Spinach and Goat Cheese Pizza with Roasted Garlic

I recently joined a yoga studio next to a whole foods (cliche, I know).  This is a dangerous combination, but it reminded me of this AMAZING frozen pizza crust they sell.  It's a great versatile product that doesn't have the typical preservatives found in ready-made crusts.  I created a "white sauce" with crushed roasted garlic and topped it with caramelized onions, spinach, and goat cheese.

Corn and Pineapple Salsa

Salsa is a great low calorie way to add a lot of flavor.  While tomatoes are great around here, I love east coast corn and wanted to try to incorporate it into a salsa.  Raw corn adds crunch and sweetness, but it could be charred over the grill.  Pineapple and avocado round out this fabulous topping for fish.

Sun-dried Tomato Pesto

I am so proud to be the plant-mommy of a basil plant.  Whenever it's getting a little too big, I break out the food processor and make a huge batch of pesto to freeze.  As much as I love garlicky cheesey basil goodness, I thought I should branch out a little after reading a great article about pesto in Saveur.  Sun-dried tomatoes add a sweet note so I balanced it with a little crushed red pepper.   This is great with pasta with a spoonful of cream cheese or as an accompaniment to scrambled eggs.

Roasted Red Peppers

Whoever designed my kitchen was an idiot.  The gas stove is right under the smoke alarm, which means if I ever even want to turn it on I have to turn on both the stove fan and a giant fan we've put on the fridge directed right at the smoke alarm.  Hence, using the flame on the gas stove to roast red peppers or corn is out of the question without a visit from firemen.

When red peppers went on sale, I was bound and determined to finally attempt to make my own roasted red peppers, alarm be damned!  Instead of the stove top, I used a super hot oven to blister the skins.

Homemade Spinach Pasta with Lemon Artichoke Cream Sauce

My favorite toy I ever got for Christmas was not a barbie or a lego set, it was a pasta roller attachment for my stand mixer two years ago.  The funny thing - I didn't want it originally for pasta, it was for pierogis!  I hated rolling out the especially springy dough and thought that would be the easiest way to mass produce pierogis and not leave any filling behind.  While I still have not been able to do that, I have learned a thing or two about making pasta!

Frozen chopped spinach is the star of this dish for its flavor, color, and saved time!  Frozen vegetables are not only a great convenience, because they are flash frozen at their ripest they retain fresh flavor.  I always keep frozen corn, peas, edamame, and broccoli in my freezer for any dish that may require a quick vegetable addition.  In this instance, I also took advantage of frozen artichokes.  These are a great option because fresh artichokes are a pain to prepare and jarred marinated artichokes are a little too powerful to combine in light sauces.

Cucumber Gazpacho

In the same vein of the recent zucchini dishes, cucumber has been abundant in the local produce bins.  The 90+ degree weather calls for cold meals, so I came up with a light cucumber gazpacho with coconut milk and greek yogurt to keep it light and tangy.  After making the refreshing base, very finely diced pepper, cucumber, shallots, and celery are added for crunchy texture.  The soup is topped off with crushed and toasted macadamia nuts.

Zucchini Fritters

Caught in the nostalgia of Zucchini Bread, I ended up with two extra cups of shredded zucchini.  The shape and texture reminded me of the packaged shredded potato for homefries, which got my wheels turning from homefries to latkes to fritters!  Zucchini fritters!

Zucchini Bread

Nothing makes me happier than walking into the grocery store and seeing a local produce bin.  The seasonal produce will be at its freshest due to the shorter farm-to-table distance.  Bonus - you can brag about how you care about the environment and call yourself a locavore!  Of course, I will have to call you loco while snickering into a bite of my delicious quick bread.

Zucchini is a summer squash that I love sliced thinly length-wise and grilled.  Despite being treated like a veggie, it is botanically an immature fruit, being the ovary of the oft-sought zucchini flower.  As such, it does well in sweet dishes like this quick bread.

This recipe is a bit of a family heirloom, holding a special place in the cracked yellow recipe box in our cookbook cabinet.  One of my favorite memories is the time that my mother, sister, and I attempted to make this bread one snow day.  We dropped a whole bowl of grated zucchini, went to the grocery store to get more, then dropped a whole carton of eggs after we got back and had to go to the 7-11 to get more eggs!  It was a giggly hott mess, but the bread still turned out delicious!  I didn't mess with the recipe one bit out of nostalgia, although feel free to experiment with any combination of vegetables, fruits, or spices.

Roasted Garlic

I’m a garlic lover, it’s no secret.  When a recipe will call for one or two cloves, I want to throw the whole darn head in the pot.   Roasted garlic is just that: and entire head of garlic roasted until it takes on a creamy texture and a subtly sweet taste.

Roasted Garlic Tzatziki

Despite the fact yogurt is so good for you, I have always hated it.  Be it the texture, the sour tang, or the idea that I’m eating bacteria (that I swear I can feel moving) but it just has never been my thing.  However, I have the uncanny ability to eat yogurt ONLY if all liquid has been removed and replaced by garlic and lemon juice.  Hence, this non-yogurt eater is a huge tzatziki fan!

Tzatziki has turned into one of my favorite summer time recipes.   Shredded cucumber, mint, parsley, and lemon give the sauce its fresh taste.  It’s a healthier alternative to onion dip with the garlic and goes great as a side for grilled or roasted lamb.  The only problem with tzatziki is a heavy hand while adding the garlic.  Its a raw sauce, so adding a lot of finely minced garlic will overpower the taste of everything else.  Instead, I roasted an entire head of garlic to impart the flavor of garlic but still let the other ingredients shine.