Seasonal Tastes: February – Turkey Meatball Pitas with Spinach and Dill Sauce

Spinach is packed with all sorts of good-for-you things.  In fact, of all the things in season during the winter, it probably has the most health benefits.  Most of the really healthy stuff simply can’t survive the frigid months.  I can barely survive the frigid months. The problem is I barely ever eat it fresh.  I…

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BBQ Shepherd’s Pie

Once again, the demo station at Trader Joe’s hooked me.  They were sampling their take on shepherd’s pie and I just had to make it for myself.  All you have to do is cook two of their frozen items, the bbq pulled brisket and the mashed potatoes and put them in a casserole dish (bbq…

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Chicken Sausage Pasta with Lemon, Chive, and Feta

Oh, chicken sausage.  What would I do without you and your ability to bring together a quick and easy meal?! This time I paired sundried tomato and garlic sausage with Trader Joe’s spinach and chive pasta.  The great thing about these flavored pastas from Trader Joe’s is that you can actually taste the herbs and…

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Seasonal Tastes: October – Figs with Balsamic Glaze

I’m 30 and I just tried my first fresh fig.  There were so many things I didn’t know when Karina put a bowl of figs in front of me after her Rosh Hashanah dinner.  Can you eat them fresh or only dried?  Can you eat the skin?  Are there pits? Turns out, yes, you can…

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Parmesan Ranch Slaw

Trader Joe’s has a parmesan ranch dressing that they claim is low fat.  It doesn’t taste low fat, which is why I had no problem drenching my slaw with it.  Just toss some broccoli slaw with diced bell peppers and that dressing and you have a great picnic side.  Halved cherry ‘maters would work well,…

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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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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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Pulled Pork and Fire Roasted Corn Nachos

Because I ate this while watching the mid-season premiere of one of my favorite shows, I’m going to call this meal “How to Get Away with Nachos.”  They’re not just called that because I ate them while watching Viola Davis SLAY as Annalise Keating.  They’re also called that because this recipe is your way to eat…

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Turkey Meatball and Heirloom Red Spinach Salad

I tend to eat a lot of pasta all year-long, but my noodle intake really seems to spike in the cold months.  It’s the comfort food I crave to warm my belly when it’s freezing.  Also, when it’s cold I don’t want to walk to the good grocery store for better ingredients and it’s so easy to…

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Basil Pasta with Mushrooms

One of my Arthur Avenue finds was fresh pasta.  Rather than get plain pasta, I got basil pasta in the hopes that it would have enough flavor on its own, requiring less work on my end.  I was right – you could taste the basil in every bite.  All I put on top was a…

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