Pickles Go With Everything

Wanted to revive the old food blog. Cooked this vegetable enchilada casserole for my best friend being over this weekend. Was very spicy but would absolutely make again. Can certainly double the amount of zucchini and corn. 

First of all, the recipe is intended to make 2 loaves, so I half everything in the recipe. I replace the vegetable oil with apple sauce and the creme fraiche with plain green yogurt. I also only use about 1/3 cup of brown sugar instead of the sugar it calls for.  If not brown sugar, I have used cane sugar.  The result is a delicious, low-calorie, guilt-free banana bread muffin recipe without using tons of sugar, oil, and butter!  

Chana Saag recipe from Budget Bytes.  My only mistake was not mashing up the garbanzo beans slightly for texture.  I used almond milk instead of evaporated and fresh spinach instead of frozen. Delicious!

Lamb Ragu with homemade sauce and mint.  The recipe was from a magazine I think, but good lord was this dish incredible. Worth the time and effort.

Nothing better than home-made French toast for breakfast.  We used fresh challah bread this time and I can't imagine pairing it with anything other than syrup, powdered sugar, and strawberries.  Yum!

We love beans for some reason.  It was smoky, crunchy, and the spice was delicious.

Home made pork ramen courtesy of my friend, Alex.  It was incredible. 

Roasted Potatoes and a Bulgur salad with dried apricots, pistachios, and herbs.  Recipe from Fine Cooking: http://ow.ly/r8jpE

Quiche from Cafe Crema in Harvard Square; one of our favorite places to have breakfast.

Mashed potatoes with Stilton bleu cheese, Rosemary, almond milk, and pancetta.  I modified the recipe found at epicurious http://ow.ly/mwvtQ.

Because I love sweet potato so much, I often like to bake sweet potato fries at home with spices like paprika, red chili peppers, and olive oil.  This time I put some crumbled stilton cheese on it for sweet and saltiness.

Beet cured salmon with egg and cheese at Sofra Bakery in Cambridge, MA.

Sweet Potato Sticks - Tempura-battered sweet potato with powdered sugar and a tabasco dipping sauce.  Savory, umami, sweet, and spicy all in this magnificent appetizer at Sushi Nami.

Favorite new Mediterranean panino to make at home: beet tzaziki, persian cucumbers, tomatoes, feta, spinach, red onion, and black olive pressed on ciabatta.

Sweet & Sassy Hot roasted pecans from Q's Nuts, local to Somerville, MA.  I had the pleasure of meeting Brian once at a tasting event and his shirt said "Eat my nuts!".  Do yourself a favor and buy these nuts at a local retailer or online.  I promise they will change your life.

Recipe for a favorite sandwich of mine, the Iberian.

Finally made tabbouleh at home!  This was a bit of a chunkier tabbouleh but still delicious!