Inspiration Station: Mean Girls

The Dish: When Karen wants to cheer Regina up she offers “You want to do something fun? You want to go to Taco Bell?”  The fact that Taco Bell is Karen’s idea of fun is how I know she and I would certainly have been in the same clique at school, despite her lack of…

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Cucumber Avocado Salad with Parsley, Sriracha, and Mayo

Months ago, I saw this instagram on Deb Perelman’s (of Smitten Kitchen) feed.  It was the simplest salad made with stuff just lying around the fridge, but it just looked so good.  It’s hard to go wrong when the main ingredients are avocado and cucumber. Cubes of avocado and cucumber are dressed with a mixture…

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Seasonal Tastes: April – Burrata with Radishes and Fried Shallots

Cooking with seasonal ingredients takes advantage of when produce is at its best. There’s usually more flavor, it can be more cost efficient, and it just feels more genuine. Each month I’ll cook a dish showcases and in-season ingredient. At best, radishes are used as a topping on a salad, but this dish makes them…

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Yogurt Dill Salmon

I had no idea I would be staying late at work on Tuesday.  If I had, I wouldn’t have stocked the fridge with lots of perishable items.  But then I did stay late at work and when I arrived home at 9 PM I had some salmon that had to be cooked that night or…

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Tomato Soup with Chimichurri Rice and Sausage

I’m a big fan of Trader Joe’s demos.  All they ever do is take two of their products that aren’t supposed to go together and show you that, yes, they are perfect together.  I don’t know who thinks up these combos – probably a stoner stock boy – but they are almost always great and…

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Revel

Meatpacking has quite the brunch scene.  Every once in a while, it’s great to get dressed up like you’re going to a club and dance on tables in the early afternoon…and then you realize you just spent an entire paycheck and it’s not even dark out.  You’ve got quite the dilemma: you want to experience…

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Langoustine Stuffed Avocado

Langoustine is basically baby lobster.  Baby lobster comes at baby prices so STOCK UP!  A bag of langostino tails at Trader Joe’s costs about $9 and just need to be defrosted.  So easy for something so fancy.  I could throw lobster in just about anything, but for my first recipe, I wanted to pile it high…

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Seasonal Tastes: March – Leek and Bacon Cous Cous Casserole

Cooking with seasonal ingredients takes advantage of when produce is at its best.  There’s usually more flavor, it can be more cost efficient, and it just feels more genuine.  Each month I’ll cook a dish showcases and in-season ingredient. Leeks seem boring to some people, but I happen to like their mild onion flavor and the…

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Mushroom Truffle Orzo

A few years ago, truffle oil was all the rage.  The world’s passion has since subsided, and I feel like its use is now almost considered a little bougie.  I don’t think we should abandon it entirely, we just have to be more conservative.  Since I haven’t cooked with it in several years, it was…

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Ritz Cracker Toffee Bark

At a recent party I wanted to make a dish that was a play on the phrase “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” so obviously it had to incorporate Ritz crackers.  A quick Google search led me to this recipe for Ritz Cracker Toffee Bark.  Did everyone know it was this simple to make toffee?  It’s just…

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