Here you’ll find everything I’m preparing in my kitchen - from veggies, to leftovers and pasta. I eat simply, and I cook for one, but love cooking for others. And no matter what, I always pause to plate pretty.
Most of my meals are often times the result of freestyle recipe free ingredient riffing and a trip to the vegetable market. Produce is my passion, and I hope that you won’t simply come here for a recipe - but that you’ll read, cook and create a new story of your own.
I believe there’s power in a stocked pantry and freezer. From traditional Italian dishes to alternative sweets, vegan and vegetarian swaps - there’s something for everyone.
Let this serve as inspiration and let’s eat!
Three more bananas were staring me down in the kitchen this week and I really should be eating them given their benefits when one is PMSing and needs anti bloating and potassium boost for muscle relief. Alas, such is not their story this week. Yet again. The pantry is stocked with peanut butter powder in bulk,
Read MoreBefore the quarantine and an NYC food frenzy went down my pantry was lined with beans, while the bottom shelf of my storage closet had a large bowl filled with sweet potatoes for roasting. These are and always will be two of my main cooking staples. Beans were always a staple in our home,
Read MoreThe other morning I woke up to three very ripe bananas hanging from the hook on the far left of my utility stand in my kitchen. I watched them for days, moving from green to perfectly ripe. Eventually they became speckled with spots and then, finally, covered in brown with no prayer to be eaten. I truly had intentions to eat one
Read MoreRoasted sweet potatoes have to be my ultimate Sunday staple. If I have time to do no cooking whatsoever, I will never ever skip roasting sweet potatoes. No need to fuss and peel or cube and dice, no and no. Simply slice in half and rub with olive oil, placing face down on a baking sheet and roasting on 425 for 20-25 minutes.
Read MoreWith ½ a can of chickpeas, ½ of a lemon, ½ an onion, garlic, a few baby carrots and tomatoes lingering on my countertop, I decided to make a single serving soup for lunch. The spice cabinet is loaded and I’ve feta in the fridge from my trip to the Mediterranean market over a week ago.
Read MoreWhen the going gets tough and you’re in quarantine, grocery items and leaving the house can be limited. You can push cooking aside, you know, like peas on a kids dinner plate. In adulting, cooking has become our universal pea - but I want to help end that struggle by reframing cooking. Especially now and especially during this time.
Read MoreWhen I was kid I spent a lot of time sleeping at friends homes. Between my moms schedule; one that required taking my brother to the hospital a few days a week, and dads late nights truck driving - memories of food that I built outside of my family home have stayed in my heart and still give me comfort today. I loved sleeping over Antoinette’s and it wasn’t just because she had two older brothers that were handsome
Read MoreI didn’t quarantine shop being as my pantry is always stocked for isolation and my refrigerator is a treasure trove of wrapped veggies, greens and more. Cooking in quarantine doesn’t have to be about frozen pre-made meals or bagged snacks, it can still be about smart cooking, using ingredients a few ways and making meals last.
Read MoreMy Dear Friends and Family - As we all sit in a giant bottomless bowl of uncertainty soup, I want to remind you that we can also access our joy at any point in the day. It’s a choice. I know we’re living in unprecedented times and it’s scary. I’m trying to find the gift of time with myself, without being afraid of myself and without thinking into the future.
Read MoreDouble Dinner: the instance in which one eats two dinners; often times lying about having just eaten at a friends house - so another dinner can be eaten before bedtime. And, so, I spent the majority of my childhood eating double dinners as I bounced from friend’s houses to home during most weeknights.
Read MoreThis fruity oatmeal bake came about because I want a good, warming breakfast in the morning without relying on eggs or having to start from scratch to make something in the AM. Staring into the depths of my freezer I questioned when I’d make a smoothie again and honestly answered myself with a “no time soon.” In the colder months I’m way less about smoothies and more about comfort.
Read MoreTo my knowledge tourlou tourlou translates in Greek to all mixed up. I love saying tourlou tourlou. Roll your r’s and repeat tourlou tourlou as though conjuring up a most intoxicating spell. And, I suppose this rustic all vegetable stew could be likened to an intoxicating spell all its own. Vegan friendly and the perfect hearty crowd pleaser […]
Read MoreI’ve been eating a lot of beans. Shocking. I must begin these blog posts with that line at least 3x a week. And, being as my life goal is to make a bean cookbook before I die or head to some sort of after life where I pray (as much as I love beans) that I can eat more cannoli’s than beans without feeling the wrath of sugar ills and where I can drink more Negroni’s
Read MoreButternut squash baked ziti is a gooey, cheesy, baked faux-pasta bomb that will leave you wanting more every time. A true transformation of comfort food, you won’t miss a beat or the pasta when you immerse your entire being in the process of making and eating this spin on an old classic. And listen, I love pasta as much as the next human, and carbs are my friend,
Read MoreCanned tomatoes, chicken stock (or concentrated bullion) wine, butter and onions are something I always have in my home. And, usually, a few carrots or bag of baby peeled carrots so I have something lying around when I want to snack “sensibly.” All of the above are my cooking essentials, particularly in the case of the aforementioned wine. Anything that allows me to cook and party, well, I’m into it.
Read MoreAs a woman who loves a bargain, I’ve translated the process I have with clothes - often times bragging to my friends that my whole outfit was purchased for $27.76 on a high fashion Old Navy day - into grocery shopping. The thrill of turning the pages of a circular and glancing at signs that read FRESH LONG ISLAND CAULIFLOWER $2.49
Read MoreWhen the mood strikes and I want to bake I have no choice but to apron up and turn on the oven. There’s something about gray days and time spent in my tiny Queens apartment that warrants baking and a vibrancy that can only come from making a cake from scratch. Gone are the days where I wouldn’t bake because I feared eating the whole damn thing.
Read MoreGrowing up my grandmother, Aunt Jo and my own mother made a very special sauce. This sauce I write of was not just any sauce, you know, it was a cascade of vegetables perfectly cooked - never mushy - made with expert sauteing and an abundance of care. The classic family recipe has asparagus, mushrooms, tomato and zucchini and it is required that each vegetable is
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