Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes with Pesto and Goat Cheese

I love stuffed peppers but plenty of people seem to think tomatoes are totally interchangeable when it comes to a meal of filled vegetables.  There are about as many stuffed tomato recipes as there are stuffed pepper recipes so there must be something good there.  I didn’t want to use the same recipe I usually…

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Carnitas Tacos

This year was the first year I had trick or treaters.  Ever.  When I was younger, I was always the one going door to door for candy and once I was old enough to stay home and answer the door, my family had moved to a house that stood all by itself.  No neighborhood means…

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Scallops and Herb Butter Pasta

My brother is a great eater.  If you go to a restaurant with him, he’ll order the most out-there item on the menu.  Vegetables pose no threat to him and strange food combinations are exciting rather than gross.  But that wasn’t always the case.  Growing up, my brother’s diet consisted of three items: chicken fingers,…

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Caramelized Onion Dip

The day before last week’s book club I Googled “make ahead appetizers” and the first article to pop up was “6 Make-Ahead Appetizers” at realsimple.com.  I’ve made many a Real Simple recipe that turned out great so I knew I was bound to find something easy and delicious there.  I was drawn to the caramelized…

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Boozy Cherries Over Cheese

Two things were standing in the way of dessert at last week’s dinner party: 1) I’m not big on baking and 2) I was low on time.  Thankfully, I remembered something Murray’s Cheese posted on their tumblr a while back.  As I just mentioned, I didn’t have a ton of time on my hands so…

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Salad with Pomegranate Seeds, Fennel, Gorgonzola, and Avocado

I wanted to use some very Fall flavors in the salad at Friday’s dinner party and that meant pomegranate and fennel.  This is an incredibly easy salad to put together.  Simply dump the lettuce into a bowl and top with chopped avocado, crumbled gorgonzola, shaved fennel (a mandolin comes in handy here), and pomegranate seeds.…

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Herb Butter and Radish Toasts

Appetizer number two at Friday’s dinner party, her butter and radish toasts, was another easy one.  Here’s a tip that will make your life significantly easier if you’re the kind of person who entertains: bakery counters slice bread for you.  This is a great thing to know if you ever want to use a loaf…

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Brussels Sprout Prosciutto Skewers

On Friday I hosted a dinner party that went off without a hitch.  Because the guests were arriving at 8:00 and I wasn’t going to get to my apartment until almost 7:30, I had to make sure I filled the menu with easy to activate dishes.  I also knew I would be doing all the…

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Israeli Couscous with Zucchini, Spinach, and Ricotta

Here’s a quick fix side dish idea for ya. Cook up some Israeli couscous and while you’re doing that, start sautéing chopped zucchini in a pan with a little butter. When the zucchini is about halfway done, add one clove of chopped garlic and a bunch of fresh spinach. I also added some fresh thyme…

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Ham and Pea Baked Rigatoni

Sweet peas…sweet ham.  These two things often seem to come together so I figured I would throw them into a pasta dish for a quick supper.  But sweet on sweet in something that’s not a dessert just ain’t my style so I wanted to create a simple recipe to make those sweet freaks happy without…

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