Barbecue White Bean Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

This past weekend the hubs and I ate our way through Savannah, Georgia...and what an scrumptious frenzy it was.  The abundance of assorted cornbreads, freshly caught seafood, buttery grits and local liquors was enough to make a gal think about calling off another week of work and just keep eating.  Needless to say, this is not that rich Southern food.  After an overabundance of bacon, butter and other animal bi-products, the hubs and I needed reprieve from their richness.  So this week we're enjoying some of our healthy basics - delicious, nutritious and in this instance meatless.

Mom's Favorite Beef Stew

Dear Old Man Winter, you've made your point.  Please leave.  I will happily forfeit next winter in advance if you would only end your relentless blustering.  Sincerely, the Craig family.  PS - Have I mentioned the pups frozen paws?

Yeah, I'm so over snow.  Maybe if there were a mountain nearby for skiing I would be singing a different tune, but I am stuck in the flattest stretch of midwestern plain around.  I mean, geeze.  The only thing keeping me sane right now is soup...pots and pots of it.  Vegetable, roasted cauliflower, lentil sausage and pesto white bean help the days ease a bit more warmly by.  But when I need a big bowl of comfort food, there is only one soup that can warm my heart and soul...my mom's beef stew.

Mediterranean Chicken Phyllo Cups

There are two things that I love about being invited to a dinner party.  First, I don't have to clean the house.  Second, I don't have to worry about the main course.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore having people come over whom I get to feed.  But there's a delightful ease to being a guest...the host assigns you to appetizer/vegetable/dessert duty and all you have to do is take your assignment and run with it.  It's a great time to try new dishes, knowing the weight of the meal doesn't rest alone on your shoulders.  So when the hubs and I were assigned to appetizer duty for a dinner party last night, I was tickled Greek.  Literally.

Boozy Choco-Nut Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

When it comes to Valentine's Day, you might as well call me Scrooge.  It's my absolute least favorite holiday of the year.  No matter where you go or what you do, it's practically impossible to escape the overabundance of hearts, sugary sweets and bright pinky red...which is like salt in the wound for this med student wife.  For his first three years the hubs was a medical underling, spending the day either cramming for giant exams or working the night shift.  But this year things are completely different.  No night shifts, no traveling for residency interviews and no large tests on the horizon.  Instead, the hubs and I are celebrating Valentine's on the actual day for the first time...ever.  We're going all out this year with cards, flowers and a heart-shaped cake.  But don't let the shape of that cake fool you.  Stuffed with peanut butter, bananas, chocolate chips and hint of whiskey, this is about as far from a pink fluffy dessert as you can get.

Weeknight Coconut Masala

The other day I was having a long belated conversation with one of my favorite punxs (a.k.a. college girlfriends) regarding healthy weeknight eating.  She was trying to get off the fast food track and back onto the healthy homemade route.  A task that is often much easier said that done, especially when you're looking some delicious ethnic comfort food.  I don't know about you, but I have been having serious Indian cravings this winter.  The extended cold and overbearing piles of snow make me jones for the spice and heat of garam masala, cayenne pepper and golden turmeric.  Factor in that this is a make-ahead sauce that can be kept ready for action in the refrigerator and you've got a weeknight meal that can't be beat.

Roasted Salmon with Kale Mushroom Couscous & Sun-dried Tomato Relish

Let's revisit that divine Sun-Dried Tomato Relish I posted a few days back.  I'm still loving this stuff on toast with cream cheese on a daily basis, but this snack is no proper dinner (lazy, yes...sound nutritional value, no).  I've been having quite a fun and tasty time trying this relish with pasta, grilled vegetables and hot dogs (had to be done).  After all, relish can be put on anything...including salmon.

Sun-Dried Tomato Relish

No, there's nothing wrong with your eyes.  You're seeing red, and that red is a relish.  The pickle corporations do not have a copyright on this name, meaning it can still be applied to any spreadable and flavorful concoction regardless of color.  Any chopped vegetable or fruit can become a relish, including sun-dried tomatoes.  And this spread is so delicious, it's honestly borderline inappropriate.  So please allow me to expand your color horizons and introduce you to the relish we're smearing on pretty much everything coming out of our kitchen nowadays.

Coconut Nutella Pound Cake

I've never cared much for pound cake.  After eating one too many heavy, dry and flavorless bricks at the post-church coffee/snack table growing up, I avoided them completely.  But after succumbing to a beautiful looking cranberry loaf over the holidays, the hubs made a startling revelation...he loves pound cake.  Having never made one in all our pre-dating, post-proposal and mid-marriage years, I didn't know these dense little cakes were some of his favorite desserts, especially when served ice cream.  So I got pounding to find some recipes that would delight his palate. (Punny, isn't it?)

Roasted Sesame Stir Fry

There is nothing quite as disheartening as an atypical ingredient in a new recipe you're all jazzed to try.  Fenugreek?  Cardoon?  How about jaggery?  Definitely not your standard pantry dwellers.  Lemongrass is one that I struggle with in particular, always wanting that truly authentic flavor but never being able to find it at a local market (anyone in Ohio reading this, hook a foodie up).  Typically I steer clear of these oddballs, but here I embrace my favorite specialty oil - roasted sesame.  Trust me, this is an ingredient you need to try, especially in this deliciously healthy and easy little stir fry.

Bacon Pesto Waffles

Sweet or savory?  Welcome to the recurring conversation of weekends in our household.  After a morning-breath kiss and the ruling on who has the worse bed head that particular day, this question always arises.  Should breakfast be sweet or savory?  (First world problems, right?)  Perhaps my favorite breakfast bread is waffles which are reserved for sweet days in most households.  And by most I mean "not our".  I absolutely love a savory waffle.  Keep that maple syrup and pass the pesto.  And perhaps some bacon while you're at it.