lentil and black bean salad. While the salad tastes great, the best part is that it’ll only cost you a few dollars in ingredients. My advice would be to double or triple up on this recipe. There’s no excuse not to. Lentils and beans are super cheap. Click through for the recipe. Continue reading…

Frittatas are a staple in our house. We’ve been making this type of food for years and have dozens of recipes under our belts. I’ve learned that the simpler the better when it comes to this dish and that’s what I’ve got for you today – a simple and easy frittata from none other than Mary Berry. Mary’s original recipe called for chunks of bacon, but since I didn’t have any on hand, I substituted with tomatoes. The result was fabulous. This recipe calls for only a few ingredients; mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, eggs, and Parmesan cheese. The cooking process is straightforward, so there shouldn’t be anything in your way for this one. Click through to check out the recipe for this fabulous dish and to take a look at my photos of the same. Thanks! Continue reading…

Bean salads are so simple to prepare, I’m not sure why I don’t make more of them. I was inspired by looking through all my stored beans a few days ago, so I decided to check out a few recipes online. I found one that fit my needs and then I proceeded to make way too much food. I’ve now got an enormous pot of some rather delicious bean salad. This particular recipe uses beans, onion, cucumber, capers, and a honey vinaigrette. If I don’t say so myself, it’s very good. Click through to check out the recipe and some of my fun pics. This is a good one. Continue reading…

I can imagine zucchini sandwiches as being tasty. But I can imagine zucchini sandwiches topped with an olive tapenade and goat cheese as being a lot more tasty. That’s what this sandwich has – an extraordinarily tasty tapenade paired with goat cheese under some fresh Swiss chard. These ingredients combine wonderfully to make the perfect sandwich. It’s got heft to fill you up and flavor to impress even the most discerning of critics. This is another recipe put out by America’s Test Kitchen, so you know it’ll be good. Click through to check it out. Continue reading…