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Delicious fresh vegetables from the local farmers market went into this gazpacho. This time of year you must take advantage of the awesome selection of fruit and vegetables at your local farmers market. In Colorado there is so much local produce it would be a pity not to . I bought the tomatoes , cucumbers, peppers, garlic and red onion all from our local farmers market. Whole Foods also sells many local products which is so amazing. I don’t want to preach and there are so very many foods that I am particularly fond of that come from very foreign shores ( shrimp for one) . It’s just quite the thing to put food on your table from your own garden or at least from one within 100 miles of where you live. Farm to Table . Simply put it’s the best .

Ingredients:

1 cucumber or 2 – 3…

Three of my favorite things in the world in one bowl! Tomato, corn and avocado! All I do is chop up some very ripe tomatoes, and combine with raw corn kernels, and diced avocado, some chopped up fresh cilantro , and fresh lime juice .(about juice of 1 lime)  I like to add a little heat so I put in some minced fresh jalapeno or minced serrano chile. Season with salt and pepper, and there you go a delicious fresh salsa perfect alongside any piece of fish, chicken or just for snacking with chips! Let it sit in lime juice for a bit before serving. Use as much or as little of any of the ingredients. What a perfect side dish, what a perfect fresh raw salsa to serve on chips!  The possibilities are endless here. It’s all fresh and raw and wonderful. Did I mention super easy?

*also a…

Another wonderful inspiration from Jessica Seinfeld’s new cookbook “The Can’t Cookbook”,  even though I can cook there are so many great and easy recipes in this book. This was certainly one of them. I served over pasta (see photos) and it is so easy! Everyone gets nervous about cooking eggplant and I really am not sure why that is, well this will cure you of that fear if you have it. You can just make this as a side dish without the pasta but any reason to eat pasta in this house is a good one.

Eggplants should be smooth-skinned, evenly firm and without soft spots. I bought organic ,  when  I’m eating the peel or the skin I  try to buy organic, same goes for tomatoes.

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant or 2 small ones

4 cloves garlic

1 pint cherry or grape type tomatoes

6 sprigs fresh thyme

1/3 cup olive…

I often say how much I love cilantro, and I really do. Luckily for me, Joel seems to really like it, too. It’s a very strong flavored herb. I find people either love it or hate it with no in between. It’s not one of those herbs I would casually throw into food for a dinner party, because a lot of people really don’t like it…even if others really do love it. I like to err on the side of safety. If I really want to use it, I will ask my guests prior to the dinner party whether or not they like it. This is a pretty awesome dressing used on salads and fish, and it is especially interesting in a Mexican style salad! Very tasty and refreshing salad dressing. I posted the Green Goddess dressing the other day and this is a good alternative to that. I made this dressing…

It was Monday night, and was deciding on what to prepare for dinner when I realized that I love stir-fry and hadn’t made it in a while. Don’t worry if you don’t have a wok, just a large frying pan will do fine. I used my large frying pan. It’s not an exact science but you will need certain key ingredients. I decided to make it and foraged through my pantry, I was missing a few things but substituted a few other things and it worked out just fine. It was delicious .I would have liked bok choy and some other chinese vegetables but used what I had. I had a little red pepper, a few mushrooms and broccoli. Onions would be fine too. Almost any veggies you like, and obviously tofu can be substituted for chicken. This is what I did. If using tofu, use the extra firm type.

Ingredients:

5…

I have never cooked with rhubarb before and every spring when I see those beautiful red stalks in the produce dept. I want to grab them up and do something with them. Well this time I was in Whole Foods grabbed a few stalks and made it my business to use it especially since they are only in season for such a short time.  I had a recipe for strawberry muffins so I added in some rhubarb. Yum! Really yum. I even tasted rhubarb raw which was super super tart tasting which is why I sprinkled sugar on the rhubarb and berries before I put in the batter. I am now going to make a rhubarb crisp and an upside down rhubarb cake that I have wanted to try. I think these may be on my table for Mother’s Day Brunch because they are delish and so darn pretty to look at. Of course I…

Without a doubt this is my most popular post.  I can’t really quite figure it out but who am I to argue? It’s truly A-mazing, really delicious and everyone loves it so maybe that’s why.  I have already re-blogged it and decided to re-post it again. Hold on to this one it’s really an Oldie but Goodie.

This recipe is for a small salami, but you can just double up ingredients for a larger one.

Ingredients:

1 Kosher Salami

1/2 cup Marmalade or Apricot Jam

2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar

1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Score into Salami, cutting into narrow slices but not completely through to the bottom. Salami will stay intact, just cut almost to the bottom. (see photos)

Mix all ingredients together and spread on salami making sure to get inside the cuts,  place on a sprayed baking sheet or aluminum foil (…

Fresh fruit and summer go together like nothing else and raspberries are one of my favorites. I know that there are a lot of crisps out there, and I have written about a few but this one really is quick and easy. Ingredients are usually on hand, just make sure you have cornstarch or arrowroot and if yours has been sitting around forever, dump it and buy a new fresh one. (check expriration dates on this stuff) This literally took 15 minutes to prepare; I cooked it and refrigerated it and will take it out the day I serve it and heat it up. Since that day will be tomorrow, it’s perfect. Just leave it out and make sure it’s room temperature before you re-heat it. I did the whole topping in the food processor which makes it super easy, and one less bowl to clean after. The next day…

Beautiful radishes at the Farmer’s Market and beautiful arugula from local farms.  I made this salad from radishes and arugula with Parmesan cheese, olive oil  and lemons. This is light and our friends loved it, so here it is. Whenever I make something new I need honest opinions and I got them from our friends because you know by now that Joel wouldn’t like it , since there was parmesan cheese he did take a bite but definitely not his thing. It is so my thing though and thanks Bob and Michele for your honest opinions.

This is super easy and not a lot of ingredients or special tools.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. grated parmesan or pecorino cheese plus up to 3 tablespoons cheese ( 5 all together to have on hand)

2 tbsp. lemon juice , freshly squeezed ( 1 small lemon )

Kosher or Sea Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup…

This cake is not too sweet, makes a lovely presentation, and is just awesome for breakfast the next morning with a cup of coffee! I made one yesterday and of course, I will have to freeze it soon because it’s just awesome for a late morning snack, an after-hiking snack, a late afternoon snack, etc, etc. It also helps to give it away to your guests as a care package since then you don’t end up finishing the whole cake yourself! 

Serves 8-10

INGREDIENTS:

Use a 9 or 10-inch diameter springform cake pan

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature (plus more for pan and parchment paper)

2 1/3 cups cake flour (sifted) plus a little more to sprinkle in pan

2 pints blackberries

1/4 cup sugar to sprinkle on blackberries

1 1/3 cup sugar for batter

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking…